HANCOCK COUNTY — For the past few Saturday mornings, Christina Webb and several of her friends have been meeting at the former Marsh Supermarket parking lot in Greenfield. They bring food and park in a circle. Many hop in their backseats and roll down their windows while others bring chairs and sit outside.
They call it a “social distancing breakfast.”
“This is how we’re getting our fix for each other,” Webb said. “…We can still see people we care about and have a good time.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
It’s one of the ways Hancock County residents are coping with the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Others are kicking their way through the crisis, spending more time with family and studying and working from home.
The social distancing breakfast club has about 13 participants, although not all show up every Saturday morning, Webb said. Some of them work together. Webb’s daughter and some of her girlfriends are also in the group.
Webb said she thought the weekly meet-up would be a good way to relieve stress about work situations and being stuck at home all the time.
“It’s kind of nice to catch up and just chat and cut up and play games, whatever pops in our heads,” she said.
Karate in quarantine
In a Fortville ATA Black Belt Academy internet video conference on Wednesday, April 15, instructor Jordan Spearman led a class of first- and second-degree black belt students through high kicks. The pupils mimicked his movements in their living rooms, bedrooms and basements.
Tammy Parker, owner and chief instructor of the academy, along with instructor Alan White, sat before their screens keeping a watchful eye over the martial artists in training.
“Looking good guys; keep it up!” Parker said.
The students later practiced with swords. Some who didn’t have access to the weapons had to improvise. One student, for instance, brandished a toy light saber.
Pre-pandemic, the academy held classes at its location in Fortville six days a week. Parker said it’s now running classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and breaking them up into smaller groups so they can be more personal in the virtual setting. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for by-appointment private lessons.
The academy started doing online classes on March 20.
“As soon as we were told we couldn’t meet as a group, we jumped right in and started online,” Parker said.
A little more than 100 students train at the academy, 75 to 90 of whom have been regularly keeping up with classes online, she continued.
Some students have been training with the academy for years, Parker said, adding martial arts is all about setting and pursuing goals. It becomes a significant part of their lives, she also said. Oftentimes, kids start and then parents follow, making karate an activity they can enjoy together.
“For me, it wasn’t even really a question — are we going to do this?” Parker said. “It was OK, this is the next step, we need to keep going.”
Family ties
While the pandemic is forcing Greenfield resident Jacob Steinmetz to distance himself from many, it’s also allowing him to grow closer to others.
Steinmetz was furloughed from his job working security at the Washington Square Mall in Indianapolis. He’s been helping his parents, with whom he lives, with yard work during his extra free time.
He said he appreciates the additional time he gets to spend with his mom and dad.
“I never got to see them as much as I do now with always being busy with work,” Steinmetz said.
He used to go to a gym four days a week. Now that he’s no longer able to do that, he’s been running 2 miles a day outside.
Steinmetz also keeps up with his brother, sister-in-law and nephew via video chat.
“You can’t visit them like you normally would,” he said. “It’s not fair, but you got to accept it.”
His and his family’s Christian faith is helping them get through the new way of life, he continued, adding he expects the experience to make him more appreciative by the time it’s over.
“It makes you grateful for interactions with people like we used to have on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
Independent studies
Before COVID-19, Greenfield resident Shauna Keith wasn’t home much at all. The full-time student studies anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she also worked in a lab as a research assistant.
Going to college from home has been a new challenge.
“I feel like there’s more to do, in a sense, now,” she said, adding she’s set to get her degree in May, but unfortunately without a ceremony.
Keith tries not to consume too much pandemic-related news. She goes for walks to get out of the house. The Pennsy Trail was her initial choice, but she soon found many others had the same idea, making it difficult to maintain social distancing. She’s since switched to walking around her neighborhood.
Understanding how the pandemic is impacting other parts of the country and world is helping her keep perspective and a positive attitude, she said.
“We’re in a pretty good place here,” she added.
Home work
Dave Meeker of New Palestine said he’s only been away from his home twice in the last month, both to get allergy shots, something that’s “mission critical” this time of year.
He’s able to work at home for the business he owns, Bringing Technology To You LLC, whose services include health care and technology consulting and digital storytelling. Meeker keeps busy with his social media initiatives like #NewPalOpen4Biz, which promotes New Palestine businesses impacted by a highway closure for a bridge replacement on U.S. 52. He also recently launched a telehealth kiosk in Morristown Pharmacy.
While he can work from home, many of his efforts are better served when he can be out and about.
“It’s been very challenging not being mobile,” he said.
The pandemic has put some of his passions on hold completely, like Connect at the Top, a networking event he organizes at Skyline Club Indianapolis.
Recreationally, he’s adjusted to being unable to use his gym membership by getting his exercise through working outside and on an exercise bike.
Maintaining a positive attitude is key as well, he continued.
“I try to focus on keeping moving forward,” he said. “If I sit and ponder about the what-ifs, it just gets you down in the dumps.”
