What Life Looks Like Right Now
Kim sent in this photo of her daughter Arcadia, age 1, on their daily walk around their Minneapolis neighborhood.
Inspired by Kate’s project with the National Portrait Gallery collecting pictures of U.K. life during coronavirus, I asked So Many Thoughts newsletter readers to send in their own photos. I was so touched by the moments you shared! We are a resilient group, carrying on in a fashion that I have to believe would make Her Maj proud.
My sincere hope is that this will be an on-going project, and that this gallery evolves as our sense of “normal” does, too. If you have a photograph to share, please email me with the subject “SMT photo” (bonus points if you add your location and a short description!).
Click on a photo and hover your mouse over it to read the caption.
Brooklyn, New York: This is my daughter, trying to be a kid (ignoring her mom who is asking her to stop touching things).
Alexandria, Virginia: This is a picture of me in my backyard with my fifteen "Quaranthings" for my school's community art project. I gratefully welcomed this project to reflect and consider the things that have helped me do my job or given me respite from the computer. It serves as a time capsule for this moment in history, and it was fun to see the object my students chose, too!
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Every afternoon I take a walk around my neighborhood with my one-year-old, Arcadia. With the unrest in our city this week as we collectively mourn George Floyd, our neighborhood restaurants and shops boarded up and closed, and the sounds of helicopters, sirens, and flash bangs are ever-present. I was personally challenged when I heard Rev. Al Sharpton say, “There’s a difference between peace and quiet. Some people just want quiet.” I am learning to be okay with disquiet and disruption - physically and emotionally - if it leads to peace and justice.
Paris, France: Until the lockdown was eased in France at the beginning of May, the stay-at-home rules were very strict. We could only leave our homes for "essential" reasons and exercise was limited to once per day, for one hour and within a 1 km radius. Seeing this bunting ("hang in there") every day on my daily walk always made me smile.
Baltimore, Maryland: My 3-year old during our daily walk/bike ride in Patterson Park, now with masks. He found a way to keep us several feet away from runners with this stick, said "we don't want to get sick mommy".
Freeport, Illinois: Lennon visiting his great grandpa, who is 90 years his elder. Socially distanced and out in the fresh Midwest air.
Cleveland, Ohio: I’m a manicurist. When we were able to open back up May 15, I told my boss I’d be wearing scrubs. She didn’t have a problem with my new dress code. With having to wash my clothes every night when I get home from work, it just made sense. Only once have I been asked if I’m a frontline worker. I quickly replied no. Blood makes me squeamish.
New Jersey: My first grandbaby was born on February 23rd. I was able to help my daughter until March 14th. That was the last day I held him. I am able to see him, masked and distanced and of course thank god for FaceTime.
Seattle, Washington: Our district was the first in the country to move to Distance Learning, as we are in the town where the original cases of Covid-19 were discovered. This photo was taken on March 6, 2020, nearly 3 months ago, on our third day of this new reality of school at home. I am equal parts proud of these littles and their adjustment and terrified about how this is their expected reality. The battles about signing on to the computer have MOSTLY ceased and we usually only each cry once a day now (ha!), they have memorized our phone passwords and freely Facetime their friends and aunts and uncles without even asking anymore (again, ha!), and they instinctively move to the other side of the street or confidently say "excuse me, ma'am/sir. six feet apart, please!" when unminding adults without masks or awareness of them come too close (they're 5 and 7!). But, they also no longer ask how long until they will see their friends again and have accepted this as their future, forever? They write "I hate Covid-19" in driveway chalk. They are on "playing learning games"/"watching learning documentaries"/"playing Minecraft and watching Netflix while their mother teaches full time" for most of their day. We are the lucky ones with adaptable jobs and excellent health and masks and reliable internet and multiple computers. But we are all also losing so much and the weight of knowing how much more so many of our brothers and sisters in neighboring communities are losing is almost too much to bear.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: My boyfriend and I, we met on January 2nd this year, and were taking our time during three months but the pandemic had other plan for us and « forced » us to live together since late March because we wanted to be together during lockdown, not knowing how long it will last when it all began. 😁 So far so good. 🤞🏻
Austin, Texas: My husband and I welcomed our first baby (after our own infertility journey 💙) on March 30, 2020. My mom stayed home from work starting March 16, before the widespread closures began around us, so she could be healthy & available to visit as soon as baby arrived. This is her with a construction mask (all we could find, before fabric masks were such a thing!) — warmly labeled “Mimi” — and washable gown, helping me take care of Matthew at less than 1 week old.
