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Snapshot of a Los Angeles Quarantine

July 16 2020

Written by Shoetopia Office

Hey friends. I originally wrote this blog during quarantine but it seemed tasteless to post immediately following George Floyd’s murder. We have not, of course, “returned to normal” but that’s because there is no “normal” to return to. As a society and as a country, we have to move forward. Forward to a society with appropriate healthcare, evenly-distributed public funding and dismantling systems that are set up

The beginning of quarantine now feels like looking inside a time capsule. Remember when we though Covid-19 would be gone by May? When everyone was having fun playing with zoom backgrounds and making sourdough bread? What a weird, wonderful time.

Before you scroll the rest of the way through this blog, take a minute to sign this petition to get justice for EMT and aspiring nurse Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was shot by three officers while sleeping in her own bed in her own home. Two of the three officers involved are still working and none of them have faced any consequences for their actions.

Thank you,

Laura

I, like the rest of the world, have become far too familiar with the interior of my house over the past few weeks. And yes, I know I’m lucky to be able to stay at home as I am, but man, would any other view be great right now. I can’t really complain though. I’m in Los Angeles where I live with a couple roommates and a new foster kitty. Plus, I’ve kind of been enjoying this quarantine; when else in your entire adult life will you be forced to just… sit at home?

Over the past weeks, I’ve slowed down in a way I never would have thought possible. I sit outside for hours at a time, just soaking up the sun and watching the world go by. Los Angeles usually has terrible air quality, but right now it smells like I could be back home in Wisconsin. When I would normally notice offhandedly that birds are singing outside my window and that trees are starting to flower for spring, I now literally just sit and watch plants grow. I’ve been cooking and baking, which I enjoy doing but rarely find time for, and I planted a garden out behind my house. Just really simple, enjoyable, wholesome things that usual life as a 20-something in Los Angeles doesn’t really allow.

Yes, there’s another side of this quarantine: constant, low-lying anxiety with no obvious reason beyond [gestures vaguely at everything]. There’s also that strange feeling that I’m floating in midair, feet trying to touch a ground that isn’t there and even feeling that somehow I’m not feeling enough. But that’s all for a therapist to deal with down the road, probably!

As I’ve been sitting around I’ve been taking lots of pictures of life passing by. Partially because it's the only way my iPhone 5 will take pictures and partially because I it's my guilty pleasure, I've been using the Huji app. It's a disposable camera app that was popular about 3 years ago. The photos are cute and fun though! So, here's a look inside a slowed down, sunny quarantine life.