Welcome. I was talking to my colleague Kim Severson a few days ago about the strange rhythms of our lives before the coronavirus came, weeks cut up by work trips, a lot of nights away from home.
“Do you miss hotel life?” she asked.
I thought about it for a minute before responding, “I do, actually.”
And I do. I miss the empty neatness of the rooms in the business-travel hotels in which I usually stay, the views over parking lots with mountains in the distance, or a working river, a shimmery desert highway, a shadowed street. I miss the scratchy sheets and thin pillows and slowpoke internet access and the taste of lobby coffee I get on the way to the car. I miss learning things in new places. I miss going.
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Increasingly, that work is happening again, albeit with an abiding sadness, as some of my colleagues bear personal witness to the unrest that is gripping the nation even as the pandemic still swirls. And they are not alone. A lot of people are not at home any longer, not all the time. Some are in the streets, marching, kneeling, gathering close. Others are working, or heading out to trailheads, or eating in restaurants, or swimming hard at the local pool. Some are doing both. The specter of Covid-19 has changed a great deal for all of us, but not that: the enduring desire to connect, in public, with those we love and with those with whom we disagree.
But At Home remains: a beacon of possibility for those hours when you’re sheltered alone or with family, socially-distanced, keeping safe with clean hands. And there are still a lot of those hours. There will be for some time to come. Our best ideas for how to live a full and cultured life in a pandemic appear below. We publish more every day on At Home. Please visit.
How to deal.
What to eat.
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Samantha Seneviratne has a strawberry pie, above, that stays out of the way of its peak season fruit, with an end result that will remind you of strawberry shortcake.
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With all of the talk about sourdough starter and intricate desserts, you may be surprised to find out that the hapless cooks among us are struggling with rising to the challenge of cooking their own meals.
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And Melissa Clark continues to find solutions where other people only see problems. She perfected grilled salmon, and raided her pantry to plan recipes for banana scones, an Irish colcannon and a farro bean salad.
How to pass the time.
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You can get absolutely lost in “The Gross Clinic” by Thomas Eakins, above, but Jason Farago provided a road map.
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In a time filled with difficult conversations, few directors can tap into emotion better than Spike Lee, which makes A.O. Scott’s starter guide to Lee’s films a must read.
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And there are few better resources for tips, distractions and advice than our reporters, many of whom have added to our growing collection of Google Docs.
Like what you see?
You can always find much more to read, watch and do every day on At Home. And you can email us: athome@nytimes.com.
