People of Rochester - Hannah
I met Hannah sitting on the lawn in front of the Memorial Art Gallery, reading a book, and she seemed happy to participate in my COVID-19 photojournalism project.
One positive aspect of the lockdown is that Hannah sees more people outside than usual. And she hopes that when the quarantine is over, people aren't so busy that they miss taking the time to go outside with their children and/or loved ones.
Also, Hannah feels fortunate, in the sense that she's a young, healthy person who adheres to the health-safety guidelines.
Hannah's an engineer who works for a private company, and she's been working at home for the past four weeks. Her company does public work for various construction projects, including providing drinking water and waste water—essential services.
When she's not working, Hannah is reading all of the books that have been sitting on her bedside table for the past two years.
Hannah loves to walk, run, and sit outside (in places where there aren't a lot of people), and just enjoy the change of scenery.
She's started making a baby quilt for a friend who's expecting, and she hopes to have it finished before the baby is due, next month.
"I have lots of things to keep my hands busy," she said, laughing.
She bakes and enjoys cooking. Because she was so busy in the past, and didn't have much free time during her work week, she "would cook all afternoon on Sunday and then eat that food all week." But now, when she finds herself asking, what am I gonna do tonight, she might prepare just enough food for dinner and maybe for lunch the next day.
Hannah meets with friends, outdoors. She has two friends who live together, who are medical students at the University of Rochester. Her friends haven't been in the hospital for several weeks, because of the coronavirus. Instead, they attend classes from home. Hannah gets together with them, maintaining a safe distance, for walks and bike rides.
There are obvious downsides to the lockdown. Hannah's an extrovert, so "it's a lot of time alone." She misses real-time human interaction, which she substitutes by phoning or video-chatting with her friends. She's looking forward to spending time with people when this is over.
If she were free to move about, Hannah would be volunteering for The Rochester Running Company (store) at College Town on Saturday mornings, something she started four years ago, when the store first opened. She's helped people train for 5Ks, half-marathons, etc.
She said 15 or so of her runner friends would "go trekking every Saturday." And there was another group of runners she was meeting with every Tuesday night at Twelve Corners, and they would run about 6 miles.
She would also be meeting up with her U of R med-school friends for pot-luck dinners and/or watching movies. She said, "Many of us are outdoorsy--hike, bike ride, run--all those things they tell you you shouldn't be doing with others now."
But Hannah still runs, alone. On an average day she might run five miles. On the weekends she drives to remote locations—and runs between 10 and 20 miles. During her last remote run, she said she hadn't seen a single person.