We are all in this together. When times get tough, Tucsonans come together and help each other. That is what makes this big city with a small-town feel such a great place to live.
This weekly series shares what life is like for your fellow community members while sheltering in place.
KINDNESS HAS NOT BEEN CANCELED
During this time of stress and uncertainty, we have seen heartfelt acts of kindness occurring in our Tucson community. It is inspiring to see these displays of kindness and thankfulness for the many essential workers, as together we try to raise spirits during rough times.
We have seen people continue to volunteer at Mobile Meals, Z Mansion, Casa Maria, Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and other organizations to make sure people in need are being fed. Others are making medical masks for our local hospitals while neighbors show their humanity by checking on neighbors and friends. In these trying times many events and activities are canceled, but not kindness. Signs of thanks are showing up all over Tucson, including this one in a westside neighborhood, that beautifully and creatively demonstrated thanks to others.
— Nancie Kondrat
LIFTING SPIRITS WITH ‘COVID-EO’ POEMS
Because I have some time on my hands with the stay-at-home order, I decided to create a video poem each day during the time at home, each one relating in some way to the pandemic, mostly its effects on the general population and also on me and my family. The video poems are recordings of me reciting the poems. I have put them on a YouTube channel called “Covideopoems.” Some of them are serious and some more lighthearted; all are intended to hopefully give people a lift during this difficult time.
— Tom Pothoff
When times get tough, Tucsonans come together and help each other, which makes it a great place to live.
CHRONICLING THE CORONAVIRUS
First week of self-quarantine, March 15, 2020: I arrived back from abroad with a cold, no fever. Self-quarantined for precaution. No big deal. I am used to working from home and am often alone. My daughter and boyfriend deliver bags of food. We blow kisses and chat from afar.
Second week, March 22, 2020: Still no toilet paper in the USA. What would Freud say? In the garden, birds chirp.
"We're tough as saguaros," editorial cartoonist David Fitzsimmons says. He says he saw a video made for the people of Detroit and became inspired to do his own take for Tucson.
Butterflies swing by oblivious to us. The air has changed taking with it my sense of time. Finally, I learn to make my mother’s Hollandaise sauce. As I stir, I sing, not just to prove my lungs are healthy.
Third week, April 3, 2020: The virus has multiplied world wide. A friend makes me a mask. The postman thanks me, waving. Solidarity! The whole world is sick together. What can we learn from this?
— Susana Manzana
NEW CORONA
Up by 7 every morning.
Yoga twice a week. Free weights
For bone loss. No reading in bed.
How I miss my routines.
Now I’m still In bed at 11 a.m.,
Wearing my plague mask,
Reading a previously-owned novel, the cat
Beside me, kneading the comforter, then purring
Like crazy, his cheek vibrating against mine.
What’s up with that damn cat?
— Jefferson Carter
