During the shutdown, porches fill up with pickups, drop-offs and kindness – Democrat & Chronicle

Jim Memmott Published 5:00 a.m. ET April 28, 2020 | Updated 9:40 a.m. ET April 28, 2020

A birdhouse showed up on the porch, unannounced.(Photo: Provided)

I hopped in my car, donned my mask and headed off as soon as I got the message.

There is a box of macarons on my porch, Anne Lutkus had texted me and a lot of other people. If you walk by, help yourself to celebrate my birthday.

When I arrived, I was relieved. There were macarons left.

Last year, when she turned 80, Anne had a party for herself, complete with fireworks. We sat on the porch of the Wadsworth Homestead in Geneseo and looked to the west as the rockets shot into the air, exploded, lit the ground below.

Jim Memmott in the County Legislature Building.(Photo: ANNETTE LEIN/staff file photo)

This year, given the fact that were all keeping away from each other because of the pandemic, there could be no fireworks, or even aparty. But there were macarons on Annes porch, there for the taking.

Porches used to be for sitting. Now theyre for drop-offs and pickups no-contact connections that make isolation tolerable.

As Ive written, our side porch is a jigsaw puzzle exchange station. Friends call, put an order in for a 500-piece, not-so-hard puzzle or a 1,000-piece head-scratcher. My wife, Cindy Schmitt, sets one out of the porch. Its gone; another puzzle is there in its place.

We have quite a few puzzles to lend, as a masked lady from Avon showed up after my column on jigsaw puzzles and left us 10 or so, just like that. We thanked her as she hustled back to her car.

The gift was prompted by a previous column about license-plate spotting.(Photo: Provided)

One afternoon, I looked out on the side porch and there was a birdhouse made of license plates. It was there, Im sure, in reaction to a column Id written on how, given constrictions on travel, Cindy and I missed looking for license plates from other states as we drive.

There was no note with the license-plate birdhouse, but From the shop of Ken Richardson was stamped on the post. Ken lives around the corner from us. I didnt know he made birdhouses. Now I do.

Other items show up on our porch. We open the door and see groceries, masks, books proof that we are not alone, that kindness continues, indeed flourishes, in times like this.

There can be no fireworks; there can be no parties. But there can be puzzles and birdhouses. And there can be macarons, right there on Annes porch. I took two.

More from Jim's series: The plan was to potty-train during the shutdown. What could go wrong?

A lilac tree brings memories of a relative she never got to meet

Old mail during this shutdown feels like time travel

From his home in Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott will document the new normal of living in a socially distant world. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY, 14454.

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During the shutdown, porches fill up with pickups, drop-offs and kindness - Democrat & Chronicle