I'd like to think that one benefit of this slowdown (if not shutdown) is being able to reconnect with nature more often.

Oh, so much! Having become more familiar with my neighbor's streets has made me an attentive audience to trees and gardens and the seasons of flowers. I am honestly learning so much about the local plants that it's really fascinating - if you had asked me a year ago whether daffodils or irises or peonies come first, I would have looked at you like your head had come off. Now I keep up a running tally of which streets are going to have blossoms in the coming weeks and where I want to go next.