Working from home while trying to keep tabs on Andover life during the pandemic shutdown is quite a challenge. While e-mail and telephone communications have always been standard operating procedure for the newspaper, now they have to stand in for in-person contacts as well. Personally, I miss seeing people and visiting businesses, but I am grateful that the nature of this job allows me to work remotely.

Many people have commented on their new way of life, and how they are coping with work, studies, being cooped up, and how they are finding creative ways to keep busy. I thought our readers would be interested in knowing how their neighbors are faring. The takeaway, as I see it, is that New Englanders are very self sufficient and creative. Here are their quotes:

Elizabeth Frost, Beacon Volunteer and East Andover Resident:
During this coronavirus quarantine, I have managed to keep busy. My first project was to go through my buckets of old photos and organize them. That took me a week! Since then I have been doing some sewing (made some cloth face masks for the family), some knitting (finished a scarf that I had started over two years ago), reading, crossword puzzles, and lots of walking. I feel very fortunate and thankful to live here where we can get outside in the yard to rake or just go for a walk.

Jan Brennan, Beacon Volunteer and Andover Resident:
We are still down in Florida and, due to this pandemic are anxiously awaiting the time when we feel safe to take the car trip back up the east coast to New Hampshire. I feel out of touch with close family and friends, and miss spending time with my grandsons.

We are lucky to be hunkered down in our home and are safe. Thank goodness that I have the internet and can search for new recipes, and love to try different dishes; some great and others not so good!  Early morning solitary walks are good for the body and soul, which improves my state of mind. I find that many of my neighbors are also walking, keeping at least a 10-foot distance while greeting everyone with smiles.

Like everyone else I am anxious to return to normal activities and to see friends. I keep reminding myself that time will come.

Larry Chase, Andover Resident:
How am I doing in the midst of this crisis?  I’m doing pretty much the same things I was doing before: sitting at the computer working on writing projects for The Andover Community Hub, the Andover Energy Group, the Andover Historical Society, The Andover Beacon, etc.; taking and editing photographs for the same projects; setting aside an hour or so for some sort of regular exercise; maintaining some sort of social contact with friends via email; doing the crossword puzzles in the daily and Sunday online New York Times; and running errands in Franklin, New London, and — occasionally — Concord.

The only changes are (1) the errand-running has been cut way back; (2) the exercises now tend to be in-house rather than outside or at the Proctor gym; (3) the viewing of TV news has increased; and (4) my concern for the future of our country and our planet, already high before the pandemic, has increased dramatically. So far, at least, the increase in alcohol consumption has been less so.

Andover Service Club:
Members of the Andover Service Club have been sewing face masks for use during the next weeks and, perhaps, months. Large and medium masks are available at JJ’s Convenience Store on Main Street in Andover. A donation to the Andover Service Club will be gladly accepted at the store.

Volunteers at the Andover Service Club Thrift and Gift Shop gathered all of the ‘scrubs’ (nursing attire) at the shop, washed and folded them, and delivered them to area hospitals.

Andover Fish & Game Club:
We are cancelling our kids’ spring fishing derby in May and are hoping we can still do our beef bbq and Chinese Auction in August.

We recommend that everyone take hikes and explore places in the woods that they never took time to check out before. You might even see some wildlife you have never seen before.

Douglas Phelps, Beacon Board of Directors; Andover Resident:
Although I’ve lost an important part of my routine, playing music at venues on the weekends, I’ve gained time to take care of projects around the house that I never had time to get to. I’ve also been able to read more and learn to use my Pro Tools recording application more fully. I’ve been able to ride my bike much more than I have in years. I was eating out at restaurants often before, and now am cooking at home. I’ve also learned to take the time to appreciate how lucky I am to be working where I work and living where I live.

Margo Coolidge, Beacon Volunteer; Andover Resident:
Being stuck at home isn’t so bad, realizing that we are safer here than in public right now.  We are both grateful to be sheltering here with each other, the best of friends. 
As elders, my husband and I are so grateful for the sacrifices of our community and our family as they help those more vulnerable. We realize that they have had a much, much harder time than we.

Although we have missed getting together with others very much, we are communicating by phone, FaceTime, and Zoom (brand new to us). We watch church services by YouTube. We share cooked and baked goods with family and friends. This unplanned-for time has given us the chance to develop new hobbies and rekindle old enthusiasms, like music and books. My sewing machine has been getting a real workout as I make masks for ourselves and others. My husband has his weekly committee meetings by Zoom. He is taking a course in quantum mechanics online. And with the weather warming up, we are getting a lot more exercise outside! For all our sakes, we hope that things return to normal soon!

Alex Estin, East Andover Resident; Bookstore Manager, Proctor Academy:
I never thought we would see anything like this in my lifetime. I feel so lucky to be here in rural New Hampshire! I have such empathy for those in the cities and those on the front lines. I work at Proctor and when we knew the students weren’t coming back for the Spring term, I became extremely busy. I was sending medications home to families.

It also meant that the Spring term books needed to be sent out to all our students. With the off-campus programs not happening, it meant sending class books to about 370 kids. The hardest part was trying to find out where everyone was, as many families hunkered down in some different spots. It was a very busy three weeks trying to get everything out. Things have settled down, at least until we start sending things home to kids. I know that I can’t complain though, as there are so many who have lost their jobs and livelihoods or have been infected with the virus.

