Portrait Projects
Between June 2021 and June 2022, while the world was still reeling from the Pandemic that engulfed us all, my husband and I traveled the Great American Loop in our small motorboat. This 6000 mile journey travels along the rivers, canals, lakes and intracoastal waterways of the eastern United States. Along the way I met many people whose lives were linked to the water and I was curious how they fared during the COVID lockdowns. I asked them: “what did you learn about yourself during the Pandemic?”
M, Bartender, Port Huron MI
It was Super Bowl Sunday, January 3rd 2020, I came home from work- I was working the night shift at the time so I had worked from 2am to 2 in the afternoon and I got to my house, it was a rental in Marysville. I opened the door and water came pouring out so I closed the door real fast and looked in the window and then I called the restoration company. They had to get a liquid barrel truck that has a meter on it to suck out the water. They sucked out 9000 gallons of water out of my house-9742 gallons. This house was on a concrete slab, then you know you have to go through the insurance process and they had to knock out the wall in the bathroom and took out the electrical for the whole house—and you know it’s January in Michigan, it’s freezing. So they had to cut out parts of the walls, half way up, all around the house and then COVID happened and shut everything down, all the construction. So from January 3rd, I stayed at a hotel for a few days and then some very good friends said come stay with us, it’ll only be for a few weeks. Well it turned into a few months. For the entire COVID shut down I was basically homeless. So from January 3rd to June 1st, I was not in my house. Plus as I thought I was going to stay in a local hotel for a few days, I only took a basket with 3 pairs of work pants, shirts, 3 pairs of socks and underwear and 2 pairs of shoes. And that’s all I had until June. The restoration company packed everything while I was at work and I had no idea where anything was. So what I learned in 2020 is thank god for good friends and never live in a place that I don’t own again. I never want to live in a place that I don’t have control over. And the other thing I learned is that I didn’t realize when I sold my big house and moved into a rental that how much of my lifestyle and my happiness was a result of being in love with my home. My house that I owned was big and friendly and I’m an artist so it had a lot of personality and it was always filled with friends. So I didn’t realize how much my motivation for doing stuff I don’t want to do, like going to work to a job I can’t stand, you know I can always do that without a problem before, I didn’t care because I had enough reasons when I came home—I liked my life and I loved my home, I loved my friends being there and being comfortable in my home. So the most important thing I learned in 2020 is that I have to love where I live. I have to be in love with my home.