Since March 2020, people have found ways to cope with the stress and the boredom. This pandemic has certainly been more devastating than constructive but, we’ve explored new hobbies and trends while stuck at home that we might’ve not have tried if lock down hadn’t taken place.

During the first few months, optimism was in the air. Not knowing when the pandemic would end, my girlfriend and I bought copious amounts of alcohol(course we did not become alcoholics and finished it all quickly). Tequila, vodka, celery, olives, vermouth, gin, and bitters. We played pretend, a bar at home with a miniature pool table and LANY playing in the background. The finished products were not delicious either, too much alcohol or too much vermouth. I remember drinking martinis just to finish the olives, not because I was a fan. But overall the process of making them was interesting as I never really made cocktails before.

To lift our spirits up, we started tending plants. This was during the George Floyd protests, I was torn at the seams to see the continuous police brutality take place, even though I was fueled to fight for these injustices, at the end of the day, I was heartbroken that this is our reality. Plants really comforted me during this time, watching my spider plant grow rich with color, my Chinese evergreen calling to me that it needed water, the dirt on my hands and the sun setting on my skin made me smile and again grew hopeful. Diana has grown quite fond of our twelve plants. Our wallets and gardening skills expanded instead of heading to Sharkey’s to grab a beer and play pool with friends.

The last few months of 2020 were spent building 3D models and puzzles. I enjoyed building things, my favorite model was a spaceship I built (without Diana, she was over the puzzles quickly unfortunately). It also felt a bit weird, almost a bit childish. A 23-year-old building a spacecraft alone in her apartment and not an actual child on sight. Anyways this phase was cut short as to my dismay because I caught COVID-19 early in December. Isolating alone in your bedroom is a whole lot different than isolating with your partner. For those two weeks, Diana and I made as little contact as possible around the household. She slept out in the living room on our futon while I drank several Pedialytes and watched a ton of B-list movies without her.

As we continue to carry on the pandemic now with vaccines finally available to the public, we are still taking precautions but we’re slowly losing all the free time we had at the peak of lock down. Jobs are opening back up, school is in session, and gas prices are back to normal (maybe a bit more than normal). I hope everyone learned something positive while in this endeavor. Hang in there cowboy.