Ellicott City, Maryland: My oldest daughter is following along to a dance class led by her older cousin who lives in North Carolina. She’s wearing the costume she was supposed to wear for her very first dance recital that will never happen. As a working mom, I returned to work from maternity leave about three weeks before the world stopped so this all has been mostly very hard. However, I try to stop and soak in moments like this that I know wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Life looks like this park by my house. The only place I go out to for walks and runs between Zoom classes. Lucky my partner does the essential errands. Stay disease free!
Metairie, Louisiana: I had my daughter Eloise in April and she has yet to meet most of our family due to COVID. At three weeks old we drove out to introduce her to my mother, step-father, and 94 year old PawPaw (she was named after his late wife, my Grannie, Eloise).
South of Boston, Massachusetts: Life right now is with a 1 year old trying to keep him (and me) entertained while balancing working from home with my husband. 💛
Manila, Philippines: We’re under a strict lockdown and I haven’t left the house since mid-March. Quarantine discovery: I enjoy baking! And I was able to build a daily yoga habit so there’s some routine keeping my day together. The best days are when I can pop the dish into the oven, work out while it’s baking, and then come back just as the oven timer buzzes. The little wins mean so much more these days.
St. Louis, Missouri: I have a feeling our summer is going to look a lot like this. I'm so glad they play well together!
Minneapolis, Minnesota: I was supposed to get married and host a 200 person wedding and reception on April 25. Due to the shelter at home restrictions in Minnesota, we were only able to have our parents and siblings at the ceremony. Thanks to modern technology, we were able to livestream the wedding for ~160 of our friends and family, including my 88-year-old grandfather who is in a nursing home in Illinois. We also had a parade-style reception where many local friends and family drove by our house to celebrate in person. We are hoping to have our delayed reception later this year if guidelines allow large gatherings. While it was not the wedding we had spent months planning, we certainly have some memorable photos and lots of stories to tell future generations about our wedding day.
Scarsdale, New York: Here’s the best thing to come out of quarantine for us. Early AM family scooter rides. We live about a mile away from the New Rochelle OG epicenter, so it’s been a long haul. But not a bad haul for us in many ways. For that, I am grateful.
Our boys have been forced to get very creative with their home play because it's ALL THE TIME. Here they are looking at bugs they caught sitting on the boxes of the new outdoor furniture we bought because we've never been outside this much. They've truly gotten so much closer since they've been forced to be each others best friend for the past two and half months.
Seattle, Washington: What happens when I say I'm going to take a five minute shower... Day 6497 of staying home and the kids still haven't had enough of me. 😆
Fishers, Indiana: My oldest (Elena) is a high school senior. My photo is from a photo shoot we did for her school. In lieu of a traditional ceremony, photos of the seniors with signs the school passed out earlier will be shown at a drive in ceremony. With her being my first to graduate, we don’t truly know what she’s missing. But it definitely feels underwhelming after so many years of hard work that she’s put in.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: My five month old, our dog and I have become a real quarantine crew as dad works long hours in the basement! We try to get outside every day and appreciate the “small stuff”!
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Every week we are home I take a picture of flowers in the same vase to mark the week. We have also embraced oven baked clay art projects as a family. The zombie apocalypse seems especially fitting right now!
Manhattan Beach, California: Celebrating sixth birthdays quarantine style - all set up for a birthday drive by. Both of my daughters took the opportunity to dress up in party dresses!
Alexandria, Virginia: My daughter was invited to her very first birthday parade. We decorated signs and sang happy birthday as loudly as we possibly could while slowly driving by her kindergarten classmate who was standing on her front lawn. Then we both cried when we saw her teacher in the car behind us. SO many emotions.
Washington, DC: A gorgeous spring day. An area that would normally be packed with busy interns, staffers, security, and tourists is virtually empty.
St. Louis, Missouri: This is how we pass the quarantine time- my husband (“Papa”) reading the same book for the 100th time to our youngest grandchild. Thanks for your Instagram efforts- such a worthy distraction from the world of coronavirus!
Chamblee, Georgia: This is me and my now husband in a small backyard wedding. I sewed that lyric on my jacket during a Zoom happy hour with friends. It's always been my favorite line.
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada: I’ve been working from home since March 15. Finally been able to move my “office” outside.
