This Pandemic Life: dispatches from the home front

I thought I would share some photos from recent weeks that are illustrative of our coronavirus shutdown situation. It will be a little random & unpredictable… sound familiar!?

All in all, we feel extremely fortunate to have a home to shelter in and work to do. All our play dates, activities, meetings, family dinners, etc are all cancelled. Not ideal, but otherwise we have our little backyard to explore (and parks), so spring carries on.

We have been meeting with our church (Kern Rd Mennonite) online once or twice a week. Not quite the same thing, but it is encouraging, and important to stay connected. We visited an older couple who lives in the next neighborhood over, by standing at distance out in the lawn while our girls drew with sidewalk chalk in the driveway. A strange visit, but heartening for all of us to know we weren’t alone.

My daughter discovered a Red-Shouldered Hawk nest in a neighbor’s oak tree, so we’ve been making repeat visits to check in on them. All we can really see is mama hanging out on the nest. More on that later!

We’ve been trying to get outside as much as possible, whether on local walks or trips to parks. Spring marches on! Here are some pictures from our forays.

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Unfortunately we have to deal with ticks as well. Drat! For scale, this is a close up of my pinky finger.

I’m finally getting around to reading this book that I purchased at a conference in January 2019. Very interesting!

Sprouting garden seeds & painting eggs for Easter. An evergreen tradition.

I noticed this crane fly on the side of our house. They are pretty large – they look like a cross between a mosquito & a daddy long-legs – but they are harmless, and completely fun to watch.

To take a quote from Calvin & Hobbes, “The days are just packed.” Seen here: playing as “Zebras” in the long grass.

Picking up trash for Earth Day (both Moontree Studios & our county recycling center had virtual trash clean up events this year).

In the upper-right corner of the background, you can spot Green Alternatives installing solar panels on the roof of the Rees Theatre! Green Alternatives completed Phase 2 of our solar project.

The local paper put out a request for photos of creatures big and small, so I sent in this one of a native bee I was simply ecstatic to find in my lawn.

I’m still producing nature videos for kids stuck at home. But if young-at-heart adults want to watch them, well they can too 🙂

You can either watch them on YouTube below, or share them on Facebook via the Moontree Studios page.

Lastly, Purdue Extension educator Ashley Adair, in my home county of Montgomery Co, IN, has been doing weekly wildflower walks and making some really great videos on native wildflowers. Check it out: