After a frenetic transition to “online learning," balancing synchronous and non-synchonous teaching, developing new assignments and workflows, and ceaseless video conference meetings, I am finally beginning to have time to consider where we are. The “where,” place-ness, has been and continues to be an essential element of my work. However, I find that the radius of my daily “where” is measured in blocks and steps versus miles, cities, states, and countries.

We try to get out of the house daily. The hourlong walk with the dog has led to finding new routes through our neighborhood and connected us to areas we had previously thought to far to travel on foot. We cross the road when people approach to maintain a perimeter while taking note of spring plants and the change in seasons. Neighbors, once familiar and hidden behind masks, strain to recognize each other. We wave to disarm, and I am reminded of western movies and their bandits in bandanas. It is both like a game, and tiring. On our walk today, I mentioned an article that explained Zoom Fatigue as an effect of the delay introduced by this video technology. Humans have a keen ability to read gestures and expressions. Yet, our systems are introducing latency, confusing our inherent sense of timing. So we work harder, and I am sure the masks don’t make it easier. Where is here.

The social distancing stay at home quarantine has had a few positive outcomes including a closer homelife with my two teen daughters and my partner who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Cancer pushes us to expand our place and “where” to link our home to a node in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We lived in Milwaukee for five years and formed close friendships. As we make the run north, we have been able to deepen friendships (with the requisite masks and distancing). We are lucky. The girls are independent. When we drive north and then south in repetition, they complete assignments, master new TikTok dances, build new encampments in Minecraft, video-conferenced dance classes, and binge Netflix. Our younger daughter hangs out with her best friend for hours at a time. She carries her around the house while talking with her about math or social studies. She is in my daughter’s hand or propped up on a counter, everpresent on an illuminated screen.

Back at home, I find myself looking for some control, some autonomy from an environment that seems unstable and unpredictable. My rituals were formerly sequestered between place (home and office), and time (childrearing, leisure, and work).. mostly. They have collided. We already had the chickens which provide us with eggs, and I had been dabbling with baking bread, making pasta and gardening. Now, these are part of daily practice - rituals. Feed the chickens, water the seedlings and microgreens, feed the starter, check the dough. Close the laptop and make the cocktail that sounds the bell that the workday is over. If we are “social,” we’ll open the laptop, launch the app, and hang out with family and friends.

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