Chicago, Illinois: We escaped our Chicago home for a few days to our family’s empty lake house in Burlington, WI. The change of scenery and the thrill of a road trip did us all good. I’m currently working from home with my husband who is a CPS teacher. We have two kids, one year old Margot (pictured here) and three year old Jonah. I’m grateful for our health and this time to be all together — even if it means we all need to escape when we can!
My son and his wife came over on Memorial Day to celebrate his 33rd birthday in our backyard. No hugs or kisses, but lots of ❤️!
Raleigh, North Carolina: No matter how bad the news is, Marlee is always just happy to be on a walk. Walks have been essential for us. We call friends and family and feel grateful.
Littleton, Colorado: This is our socially distanced Mother’s Day celebration. Selfie photo by my sister-in-law who is in the foreground. I’m on the far left and my mother-in-law is on the far right. It was odd to keep our distance from each other, but it definitely was better than not hanging out!
Cary, North Carolina: We've had a gorgeous spring here. I'll remember this time as hard, but I'll also remember spending a lot of time outside on trails and in streams near our house. Roads drawn with sidewalk chalk and trucks to drive on them have been a very popular diversion for our boys (3 & 1)!
St. Louis, Missouri: My son Fitz turned three and although he didn’t get the party I originally planned, a drive by from the local fire department to wish him a happy birthday was a pretty cool consolation prize.
New York, New York: My son’s first birthday was in April and we of course couldn’t gather with family and friends. (We’re in NYC and things were extra scary during that time!) We threw a Zoom party instead and I loved seeing all the faces singing Happy Birthday to him- especially the other babies!
New Hampshire: pregnancy in a pandemic, 37 weeks. 🤰🏼 this seems so surreal. like from a bad dream that everyone is apart of. the stress has been overwhelming, to say the least. the reality of giving birth with a mask on, the possibility of doing this without my husband, the thoughts of bringing my son into this this craziness - is a lot. whatever happens I will be ok. baby boy and I will survive this.
Life in the new normal is slow, but I still can’t keep up. It’s being annoyed with the 7, 5 & 5 year olds acting like kids and then feeling guilty with my annoyance. It’s being sad about all that the kids are missing out on as the school year comes in an end. It’s being uneasy that my 7 year old has “grown up” in technology years - spending time alone on a laptop instead of engaging with her teacher and peers. But mostly.....I’ve never been so grateful for 3 kiddos who truly enjoy each other and the outdoors. This is where we find our peace. Finding - no, making - the time to climb mountains, explore lakes and breath fresh air as often as we can.
Burlingame, California: CA eases restrictions and we are strolling through the weekly farmers market in our little downtown after over 3 months.
Wilmington, Delaware: As an attorney and a new mom, I have been juggling WFH and taking care of a baby. Some days it is hard. Trying to remember that through all of the stress that the silver lining is getting to be with my son this first year more than I ever expected.
Claremont, California: Spotted a fox last week and a bear! this past Monday. I’ve been hiking this trail for nearly five years and didn’t know either of these creatures were around. I’ve never been much of a runner, but now I run for my life to avoid encounters with people.
I can’t visit my godchildren, but I can still read to them! My roommate and I created a reading corner to make it visually fun for the kids. We’ve also had to purchase quite a few new books to keep up with the demand!
We are so lucky to spend this isolation time near the ocean and forest for outside time! My son hasn’t been anywhere other than a park or beach since March 13th and he is a trooper!
White Plains, New York: My ruthlessly scheduled day to day life - drop kids at school/daycare, coffee run, sit at desk to work until kids get home (I work mostly from home even in non-pandemic life) - has been blown to bits. My life now looks like doing whatever I can to keep my 2 and 5 year olds occupied so I can work for stretches at a time, which sometimes means throwing them in the bath with bathing suits and popsicles and sitting on the toilet with my laptop on my knees, working as they play. I hope that if they have memories of this time, they will remember popsicle baths instead of my constant refrain of "wait a minute, mommy is working."
Essex, Connecticut: So thankful for naptime snuggles that may not have happened without quarantine
Suffolk, United Kingdom: This is my two sons (2 & 12) visiting my grandma to drop of some flowers and collect my youngest's birthday present. My grandma turned 89 during lockdown and we have all missed her so much. She says the hardest thing about it all is not seeing her great grandchildren, she has dozens. It was wonderful to see her like this, but so bittersweet.
Puyallup, Washington: I work at a non-profit call Communities In Schools of Puyallup. We’re currently working on collecting books to send home with low-income students while schools are closed. Currently, we have 5,000 books that are going home with kiddos next week!
Alabama: In the thick of quarantine, my sister (a professional photographer) missed seeing us so much that she came over and did a long lens photo session of one of the three walks we take daily now that we are home all the time. Wearing my HRH sweatshirt makes me feel like it cancels out the fact that I don’t wear makeup or fix my hair these days LOL! P.S. My son’s name is Harrison and was born 3 months before Archie was born, so when they released his name, I audibly screamed since I’m such a huge fan!
Danville, Pennsylvania: The Modern COVID-19 Workplace: A) Makeshift desk/office in bedroom B) Watching a webinar about the ethical and legal implications of transitioning clients to telebehavioral health C) 7-year old showing off his homemade telescope
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: We got some exercise by walking in a nearby neighborhood and discovered a few friendly horses in a field only a mile from our apartment.
Campbell River, BC, Canada: Our physically distant newborn photos were taken in the first week of May. Our photographer stayed 10 ft away from us the whole time. My kids played hard and have never had so much fun having their pictures taken. This photo session brought a little bit of normalcy to the experience of having a baby during a pandemic.
Ipswich, Massachusetts: Introducing my leap day baby, Colin Patrick, to my 96 year old Nana
Seattle, Washington: We just became a family of 5 in the beginning of April and after dinner walks have been saving our sanity. Tonight my 2.5 yr old daughter wanted to wear her mask on our after dinner walk to “keep the virus out of my mouth”!
University Place, Washington: After 2.5 months of having my husband home from deployment, he is back training away from home and I am back relearning how to solo parent. Getting motivated to get out of the house has been really hard. I used to have my daily workout class with other mommas (stroller strong moms!), but now with quarantine, our tribe is virtual and I feel their absence.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Our group of friends started as a book club and all have matching club symbol tattoos, so we obviously had to get matching shirts made to meet the next generation! Phoebe was born on the middle of the pandemic so the plan of wearing them at the hospital went out of the window pretty quickly! Phoebe Club finally got to meet Phoebe (from a distance!) a few weeks after she was born. Thank goddess for FaceTime so we can hear all her little baby noises!
Grand Prairie, Texas: Embracing stay at home life by gardening with the kiddos. My sweet daughter's quickly blossomed into the cutest plant you've ever seen....my rambunctious son overwatered and killed his within a few weeks. I don't plan to give up on gardening...at least while we are still hunkering down at home during this pandemic!
Amsterdam: Life COVID-style has been a mix of (very) slowly fixing up the terrace of our little home in Amsterdam and pure exhaustion of taking care of our little bug (and sometimes attempting to take care of each other) 24/7.
Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada: I have never been so grateful to live in a rural community with so much outdoor space to explore. It has made this time so uniquely special for our family.
Lansing, Michigan: These are my 2-year old twins (thanks IVF!) Arla and Zadie. We find new ways to entertain them every day. Today was throwing rocks into the tiniest puddle in a nearby church parking lot.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Keeping cool in a family sized blow up pool, aka the plan for Summer 2020
Montréal: Window visiting our grandparents and Great-grandma, and homeschool. What a unique time to be alive, isn't it?
This is me going to test a patient for COVID in my office parking lot. With an ankle I sprained (while vacuuming). I am a primary care doctor and the other four doctors in my office got coronavirus. What you can’t see is that I am wearing Bobbi Brown blush in Pale Pink because that’s what Kate wore at her wedding and it makes me feel at least a little bit more alive.
This photo from our morning dog walk includes all my emotions about leaving the house during a pandemic.
Vienna, Virginia: Here’s a picture of a telemedicine well-child check up for my six year old daughter, one more thing that’s been transitioned to virtual format during the pandemic.
I was nominated by my company to be highlighted on their social media for International Women’s Day, which is Each for Equal this year (hence the equal sign). The photo was due about a week into quarantine so it was taken at home by my dad in front of our garage door. I am definitely sporting two day unwashed hair, makeup solely put on for this photo, and leggings under this shirt. For me it marks the beginning of when we realized this would not be over in a few weeks....
Houston, Texas: First-time mama soaking up the sweet, lazy days of newborn life and learning to let go of the anxiety that comes with having a baby during a pandemic
While we may be struggling to balance competing priorities (two adults working from home with a toddler under foot), we are making time to stop and smell the flowers.
