Looking back six years

Started: 2026-03-06 21:54:02

Submitted: 2026-03-06 22:47:56

Visibility: World-readable

Looking back six years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic became real for me

Six years ago today was my first day working remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic took over Seattle.

I might not even note this anniversary except that six years is an interesting round number to me: my kids are six years apart, so Julian is now as old as Calvin was when the pandemic took over our lives: ten years old, about to turn eleven, in the spring of fifth grade; about to finish elementary school and move on to middle school. Both Calvin and Julian had outdoor school scheduled for the end of March. Calvin's was canceled in the waves of closures that closed school and public spaces and kept us shut in our houses struggling to work and go to school. Julian's hasn't happened yet, but I have every expectation that it will. (None of the looming crises seem likely to disrupt daily life in Santa Cruz enough that they would cancel outdoor school in a couple of weeks.)

These days I can go months without thinking about COVID-19 at all. I can't remember the last time I took a nasal swab test. For the most part I think of COVID-19 as just another endemic respiratory infection; though if I were to test positive I'd still take it more seriously than other infections. It's no longer on my list of things to worry about (it's been replaced at the top of the list by what to do next after my startup got acquired by a tech giant).

The calm after the storm above Main Beach

As the accute phase of the pandemic receeds it's hard to remember what a weird time it was in our lives.