To keep herself busy and earn some additional income, Potkins found a commercial kitchen on the southside where she could prepare food for catering.
“I did a Mother’s Day Isolation Brunch and a Father’s Day Isolation Brunch and started preparing freezer meals.” Customers pre-ordered the brunches and Potkins delivered the food to their homes.
Halton clarified her feelings. “The ability to plant a garden was a privilege in itself. Keeping my mind busy but remaining present. It was less an activity for food security, but more a mental health break and focus on something life-giving.”
An accountant, Fowler quit her job to stay home with the children during the pandemic. They took long walks in the wind, rain, and sun, picking sage and wildflowers. They learned about the healing properties of plants. They watched the complicated relationships and lives of the animals they shared their yard with, such as ground squirrels, raccoons, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, yellow finches, and robins.