EDITORIAL
PHOTO BY MASON JANE MILAM
MILLS TAKES IN THE WONDERS OF JENISCHPARK
Dear Readers ,
Not surprisingly , I got a bit of blow-back when I suggested “ silver linings ” as the topic for this issue . For many , there was no upside to the pandemic . So many lost so much : loved ones , livelihoods , and homes . The toll in lost potential and opportunity is immeasurable . This topic was never meant to make light of the pain that still reverberates from the global nightmare of COVID-19 .
And yet … my family was very , very lucky . Jobs and schooling could be done from home , and home is comfortable and spacious . We weren ’ t profoundly stressed ; we weren ’ t at each other ’ s throats . We all got sick at some point but , vaccine-enhanced , we weathered it with minor discomfort , considering .
And yet … my father died in January of 2020 , and no one could gather to mourn as we needed to . My daughter ’ s grades plummeted . My mother , who lives alone and far off the beaten path , grew deeply sad , her health suffered , and there was little we could do . My father-in-law got sick and will never be the same . An old friend died , and then another .
And yet … because of home-officing , my husband started walking the dog with me in the morning . These walks turned into a daily briefing , a home / work / life inventory-taking + bonding time , and grew long enough to qualify as exercise . We ’ re still doing it ! No matter the weather , these morning walks can be the best part of our day . It ’ s a small thing , I guess , but it ’ s huge for us .
My daughter jumped on the pandemic cooking craze with both feet , and that hasn ’ t let up ( her grades rebounded for the better , too ). I started painting again and am now working on a watercolor series based on the creatures of the Burgess Shale ( look them up ; they ’ re awesome ).
So here we are . Shaken but still standing , blessings lost and found , so there ’ s reason to count them . Which is what life is . In a way , the pandemic was a lot of life smashed into a very short wedge of time , a lot more than most of us are accustomed to handling . Silver linings are our light at the end of the tunnel . Pardon the mixed metaphor , but I think it works .
Optimistically ,
Mason Jane Milam Executive Editor
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