Documenting Historic Times
Guest written by
Mr. MemorybooksbyEileen, Tony Vierra
In comes the virus, out goes toilet paper and hand sanitizer…
Oh what troubled times are these when toilet paper and hand sanitizer are the currencies of the land! Is it Quarantine day number 47 or 392? Who knows? Who cares? In 20 years who will remember what we went through? Who will believe it? novel viruses, Murder Hornets and flying sharks with laser guns (I’m just guessing at what could possibly be coming next!)
Documenting Historic Times…
These are indeed crazy, unprecedented times. Sooooo … what are you doing to document what is happening, what the world looks like and the things you are doing under quarantine/lockdown/stay at home orders? These are historical (hysterical?) times … don’t you want to create your own version of history?
While some people journal, at our house Eileen is, of course, taking pictures and scrapbooking. She pivoted her in-studio scrapbooking workshops to Zoom virtual events. Her clients are thrilled to stay connected and get albums completed. She has been busier than ever as people stuck at home need scrapbooking supplies and digital software to organize their photos (see “Shop” on her Homepage). I am a video guy so I am trying my hand at vlogging (a youtube video blog “red door 172”) in an attempt to capture how we are dealing with things. It’s been an interesting and sometimes challenging project that will hopefully someday will provide glimpse into what we went through.
The suffering and the silver linings…
I’m coming at it from this angle: Yes, absolutely, these are crazy, unprecedented, unbelievable times and some people are certainly suffering and dying (in now way do I mean to ignore that ). But I also believe that we have an opportunity to appreciate some of the things that we may have taken for granted and look for silver linings to the dark clouds.
Typically unsung heroes (doctors, nurses and first responders to name but a few) are being recognized for their tremendous efforts, we are spending quality time together and reaching out to help others.
How I spent the pandemic…
What am I going to document in my history of the pandemic? Working from home, my commute to the dining room, empty highways at “rush hour”, closed parks and caution taped swing sets, the “Groundhog Day” effect, a closed Starbucks!, beautiful clear skies and views of Mt. Rainer, cooking new recipes and our family sitting at the table having dinner together night after night after night, trying to create vlogging videos, Eileen and Ben cutting my hair, Zoom calls with business partners but also with Grandma, and cocktails by the firepit.
To borrow from Capital One: What’s in your history?