Photo Essay by Damien Jordan

​After nine months in quarantine, I’ve noticed a pattern. It changes oh-so-slightly with the weather, but for the most part it stays the same each day. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes I daydream about what it’ll be like after vaccinations. Seeing friends for the first time in a year, sharing hugs and hand holds and touch. Going out for lunch with the ones you love the most you haven’t been near for too long. Spending a normal day in school.
    Sometimes I worry, though, if any of us will ever really recover. We’ll still see it every day, in the flinches when someone reaches out a hand, uncovers their mouth. In the worried glances when someone gets too close.
    I guess we’ll learn to roll with the punches, if somehow we haven’t already.
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    It’ll all be okay. 

Get out of bed. Check the clock to know what day it is and whether or not it's before noon.

Say hi to Kate. She’s gotten used to your habits and waits for her head pats on the stairs.

Waste some time. School is tiring, and the internet’s a nice escape.

Play video games. Quite frankly the best part of your day. You’ve gotten a worrying amount of hours in over the past nine months, at least your world looks awesome, though.

Clean the car. Shovel the driveway. It never ends.

Brush your teeth. You want to get your braces off before you turn twenty, so you brush them twice, just in case.

Go to class. You really hope it’s not a cameras on kind of day, it’s way too early to be perceived.

Practice guitar. It’s not like you’ve had a lesson recently. On the bright side, you’re finally starting to forget the openings to all those Red Hot Chili Peppers songs.

Go outside, breathe some fresh air for once. What are you, a vampire? - Mom

Watch the world go by.