I just want to thank all of those people who are on the front lines, such as doctors, nurses, all healthcare workers, grocery store employees, and all others that are there for the rest of us. It is so nice to see how our little town of Andover has come together to help each other. I know many others that offer to get groceries for their neighbors. How great of the Refinery, The kitchen, and JJ’s to offer many of the necessities so that people can just go short distances and stay in safer environments right now. We have such a caring community and I can’t imagine being anywhere else in these very hard times.

I am looking forward to having some down time but worry that I won’t know what to do with myself. I do know I have many home projects to be working on though, which will keep me busy.

Scott Allenby, Andover Resident; Director of Communications & Strategic Initiative, Proctor Academy
We each know the value of slow. We vividly recall the experience of a rainy summer day as a ten-year old with nothing to do, waiting at the window for the mailman to arrive in hopes of interrupting the endless boredom. And yet, for most of us, the notion of slowness in our adult life has always felt more like an ideal than a reality as we scramble through our to-do lists and rush from one activity to the next, clinging to the hope of a half hour of Netflix before bed as our version of unwinding.

Working at Proctor Academy, our family thrives on student energy. Games, classes, assemblies, shared meals – it is the pace of life that sustains us. While we appreciate the intermittent breaks in the academic schedule to catch our breath, this spring is a painful reminder that life on campus just isn’t the same without our students.

Too often we slow down only when the brakes are applied to our life through tragedy or illness, or I guess we can add pandemics to that list as well. Only in these moments do we pause to reevaluate the priorities that have crept into our lives, priorities that may or may not reflect who we want to be. These priorities are evident in how we allocate our time and resources. There is no avoiding this.

Inventory your last “normal” week pre-quarantine. Where did you spend money? Time? Who were you investing in? Who were you not? And, importantly, how has that shifted over the past six weeks? Personally, this period of slowness has been a powerful reminder of what matters – who matters – and maybe, just maybe, we will each emerge from the social distance we have kept having moved just a bit closer to our center, not further away from it.

By Ms. Hilde (Gretchen Hildebrand, Andover Resident; AE/MS Second Grade Teacher) and Mr. Bubbles (Grade 2 Mascot):

As my students, my family and my neighbors are WELL AWARE, remote learning is NOT my first choice!  Like most teachers I know, I gain energy and great happiness from the ‘aha’ of new learning as it is taking place as well as literally being WITH the children on a daily basis. In school, we are a family – my second graders and I – so this really feels like ‘relative’ isolation to me. I will be thrilled to be back in the ‘ole knowledge box’ again. The only things keeping me going at times are seeing the kids’ faces on Google and playing catch with my dog, Jack.

As for Mr. Bubbles (our class hedgehog), it has been difficult to get much of a verbal opinion, so I have resorted to observing. When I wake him during the day, his little nose doesn’t wiggle as curiously as it does when he is awakened at school.  Therefore, I think he is bored and depressed to be around only two humans. He seems to want to be held for longer than I usually hold him at home… he misses his boy and girl cuddles. When I asked him if he wanted to go back to AE/MS, he ran harder on his wheel and I think I saw a little ‘paw up’ for YES.

By Little Pete Hildy (“Andover Secret Service” Canine):
So, the last thing I remember about The White House where my two footer worked was having to get dressed in my fancy clothes. My two footer told me the only way I could continue to go to the office was to STOP announcing everybody that walked through the door. Funny thing, isn’t that what the Secret Service is SUPPOSED to do?  So I stopped the pronouncement of the announcements, got my fancy duds on so I look as good as the President of Andover, learned to do this thing they call “schmoozing”…  how gross is that?  And guess what?  No more Auntie Lois, no more sausage sandwiches from Auntie Bonnie, Auntie Patti must have been fired… I haven’t seen her in FOREVER!  I sleep a lot, and I am glued to my two footer like nobody’s business… does anyone understand how hard this is on us four footers?  Please be kind to us and let us be kind to you.

By the other Ms. Hildy (Kathy Hildebrand, Andover Resident; Town Hall Custodian):
I am probably one of the few who can honestly sit here and say I have embraced my life since the beginning of COVID-19 and have never been happier in my life. People who are bored…how can that be? There are ALWAYS tasks to be done, chores to do, maintenance on your home, your shed,- there is SO MUCH TO DO! I am thankful I have my health, a little bit of know how, tools, etc.  I have accomplished so much!

My heart breaks for the students that once had order and stability in their lives. Now, only confusion and sadness… The heart of my wife has been broken not being with her kids. Her academic energy is at an all time low because she cannot explore WITH the kids and because of the loss of daily in-person strength and support she gleans from her colleagues.
This virus has broken our world – literally- in two. There are those in our country who have done too little, too late and our people are paying a tragic price.

I am enraged for weddings and graduations that won’t happen; for families who are mourning those lost, but are unable to properly bury them; for those people with preexisting conditions who live in fear hour by hour; for the millions and millions who no longer can put food on the table because both adults have lost their jobs.

The list goes on and on. And yet for me, I try to embrace the following: to everything there is a season – and yes, even for COVID-19. I also wonder if this Pandemic is amongst us to teach ALL of us to become better people – to ourselves and each other, to our family and friends. I will continue to try and remember every day to give thanks in ALL things – I hope you will join me.

Note from the Publisher: Thank you to everyone above for sharing their personal thoughts and feelings about the unprecedented changes to everyday life that we are all enduring. If anyone else would like to share their experiences with our readers in the June Beacon, please send them to articles@nullandoverbeacon.com by May 15.