Virtual Meetings - What Is That???

Sage Evans

My office has been working remote for over a month now. It was recently brought to my attention that during virtual meetings there is this thing over my shoulder...and that's when I realized that there are TONS of things in the background of our work-from-home offices that we don't know what it is - like "what an awesome painting in Pam's kitchen" or "that's an amazing statue on Jim's bookshelf." 


With this in mind, I'll share a recent video snap and explain my "mysterious object." That red item leaning against the wall is an airplane propeller. My grandfather was a farmer and used to fly is tiny two-seater plane on Sundays so he could take my grandmother into town to see her friends for coffee. When they passed that was what I wanted, the propeller. To me, it's a symbol of love, of dedication, of caring for others...and in the case of Covid-19, it's also about love even though we're in isolation. 


So tell me - what is your mysterious object?



 

Barb Faasse

I love that story, Sage!  I don't have anything really mysterious behind me, just a gigantic wall clock and a bookshelf.  I do get a lot of comments on the clock.  When we first started all the virtual meetings someone asked me what time it was and I didn't understand why they were asking me that.  Of course they were just making reference to the clock.  


I did just have a virtual meeting with someone this week who had some kind of strange looking house shaped things behind her.  It turns out they are greenhouses and she is sprouting seeds in them until it's warm enough to plant them in her garden. 

Mary Zieten

The strangest thing that shows up in my meetings is my naked cats...

 



Other than that, it's usually just my bookshelves, which are pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

  


That's 2 of 5 (with a peek at the small one that isn't counted in the 5).  It's not my office so much as the library and occasional guest room, but I have to make it work with hubby also working from home, or he might be the strangest thing in my Zoom calls.  :P



And I LOVE your propeller!  That's so cool!  My grandfather had an actual landing strip on his property.  It's still there, but it's only an emergency strip at this point, so I've grown up sort of steeped in planes. 

 

Austen Brown

I don't have any mystery objects in my background but, like Mary Zieten‍ my cat makes frequent appearances in my virtual meetings.  Here's a photo of him taking over my desk while I work out of my reading chair...



 

Bryna Gleich

My dog is usually heard more than seen and I don't have any interesting objects behind me, but sometimes the view is very interesting in other ways. 


Often, the thing behind me is a large window that overlooks my neighbor's back yard and the street beyond. It lets a ton of natural light into my "office". I usually turn a lamp on in front of me too, so I don't appear like a mere silhouette on the webcam. Other times, I'll close the blinds until my meeting is over. 


My neighbor has teenagers, a fire pit, and a nice BBQ grill and smoker. The family also currently has a stack of tree trunks from a tropical storm and some old Christmas trees that they picked up from neighbors in early January. When the boy is bored or upset, sometimes we'll notice him chopping some of the wood down to more manageable sizes with a small axe.  Usually these things are not that interesting to look at. It smells good if the window is open though. 


However, a few weeks ago, instead of chopping their wood down to size, the one of the teens and a couple friends (who appeared to be home alone) dragged an entire Christmas tree into the fire pit on top of an existing smaller fire. Since Christmas was many months ago, the tree and all of its needles and limbs were extremely dried out. The teens walked back inside for a moment right after they placed the dead tree on the pit's small fire. 


Within moments, the flames were 10-12 feet high, which certainly caught my attention and some other people's attention too. There was a slight breeze so the flames were even leaning towards the backside of the teens' house.


Just as I grabbed my phone to call 911 and told my husband to get the fire extinguisher (from our kitchen or laundry), the teens tore out of the back door in an obvious panic with pitchers (of what I hope was just water or lemonade) that they dumped on the fire and another teen sprayed the towering inferno with a nearby garden hose.


Fortunately, it worked and the fire department was not needed. 


My husband hollered over to make sure they were ok. Aside from their pride, they were fine. 


 

Christina Beargie

Within moments, the flames were 10-12 feet high, which certainly caught my attention and some other people's attention too. There was a slight breeze so the flames were even leaning towards the backside of the teens' house.


Just as I grabbed my phone to call 911 and told my husband to get the fire extinguisher (from our kitchen or laundry), the teens tore out of the back door in an obvious panic with pitchers (of what I hope was just water or lemonade) that they dumped on the fire and another teen sprayed the towering inferno with a nearby garden hose.


Fortunately, it worked and the fire department was not needed. 


My husband hollered over to make sure they were ok. Aside from their pride, they were fine. 


 

We have had people pop out of meetings to talk to kiddos, move pets, answer the door, etc... but so far no one has used fire as an excuse! Glad they were ok... probably a memorable lesson in responsible fire-tending.

I have a window behind my computer screen and the most intersting thing I've seen is a mourning dove looking straight in at me from the adjacent roof.


Behind me is a pile of boxes, because we just moved.