Reporting by Nina Joss from her home in Plymouth, Michigan.
Located in the greater Detroit area, on the western edge of Wayne County, Plymouth is a small town defined by its friendly family atmosphere. Its town center features restaurants ranging from an Irish pub to a fancy Italian grill, along with many local shops. A central park with a beautiful fountain is the perfect place for children to make wishes on pennies, not far from the $3 local movie theatre and the town’s most popular ice cream shop, Dairy King.
Plymouth’s sense of community is based around its neighborhoods, where neighbors are friends and kids safely play on tree-lined streets. With a well-recognized public school system and new gastropubs and breweries popping up in town, Plymouth is gaining population and living up to its motto: “The village of homes.”
As Detroit has quickly become one of the US hotspots of COVID-19, the community of Plymouth has certainly been affected. Stay-at-home orders from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went into effect on March 23rd, and the town shut down. During a normal springtime, Downtown Plymouth would be brimming with couples going out for date nights, friends meeting up for drinks and families going to enjoy open-air concerts in the park. Now, the streets are quieter—but not completely.
The weight of this crisis rests on the community as it sees the numbers rise rapidly, yet people here have maintained their spirit. Friendly waves across the street, socially distant walks in the neighborhoods and children’s paintings of rainbows in windows embody a place that sticks together, even in the darkest of times.
By Nina Joss Written April 7, 2020 Since Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced stay-at-home orders in Michigan on March 24, I have spent most of my nights watching a captivating heist-themed television show with my dad, brother and sister. My mom has spent most of her nights studying. As a nurse at a hospital in Read more about The Volunteer[…]
By Nina Joss My neighbor Stephen, a soft-spoken 31-year-old in glasses and a stocking cap, stood on the curb in front of his house, holding a large painted sign made of sheet metal. On it, a balding man with bright eyes held a shot glass full of dark liquid in one hand, his other Read more about Plymouth Pause[…]
By Nina Joss April 10 cold air nose running bonfire smell through the golden curtained light in the window of a house I used to think no one lived in– someone playing a beautiful, intense piano— the notes flowing past the shut shades with the warm light into the empty street. I wonder if she Read more about evening walk[…]
By Nina Joss April 13 I watch the news and they talk about things starting to calm down, the deaths in NYC are less than 700 per day now. My first reaction is rather perverse. To be honest, it is a, “No! Don’t tell us we’re not gonna have another snow day, that the storm Read more about When This Ends[…]
By Nina Joss April 15 The word “quarantine” used to seem dystopian, historical. Something of the time of Typhoid Mary. It will always have a new connotation now. A personal one. A shared one, too.
By Nina Joss April 15 It’s not just being stuck in place that’s hard, but maybe even more so, stuck in time. I wasn’t planning on living in Michigan for more than maybe two or three weeks this summer. I’m starting to get used to it here—it’s easy for me to readapt to home. But Read more about Pause[…]
By Nina Joss March 25 I wonder how we’ll look back at this age, this time when the world shut down. Living history—a special adrenaline I’ll never get tired of. It’s nostalgic once it’s happened to you before—maybe, in some ways, the last time felt bigger. But oh, it’s different every time. April 5 It’s Read more about Living History (Again)[…]
By Nina Joss April 3 I’m feeling sad. Springtime in Richmond is the best time of year and I just got a text from my friend that made me think of goofy things we used to do and River Dance and spontaneous times and all of the beautiful friendships that I was gonna get to Read more about Nostalgia[…]
By Nina Joss March 25 Someone I know just posted on Facebook that her relative has COVID-19 and has a 5% survival estimate, asking for prayers. That is not even close to me, but suddenly it’s real. If he dies, it will be from this. This that is making us stay home, this that some Read more about Immunity vs. Reality[…]
By Nina Joss March 23 Why does it take until now, a global crisis, a PANDEMIC, for us to realize we have to take care of ourselves? Why does it take being locked at home to put time into our hobbies and our health? Why does it take having no other options for us to Read more about The Bright Sides[…]