Like most Times Free Press writers, I’m covering the coronavirus from my dining room. I’m working on a live-edge, maple table I’m sharing with a jigsaw puzzle that has instructions in French and Italian. Being especially inept at puzzles and Romance languages, I am not tempted away from my work.
As a columnist, I have latitude to write about things that are unfolding right here at home. A few weeks ago I began writing a column called “Homebound.”
We are a typical homebound family. My wife is an elementary school teacher who is usually off in another part of the house Zoom-conferencing with fifth graders. Meanwhile, our 18-year-old son is trying to sew up his last semester of high school, while clearly heartsick about the loss of contact with his friends. Our 13-year-old has commandeered the garage as a woodworking shop, and neighbors stop by (at a distance) to admire his handmade tables.
Beside my usual columns, I’m also trying to keep momentum with a new weekly feature we call “Remember When, Chattanooga?” The idea is to highlight a documentary photo from Chattanooga’s past each week from Chattanoogahistory.com, a website devoted to old photographs.
Who knows, 50 years from now our children may “remember when” Chattanooga turned upside down during the strange, scary spring of 2020.
– Mark Kennedy, mkennedy@timesfreepress.com