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This weekly series shares what life is like for your fellow community members during a global health pandemic.

Practical gifts for the new normal

Buying birthday gifts for friends and families can be challenging, but Linda Winse knew what to get for her best friend.

“Every year she says, ‘Buy me something practical,’� Winse said.

That something practical during the coronavirus crisis included face masks, gloves and hand sanitizers.

“This is a new normal for now,� Winse said. “By the way, Mary loved her present.�

Comet Neowise

If you find yourself looking to the sky for an escape from reality, you’re not alone.

Peter Arebalo was looking upward when he captured comet Neowise C/2020 F3 with his camera in the early morning hours of July 8.

“It was a very beautiful sight, and even a very good naked eye object,� he said. “(The) landscape is being naturally lit by a waning moon.�

The comet made its once-in-a-lifetime close approach to the sun on July 3 and will cross outside the Earth’s orbit on its way back to the outer parts of the solar system by mid-August, the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ said.

Earlier this week, the comet could be seen in the early morning northeastern sky near the horizon between 4 and 4:30 a.m., the UA said. As of Saturday, it became visible in the northwest sky just after sunset.

Observers might be able to see the comet’s central core, or nucleus, with the naked eye in dark skies; using binoculars will give a good look at the fuzzy comet and its long, streaky tail, which looks a bit like the beam of a flashlight pointing up, the UA said.