The very strange spring of 2020

Dan writes: Azaleas are in bloom at Birch Street Web Headquarters. Magnolias, pear and cherry trees, forsythia, daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are blooming around the neighborhood. Julie and I enjoy seeing them as we take walks around the nearby blocks to get out of the house where we have been ensconced for the past four weeks. What we don't see: Kids in the playgrounds, Little League and soccer games in the parks, students walking home from school in the afternoon.

Amid the Coronavirus Crisis of 2020, we know we are lucky - we have a comfortable home, continuing income, sufficient provisions, and each other's company. So far, we've avoided illness. We're happy to report that our children's households have also remained clear of the virus to date.

Since March 12, I have been working at home, fortunate to have a speedy internet connection and a job that can be done remotely. Julie has continued her activities with Rotary, Girl Scouts and other groups via online meetings. She has made occasional trips out of the house -- with gloves and a respirator mask -- to transport excess bread from stores to soup kitchens. I accompanied her on another outing, a Mobile Meals delivery run on March 25 -- the last before that effort shut down for the duration. This photo shows us and other volunteers keeping our distance while waiting for the food packages to be ready.

We're fortunate to have a pair of respirator masks that I found in the basement, left over from an attic-insulation project I did a dozen or so years ago. We've also used them for a couple of trips to stock up on groceries.

Julie is also one of several members of her Rotary club who are sewing fabric face masks and distributing them to home-health aides, a local assisted-living center and other organizations that can put them to good use.

"I'm clearing out my leftover fabric stash for a good cause," Julie said.

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club's effort - organized by a member who is a sewing teacher - was reported on this week by Channel 9's nightly news show.

Andy & Shannon's move in late January from their apartment near Albany to the house they bought in Middleburgh, N.Y., proved to be smart and very well-timed. Andy continues his web-programming work from home while they work to make their property at least partly self-sustaining, by planting vegetables -- and raising chickens (more on that in an upcoming post).

Christine & Jamie also moved, in mid-March, from their apartment near Boston to Jamie's father's house in Nashua, N.H. The move was planned to save rent money toward eventually buying their own place. Jamie and her dad, Paul, are both working remotely as well. And Paul, who does a lot of his own home-improvement projects, also has some respirator masks, which they've been using for grocery trips.

Marie, Brian and Xander are faring well at their home in Virginia. Marie began stocking up on food and other supplies during February, before the extent of the pandemic became clear, and that has kept their grocery needs to a minimum. Xander's school went from spring break into online-learning mode in mid-March. Brian's job as a conductor on the Virginia Railway Express has him making a couple of runs per week into Washington, a reduced schedule for those essential workers still commuting. Ticket collection has been suspended, so he doesn't walk through the cars interacting with passengers.

In California, Dan is hard at work providing a very essential service. He's a manager at a supermarket, working long hours to provide groceries to its customers. The six counties of the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley were among the first areas to go into lockdown, back on March 17. "It's stressful, depressing, scary," Dan writes. "But I also still have a job, easy access to supplies, and the company is taking good care of us."

With a little free time on this Easter weekend, I'm working to update The Birch Street Web and catch up on recent family events. Look for more posts coming soon - and please send along any photos and news you'd like to share. Missing the ability to get together, let's do our best to Keep In Touch!

Vivien, CJ and Charlie preparing for new arrival

Vivien writes: "We have some exciting news - Charlie is going to be a big brother! We are expecting a baby boy at the end of September. We are very excited!"

Pop goes the confetti	Hooray!

Vivien used a blue confetti popper to give the news to Charlie that a boy is on the way (click either image to see the video). The "gender reveal" might have had a bigger audience if not for the current social-distancing restrictions, and 19-month-old Charlie seemed puzzled, but seemed to catch on that it was a happy occasion.