Life during covid-19

We have been in Vermont for over six weeks. Our life here consists of witnessing spring arrive, supporting the kids' remote schooling through Braeburn, doing projects on our Knuckle Rock camp while comfortably placed at Bob's Camp at Everest Beach, sharing quarantine with the Yates, and sheltering in place except for take-out orders at the hardware store and weekly grocery runs. Nate continues to work from the early morning (3am some days) for East Africa-timed meetings until about 3pm, taking a couple hours off around lunch to manage a class or two for the kids and do a family exercise.

Early spring sunset

I have been wrapping up my Master of Science in Library Sciences (MSLS) from the University of Kentucky, which was always an online program and therefore not much affected by covid-19. I am now finished and will graduate (on a virtual Zoom video call) on Friday. My search for academic library jobs has dried up with the job market--universities are taking a hit from this pandemic and there are some in the library profession that have gone so far as to say it may be better for new MSLS graduates to consider other career paths. So that's not too encouraging. Most of the jobs I have applied to since January have been postponed or outright cancelled. [Note: the kids still don't know about my US job search so please don't say anything to/around them. We prefer to keep the uncertainty to a minimum for them right now.]

Here are some images from our past weeks... when we arrived, it was still pretty much full winter (real Vermonters might quibble with this assessment, but come on, look at all the ice). After about a week, the ice on Lake Champlain melted, but we still got snow flurries a few more times.

Right away, we decided we needed laying hens. I wanted them for the eggs, the kids wanted them as pets, Nate loves a project. So we borrowed scrap wood from the cabin build going on a Kristen and Mike's camp and built a coop together at Knuckle Rock. 

Ready for our hens

Arriving home with three pullets (not-yet-laying hens)

Silas named his Marshmallow

Cora's is Chestnut on the left, then Marshmallow, then Nate and my Fritnut at right

We made stick boats on the brook:

We video chatted with cousins near and far, and some friends still in Kenya.

Twice we layered on all our borrowed winter gear and drove up to Smuggler's Notch ski area, currently closed during the pandemic, to sled on the slopes. It was so fun, and also surreal to stand in blizzard conditions on an empty ski hill having just arrived from Kenya mere days before.

Nate reverted the old outhouse on our property into a tool shed:

We did some socially distanced hikes

The kids played with cousin Skylar

Silas's chicken, Marshmallow, turned out to be a good layer! The two small, darker yokes at the top are from her early eggs.

We enjoyed our beautiful location

And celebrated Easter with an egg hunt (sponsored by the Sevenes) at Knuckle Rock and a brunch on the porch at our rented camp.

We also started building loft beds in the kids' bedroom, which I will document in another post.

It's been a busy time, and we continue to feel lucky to have a safe and comfortable place to stay, extended family nearby, and the ability to take care of our kids. Nate has a secure job (we think anyway) and we will keep riding out this pandemic from Milton, Vermont, for now. Now I have to go start our remote school day...