Davis, California: A picture from our different but still nice Mother’s Day! We went for a walk on the UC Davis campus, and Amy insisted on taking a ride. I thought you would appreciate the way her Target slip-ons coordinate with my very relatable Gap shorts, and the way her mask ties my Target t-shirt and her Mini Boden dress together so very nicely. 😂 And did you spot the sunglasses? Kate’s fave Wayfarers, ordered from you holiday gift list and worn every time I leave the house.
I work on Broadway so my job disappeared without warning in March. It’s been so very stressful. I live next to a great park so at least I get to spend more time there on my solo walks than I do when I’m working all the time, so that’s good. This spring the park has never been more beautiful. I see my neighbors from a distance and hope I’m waving to who I think I’m waving to because who can tell behind our masks.
Michigan: Pictured here are my daughter Tessa and my niece Lily on my daughter's 6th birthday on April 30th. Tessa and Lily are more than cousins, they are best friends. They call themselves "sister cousins". Quarantine has been very difficult for them because they are used to seeing each other weekly. My sister and I are both healthcare workers (at separate hospitals) so we feel the risk is too great to allow them to play together just yet. When they arrived Lily said "oh Tessa, I was afraid I would never see you again in real life". Heartbreaking. I thought the look on her face in the car was so precious. Sometimes we forget the littles are true warriors in this mess too.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: My niece’s first birthday party with (starting TL continuing clockwise) my sister, BIL, and niece in Goshen, IN; my boyfriend and me in Pittsburgh, PA; my sister, BIL, and niece in Pittsburgh, PA; and my parents in Dayton Ohio. My niece Maddie was more interested in the flame on the candle the in the cupcake. :)
I was 33 weeks pregnant when I got furloughed from my job so had LOTS of time to sit and ponder how I wanted labor and delivery to go. …There was one thing that was important to me and that was getting a family photo snapped outside the hospital. I was DETERMINED that it would happen! …When we were finally released the nurse who took me down to our car was kind enough to snap (from a socially distant vantage point) our first family photo! Not exactly the front steps of the Lindo Wing but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Brooklyn, New York: I took this photo on May 1 as my two boys and I headed out for a walk in our neighborhood. Like many urbanites, we don’t have our own outdoor space, so we try and take a walk to get some “fresh” air when we can. We’re wearing masks that our upstairs neighbor so kindly sewed for us! Bright and cheerful colors made from cloth napkins I received ten years ago as a wedding gift.
Culver City, California: My daughter’s 5th grade graduation picture outfit, wild hair, and a rubber Duckie from our “find the 7 Duckies we hid in our front lawn” scavenger hunt to entertain the neighborhood.
Our new normal is a double screen set up on my dining room table, working hard to ensure the government can fund the emergency response ...while my colleague asks if we can watch more elephant videos from the zoo.
New York, New York: I went form NYC - Fl- and back to NYC today. SO happy to be back in the city, even if it's shut down the spirit is still very much here. And the weather is perfection!
Bay Area, California: At home with three kids, the days can feel quite long and sometimes I feel stretched a bit thin — but I am so grateful for spontaneous moments of joy, like playing shadow tag with my dudes in the street.
A local photographer, Scott Streble, was doing family portraits to document this time so we jumped on the opportunity! …[There is one] where we’re all so nicely posed, and then [this] one which is probably a more realistic version of our time in quarantine 🤣🤣🤣
Cape Cod, Mass: My fiancé and I have been quarantining here for 9 weeks, to escape the chaos of NYC where we live. We are lucky to be here and are enjoying staying active with runs and bike rides by the water. Engagement ring on my left hand to show that wedding planning during a pandemic totally sucks but I’m grateful to have him in my life and still looking forward to officially getting married at the Cape this October (even if it looks different than we’d originally been planning!)
Simcoe, Ontario: Finally enjoying the outdoors with our new baby girl Naomi who was born on February 27!
This morning I walked into my closet and noticed my dress rack - first dress for my oldest daughter’s baby shower, unworn, second dress for my middle daughter’s baby shower, unworn, third dress for my godson’s wedding, unworn. It made me sad to think of all the fun family events we’ve missed this spring. BUT then the back door opened and in came my youngest daughter and her little 7 month old Winn! For the past 8 weeks I have had the privilege of caring for the little prince while his parents work from home! My empty nest family room now contains a Jolly Jumper, ball pit and many, many toys.
I’m out tracking with dogs, not a person in sight, waiting to be ‘found’ by a SAR (search and rescue) dog in training. Wearing very old Banana Republic khaki shorts and a Goleta Lemon Festival 2019 t shirt! My sartorial statement is ‘sustainability for the win’!