May 5, 2020 (May 05, 2020)

Every meeting participant was asked to share something they felt positive about and something frustrating them. Without dwelling on our frustrations, here is what everyone shared as to their positive experience from all this: Buzz Lundeen said he enjoys looking out his window and seeing the plants blooming and feeling like he is retired. This writer appreciated his daughter and son-in-law, Laurel and Ryon Kilde, for making it possible for him to work from home. Mike Smith was happy about being able to see his grandson a lot since his wife is providing daycare for him. Wally Cole enjoyed having his wife Marci home for two weeks and getting through three years of newspapers culling articles and pictures on Rotarians. Bonnie Denzel enjoys the weekly family virtual lunch meetings with one child in San Francisco and one in Honolulu. Dean Monke similarly appreciated his Friday night Zoom sessions with family members; same for Pete Wasberg but his family gets together Saturday evenings. Elaine Olson was grateful she could still stay in her home. Jake Hexum was happy he and his wife Ellyn were able to return to Fergus Falls three months ago after living in the Cities for five years and being able to get a lot of home projects done. Erika Lahti likes having more time with her sister now that Erika has a driver's license, as well as being able to spend more time on her hobbies. Steve Andrews was overjoyed that the place he parks his car when in New York is waiving the $10 a day parking charge because of the circumstances (leave it to a former County Treasurer to focus on the financial side of things). Brian Tjaden appreciated having more time to work on house projects. Tim Hunt said life is good and we are sitting in a great place, also commenting that he and Desta are playing a lot more games. Katie Johnson also said she was playing more games, her and her daughter loving cards. Ken Harty was thankful his family is all healthy while Anthony Nordan noted his son is starting to pull himself up on the couch. John MacFarlane commented on seeing three goslings that morning. Keith Olson was appreciative of Brian Tjaden's hairdresser still working. Greg Darling and his wife Connie have been able to work on some things together. Mary Pettit indicated she was truly grateful for technology that allows us to stay connected with family, friends and clients, as well as being able to spend more time with her husband. Dan Johnson appreciated being able to keep a fairly normal work schedule, as has his wife. Lois Josefson Russell said her highlight was being able to hear all of these comments, particularly recognizing Keith's commitment to visit Iceland, albeit that has been delayed. Kathy Austvold said that this is the first time she has had a chance to stay at home for an extended time period and is happy to be there.