For decades we’ve burrowed into the privacy of our back gardens. Now sheltering in place has us moving those patio chairs so we can snatch a moment of human connection.

WE ALWAYS knew humans were social creatures, but not until Covid-19 placed us all under house arrest did it become markedly apparent how much we require even trivial chatter and brief connection. Lately, by 5 p.m., my usually quiescent hillside street in Silver Lake, on the east side of Los Angeles, is crackling with multigenerational banter and dogs. Lounge chairs have sprouted up in yards and driveways like propagating agave, and many of us have migrated from the penetralia of our backyards to porches and lawns.
Its…