Snapshots from a Summer in Quarantine

It goes without saying that this summer – this whole year, really – has been unlike any other. No plans for travel, happy hours that linger late into the evening with coworkers, or festive backyard barbecues. But for what it has lacked in ease and faraway adventures, it has made up for in spades with sunny weekends, outdoor dining, and friends seen at a distance. This summer has been quite the literal breath of fresh air from a long spring spent faithfully abiding by shelter-in-place.

After quarantining with my family in Los Angeles for two months, I found my way back to San Francisco and have been here ever since. Time has flown in a quarantine-induced blur. I spend my days job-hunting via a makeshift ironing board desk, conducting virtual preschool for my nephew, running marketing for a NGO, networking, mentoring, cooking, doing crossword puzzles with my roommates, not exercising enough, not writing enough, not cleaning enough…

How is it that when all we really have at the moment is time, I somehow still run out of it?

There’s so much, so much, I’d change about our current reality. But there’s also so much that I’m thankful for, and those are what I’d like to freeze-frame for posterity.

Playing hooky on a Friday here or there with my roommates to go wine-tasting in Sonoma or to soak up the sun at the beach, masks and face shields and all.

Escaping the city for a week on a houseboat on Lake Shasta (though only after a COVID test was firmly set in my calendar).

An evening out with some friends for dinner, complete with QR-code menus and spaced out tables, and finding ourselves drunk off the European atmosphere and the opportunity to be out and about once again.

Weekend dates to the farmers’ market, where the produce has been unbelievable. The peaches! Nature’s candy! The tomatoes!!!! My God.

Trying out new recipes, and old family recipes too.

Happy hours on our own roof.

Reading more than I ever have.

Virtual birthdays, online communities, homemade dinners with the roommates, witnessing cafes and wine bars and restaurants coming alive again in a slightly different form. The gorgeous light.

All in all, summer has been a dose of all that rejuvenates me. Even in the face of disease, fire and smoke, and unbearable heat, the summer spirit has mercifully emerged as strong as it always has.

I’ll be back with memories from Lake Shasta, and many more stories too. Hope you’re finding some respite wherever you are!