Since the middle of March, after my partner and I finish working and after our children finish work assigned through distance learning, we eat dinner and watch a movie. …

An unexpected consequence of the decision to close school buildings for the remainder of the school year is how much extra time we have back in our days. While we’ve realized (and enjoyed) the benefits of no physical school (no commute to drop off or pick up the kids, and…

In the early evening, after covering our arms with sunscreen, we walk to a lake 10 blocks or so away from our home. We walk to the lake, and we walk around the lake five or six times, and we walk home from the lake, registering at least 10,000 steps…

Gas today was $1.61. I don’t know when gas last cost so little, at least in comparison to how much I’ve paid for a gallon of gas in the last couple of years. And I wish I had reason to fill up. I last filled up my car’s 10-gallon gas…

My partner on Sunday, less than an hour after we got out of bed, suggested that we walk somewhere. “It’s been a while since we took a walk,” he said. His suggestion, early enough in the morning that our newspaper was still outside and the coffee still brewing, was not…

My brother, a teacher in Orlando, texted early on Saturday evening to tell me that school buildings would not reopen for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year. …

The dryer in the laundry room spins and heats clothes until they’re ready to fold and put away. Outside, two people are arguing. I don’t know what they’re arguing about. I can’t hear anything but the heated tone in their voices. …

A house in the neighborhood where I live is lit with Christmas lights at least four months of every year. Only twice have I seen a man decorating his lawn and house with lights, thousands of lights. Green twinkle lights strung on towering poles positioned to resemble lighted Christmas trees…

From four blocks away we could hear Prince’s song “1999,” though we couldn’t place who actually was covering the song. We thought that someone in a house along the street where we walked was listening to a record. And that the record player was on a surface near a window…