A Year of Covid 19 In Pictures

It’s been almost a year exactly since Covid 19 forced us all to stay home and stay away. Keeping sane was the order of the day and this is how I did it.

This, for me is possibly nothing more than a cathartic exercise in hopes of taking stock of the past year and finding a way to learn from it. A year ago when Governor Little announced a 2 week stay at home order, I foolishly thought 2 weeks would be enough to eradicate or at least gain control over Covid and we’d be back to normal. My how wrong we were.

As I look through my photo album on my phone, I’ve found quite a few good memories and a few that make my heart sink just a bit. So, take a little trip with me…

This is the last pic we took in public, at a bar, with other people! It was March 14th. The following week we would be sent home from the radio station and Governor Little enacted the stay home order.

My wife works in the service industry and we don’t have kids. So we’re social butterflies. We spend a lot of time dining out at our favorite spots downtown. We know a lot of the bar owners and managers and consider many of them close friends. So when one Saturday we ventured downtown to see what could best be described as a ghost town, our hearts sank.

I can’t tell you how many times we uttered to one another; “I just want everything to get back to normal, this sucks.”

No farmer’s market, no brunch…nothing. It was eerily quiet given there was little to no traffic and very few people. It was about this time that most places downtown began offering curbside take-out and delivery. My wife and I made a deal. Fridays were our take-out night. She would go to a random spot and order something she thought I would like and I would do the same. As a result, I came to enjoy Russian food! Plus, we were able to support the local businesses. They really needed the help.

In June and July we did something I had long resisted; we went camping! I’m a city kid, what do you expect LOL! Our first trip was on the South Fork of The Boise River just outside of Mountain Home. The second trip was up to Sun Valley where I hiked the Pioneer Cabin Trail. We also learned that our dogs absolutely love camping.

Having been a smoker for quite a few years, I never would have thought I would be able to hike a trail to an elevation of 9,500 feet. But two years clean, I did it and wept when I crested the top of the Pioneer Cabin Trail and was greeted with the most beautiful sight I had ever laid eyes on.

Next, I got a tattoo that a large group of our friends also have. It’s kind of an inside joke based on a John Denver song. It says “Idahonia.”

I used a good portion of that first stimulus check to buy myself a bike. I must have put 1,000 miles on it over the summer. Daily rides down the greenbelt were normal. I also took a really long, ambitious and windy ride out to Lucky Peak with my buddy, Pierre.

I volunteered for the clinical trial for one of the current Covid vaccines. I can’t say which one I volunteered for but I can tell you it works. About 24 hours after the second injection, I got a fever, muscle aches and a headache. But those symptoms were gone in a matter of hours.

Probably the most exciting aspect of the past year is one enormous purchase we made. We bought a house! The fence needs to be replaced (know a good fence guy?), the landscaping is in dire need of some Momma Z’s (at least) and there’s plenty of repainting to be done on the inside. But it’s our place and we’re proud to consider ourselves firmly planted in the Treasure Valley.

That brings us to today. A lot has changed and we’re slowly seeing semblances of normalcy. We still have a long way to go but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Before you know it we’ll be elbow to elbow seeing a show at the Knit, sharing a grill at Lucky Peak, having friends over for the 4th of July and so much more. Hang in there!

Over the past year I’ve learned a few things that I’ll carry with me.

1. There’s so much to enjoy in Idaho - get out there and enjoy it!
2. Local businesses need our support. Whether we’re in the midst of a pandemic or not. They count on us. Support local!
3. Take nothing for granted - especially toilet paper.

But the most important thing I learned isn’t something I learned at all but rather something I was reminded of. And, that is the connection that we all share as humans, Idahoans and Americans. With so much out there that can and does divide us, the past year showed me that amidst so much division, we have still found it within each of us to come together when it matters most for the common good.

Like Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News says at the conclusion of each day’s newscast; “Take care of yourselves, and each other.”