Edited by Diane Wagner, Class of 2005
Following the orders of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Governor J.B. Pritzker, we are all staying home, which gives us lots of time for activities. Beginning this week, Communications Committee members are sharing their accounts of how they are Keeping Busy, beyond the usual closet cleaning, grocery shopping or TV binge watching.
This is the first of an ongoing feature for these unusual times. In the coming weeks, we expect to hear from many of you about what you’re are doing to cope and keep busy. When you have a story to share, send your thoughts to Leslie Clark Lewis at le**************@co*****.net.
Here’s what some of the Comm/Comm folks have been doing to cope with pandemic:
Lisa Ciota is improvising the Science of Architecture student tour for her neighborhood! She is creating a PowerPoint program of her Downers Grove neighborhood to illustrate how the buildings in the walkable area illustrate various styles – the 1960s modern high school, for example. She has walked around town to take the pictures necessary to illustrate the tour. Lisa intends to print it out and leave copies on a corner of the local park. “I’ve seen lots of people walking through the park,” she said. “I’ll just put these out and let people take them. I hope it will help the children have something to do.”
Emily Clott attended a family birthday party on Zoom to honor grandson Otto, who recently turned 15. About 15 family members across five screens were on the call, which ended up as a laugh fest. Otto received a postponed Christmas present from his cousin Sophie, 9, that she had purchased at her school’s Christmas market. It was a screaming goat sculpture, a goofy gift that got the whole assemblage laughing, Emily reports. Wanting to thank his family for his presents, Otto took up the ukulele Emily sent more than four years ago and began to strum. His dad, Emily’s son Jeff, improvised a song about a screaming goat. The whole afternoon was hilarious and made everyone forget what’s going on in the world.
Betsy Jenkins is gardening! She reports that after she moved to Evanston, she “won” a garden plot in a lottery from the Evanston Community Garden organization. She was given a weed-filled plot. “I can weed, no one is there now,” she says of what will be her garden. She has plans to plant some native flowers to be pollinators, but mostly vegetables. She promises a round of radishes for everyone when we next meet.
Lisa Voigt is spending two days a week with her Spanish teacher in Spain and two days a week with her local instructor – all online. Both teachers and Lisa are all quarantined, so she is continuing her instruction in Spanish, just in a new way. She and husband John joined in Chicago’s group-singalong that was held on Saturday, March 21 and will be repeated Saturday, March 28. It’s part of a Facebook group, and choristers stand on their balcony and sing out to the city.