In this continuing photo project by Beckie Kern, Rob Danforth (ISO Principal Horn) talks about how the past 13 months of the pandemic has affected him and his family, and the people he has gotten to know during this time.
"I’ve managed the pandemic reasonably well. What has probably helped the most is that in September 2020 I started working as a contact tracer for the Indiana State Department of Health. Having this job has provided an income which has helped to minimize withdrawals from my retirement accounts and has also given me a reason to get out of bed everyday. An unexpected pleasure has been the people I have had the honor to work with. Working remotely from home has meant that I have never met them in person. But I have found this to be a group of intelligent, capable, hardworking people who care about the clients they serve and offer tremendous support to their coworkers.
The beginning of the pandemic was pretty stressful for our family. We often had two or three of our college/grad school age kids at home (which was really nice). My wife is a nurse and in March 2020 started caring for Covid patients at work. This, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the disease, made the spring of 2020 a difficult time. Fortunately we have all managed to make it through the last year Covid-free. Overall, our family has managed well. However, I do feel bad about how this has affected the opportunities and education for my 20-something children, especially my two youngest who are music majors.
During the summer of 2020, when I wasn’t employed, I was getting out for rigorous exercise regularly and was in great shape and lost some weight. I am a mountain biker and was able to ride over to Ft. Harrison about every other day and ride the trails. However, with a sedentary job and no time for exercise, the weight has come back (and more). I am looking forward to better weather and more sunlight after work to hit the trails again.
The most difficult aspect of the pandemic has been maintaining my skills as a horn player. Even with a lot of time on my hands it was a challenge to be motivated to practice regularly when the reward of playing in the orchestra wasn’t there. It has been especially difficult to have the energy to do it with a 40-hour a week job plus a part time job teaching at DePauw University. But if I am to maintain my skills and continue to perform my job at the level I expect of myself the practicing has to be done. So….I do it."
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