Quarantine and Earthquakes – March 2020

What a whirlwind of a month it has been. New regulations and mandates are constantly evolving and being issued daily and I listed a couple below. I honestly do not know what we talked about before Covid-19.

• All schools were closed and canceled.
• We are ordered to stay home and distance ourselves from others.
• Gas prices are at an all-time low.
• Lines outside grocery stores, limits on what you can buy and what is available.
• Nonessential stores and businesses are closed.
• All concerts and events are canceled, including weddings, proms, graduations, and even Dear Evan Hansen that I had tickets too.
• We don’t meet with our neighbors for church and we cannot go to the Temple.
• Entire sports seasons are canceled.
• National Parks, trails, playgrounds are all blocked off.
• Heath professionals making large personal sacrifices and facing a shortage of needed medical equipment.

It took us about two weeks to feel comfortable and settle into our new normal of online school and not leaving the house. Then Utah threw us a curveball and had a 5.7 earthquake. We live about 20 minutes away from the epicenter and boy, did we feel it and many of the 100+ aftershocks. This was the first earthquake my kids and I have felt. It was terrifying.

With all this change and upheaval I decided to ask my family some questions so I can remember how they viewed this unique and a little scary time in their lives. After a few questions my oldest, Stella asked me why I was doing this, I told her I wanted to remember this time. She quickly rolled her eyes and sarcastically responded, “Well I don’t.” It made us all laugh pretty hard. Here are some of my favorite responses to the questions.

What is the best thing about being in quarantine?

• “Watching lots of movies and screens!” – Both Stella and Faxen

What is the worst thing about being in quarantine?

• “Not being able to run errands.” – Rosalyn

What has been hard to adapt to with the quarantine?

• “Not being able to do anything fun!” – Faxen
• “Working from home.” – Braden

What has been easy to adapt to with the quarantine?

• “Finding projects to work on.” – Rosalyn

How was your first earthquake experience?

• “I was scared at first, then I wanted to feel more.” – Stella
• “My closet was shaking!” Faxen

Along with documenting this time in their own words, I wanted to capture some images of what it looks like. Amongst all the ups and downs I want to remember how our tiny home was filled with lots of joy. Here is a little glimpse of our new normal.