Seniors thought 2020 was going to be a great year, but then the coronavirus hit. After schools closed in March due to Covid-19, many people were happy. 

When the governor ordered the shelter in place, a lot of people in their homes or apartments were sad and depressed because they couldn’t go outside and hangout with their friends or go to the movies or the mall or basically anywhere. 

To me it wasn’t an issue because I live on a ranch and there are a lot of things to do to stay active, but even being removed from the city, we couldn’t escape the issues that plagued everyone..

A little over 10 years ago, I lived on Del Monte Ave with my mom, my brother and sisters, my aunt, and my grandparents. We got the ranch after my grandpa boss gave him an opportunity to live in a safe part of Salinas, away from the violence.

Living on the ranch was very different. We have 15 cows, 20 sheep, 10 goats, 10 pigs, and 2 horses. I have responsibilities on the ranch to feed the animals, check if any are sick or injured and sometimes I have to be on my horse making sure the cows and sheep don’t wander off. 

Since the pandemic started, my responsibilities have gotten harder because now instead of going to school I had to get up really early in the morning to feed the animals and check if they are doing well. Before the pandemic, I did my responsibilities after doing my school work. 

The typical days at the ranch are like hard work but not all time. My cousin and siblings run or play or sometimes help me feed the animals and take care of them. 

Like everyone else, we still needed to go to the store for food. It was hard for my mom and grandma to go into town to get food, while they waited in long lines at Costco and Walmart.  

Unlike other people, we had to buy food for the animals. We had a good stock of food for the animals to start, but it started to get harder and harder to buy food for them because pet stores and farm supply stores started to close. My grandpa decided that we had to start selling half the animals that are grown and we have to keep the ones that were born recently with their mothers, so that we can save enough money.

Another issue that many people had to deal with are health issues. Luckily no one got sick, but my grandpa has type two diabetes and can’t see well with his right eye. It’s been hard for him to be able to go to his doctor’s appointments and get his medication. His doctors had to cancel his eye surgery and it was harder for him to get his medication at the pharmacy. Thankfully, he’s getting better and my uncle came and helped out, which lowered everyone’s stress levels. 

Living on a ranch is a lot of hard work, but it is peaceful. Living there gave my family the benefits of not being afraid of going outside day or night, or being worried about the house getting robbed. The ranch changed me into a hardworking person and that helped me to finish my school work and my ranch work.