Hey, good morning. If you’re a regular reader of The Quick Fox, you might have noticed it’s gotten a bit irregular this month. I probably don’t need to tell you that this irregularity is the result of all the chaos surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Covering the pandemic and also living through it is taking a substantial amount of mental overhead.
Toronto, where I am, is pretty shut down. My husband and I are both working from home, which is normal for me but extraordinary for him. He teaches high school and I got to make a cameo in one of his classes on Monday explaining why the disease is called COVID-19. I’m reporting on it a lot, like everybody else.
As far as I know, everyone in my circle is well at this point, though that could change rapidly. I’m very worried for a lot of people in my life and I feel very separated from many of you by the closed border.
In the midst of all this, I’m having an intense creative period. I’ve been working on a few essays and longer pieces, along with my regular work, and I’ve had the pleasure of taking Dave Housley’s short story writing workshop through Barrelhouse. They’re also offering free online read-in and write-ins to help us all cope with social isolation.
How are you doing? You can reach me anytime at kat.eschner@gmail.com or by replying to this email. If there’s something you think I should be covering right now, let me know. And I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Roundup
Things I read this week, sorted by the amount of time I suspect it will take you to get through them.
Shortish
Nature takes back the world’s empty city streets (AFP; Julie Pacorel & Laure Fillon; Chile and elsewhere)
Keeping gorillas safe amid COVID-19 concerns (Mongabay; Liz Kimbrough; Rwanda)
Google’s 3D tigers, other animals surge in popularity among parents amidst coronavirus (9to5Google, Kyle Bradshaw, United States)
Coronavirus clears beach for endangered sea turtle hatchlings in Brazil (Global News; Josh K. Elliott; Brazil)
Longish
A cat appears to have caught the coronavirus, but it’s complicated (Science News; Helen Thompson; Belgium)
Our environmental practices make pandemics like the coronavirus more likely (Vox; Sigal Samuel; the internet)
Interesting/cheery/escapism
The unashamed empathy of literature’s original horse girl (Jezebel; Rachel Vorona Cote; the bookshelf)
Please read me
My most recent work.
The last word
Last week’s Zoom spelling bee was fun, and I’m hosting another one this Friday night. It’s free—I just ask that you donate money, time or effort to help an individual or group.
Questions? Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Contact me at my email or on Twitter. If you enjoy this newsletter and would like to tip me, I am on Ko-fi.
All images in The Quick Fox are used under Creative Commons licensing. Efforts have been made to ensure that photographs of living animals or natural scenes have been taken ethically, in responsible pet ownership conditions, at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums or under safe, non-damaging conditions in the wild. If you see an issue with any image we share, please notify me.