Arc of Abilities: Still on the Long Road

First up this week, musings from Lisa, the blog author:

Five years ago at this time, I was on a family trip in the dessert Southwest. I took this picture from the car as we traveled down a long road toward Monument Valley, Utah. At the time, I thought a long road was just where I wanted to be, as it was serene and beautiful out there.

In contrast, the "long road" we are on now leaves me with mixed feelings. Like many of you, the quarantine has been difficult, frightening, and worrisome in many ways, but in other ways, something of a blessing. The ability for a bit of extra rest comes to mind...at least for those of us working from home. Still, as we end the 11th week, it is very evident that we are on a long road and the return to "normal" is questionable. Everything has changed.

We know our Arc of Abilities group will be together again, stronger than ever, in due time. June is coming, and with the reopening phases taking place, we are hopeful it won't be long. One thing is certain, though. It will be the new "normal" and we will adapt with all the grace and skill with which we always do! I know we're all looking forward to that day.

On to this week in the lives of our amazing associates and their families!

Before our Tuesday Zoom session Alexis helped cut and tape together some visuals for our shark jokes. Thanks for your help, Alexis!

We celebrated Tracy's birthday on Tuesday! She's the one in the yellow box telling us about going on a 10 mile bike ride for her birthday! WOW, that's a long way! We hope you have a wonderful year to come, Tracy! Happy Birthday!

We try to have a movement or short dance session each time we Zoom. Xavier's mom reports that he enjoys that part of our meeting! Here, he was dancing to a fun video clip called "Dance Like This Dude." You, go, Xavier!!

We have been so fortunate during the quarantine that Liz and her mom, Lise, have been dedicated caretakers of our garden area at AFCC. They have kept the birdfeeders full, and recently pulled dead growth out of the planters.

This week, they planted pretty lantana flowers and surrounded them with herbs - rosemary, thyme, and parsley! Our master gardener friends would be so proud! 👏👏

They are simply beautiful! We will look forward to cooking with those herbs when we get back to AFCC. Thank you, Liz and Lise, for continuing to take care of our garden. You have done a fantastic job and we truly appreciate it!

Before leaving our garden, Liz ran into Mo from the Grove Community Garden (behind the school), and they exchanged an air hug! Mo says she misses her Arc friends! We miss seeing the wonderful work Mo is doing in the Community Garden. These two inspire each other! 🥰

Remember how all the fellas were getting haircuts last week? This week, some of the girls got in on the action! You can see Liz's shorter locks above, and here is Miss Laura after her trim. We all know Laura counts the days until her next haircut, so we're sure she was happy with this. Both of you girls look lovely, as always!

Here's Abraham after he completed one of the shark assignments from this week. He was very proud of having connected the dots and colored it in. 👍 to you, Abraham!

Kate is becoming quite the chef! This is her cracking a couple of eggs. We like your technique, Kate!

Looks like the pan was ready on the stove...not sure if she scrambled those eggs or made an omelet, but we're sure it was yummy! 😋

On the subject of cooking, we are thankful to Devin's Aunt Sam this week for the donation of a crockpot and a roaster to our kitchen supplies! She will see her nephew using these items very soon, we hope! Thanks so much, Aunt Sam!

Kevin's family, like all of us, has probably been cooking at home a lot in recent weeks. With restaurants being allowed to serve on patios now, they were happy to go to the restaurant where his sister Courtney works and enjoy outdoor dining!

Kevin, your beverage looks refreshing!

On another pretty day, Kevin helped his dad grill a special dinner for Courtney's birthday!

This was Courtney's "Golden Birthday," as she turned 25 on the 25th! We wish her a very happy year to come! 🎂

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Sam and his folks took a road trip to North Carolina. Sam also enjoyed outdoor dining!

Remember last week when we posted a picture of Liz pointing to the osprey nest at the Warhill Complex? Well, this week she spotted either the mother or father osprey attending to the nest! Even through the fog, we can see the osprey up there. Exciting!