Quarantined : Kira: Flower Farmer, Has a Horse as a Downstairs Neighbor: Outskirts of Seattle, WA

March 23-April 1, 2020

“7:15 pm - We have just been asked to move out of this house. James still leaves the house because he’s a first responder and I leave for the farm. Our brother in law is afraid. Panicked. Terrified. What the HELL are we going to do?? Where will we go in a quarantine??”

I met Kira when she was hired at my last restaurant job in Long Beach. I immediately got excited when I found out she was from Chicago and worked in the restaurant industry there. I’ve been homesick for Chicago in so many ways since moving back to California. It feels more like home to me than here. I miss the culture, the people, even the stinking weather.

So to have someone automatically understand all of that = immediate friend. However, Kira and her husband James’ short stint in Long Beach in fact lasted way too short and they soon moved to Seattle to live their dreams. He as a firefighter and she as a flower farmer. And they’re doing it! Obviously nothing is perfect, and you can see the struggles and anxieties Kira goes through in her new life, but they are doing it. Deciding on a goal and going for it. And they deserve it. They are such disciplined, loving, hardworking folk and I want nothing more for them than the bliss of a farm life with a horse for a downstairs neighbor.

Read on to experience all the emotions of living at the mercy of others during a global pandemic: