The news is full of families and teachers making impossible decisions about the start of the school year. Here in Boulder our 2 school districts (K-12) just decided yesterday that the school year will start 100% online. Meanwhile kids everywhere are wondering what happened to Summertime.
In the next few weeks we’ll be harvesting from our gardens, hopefully finding a way to support our local organic farmers, and watching our Fall flowers unfurling in the late Summer light. (Sunflowers, Dahlias and Chrysanthemums) Maybe we will think about planting bulbs, picking apples, or going for a hot air balloon ride on a chilly morning. It is still summer now, but very quickly Autumn will creep up on us and we will find new ways to social distance in yet another season of this strange year.
I find solace in the turning of the seasons, at a time like this. My rosebushes will put forth one more explosion of color, we’ll have that first chilly breezy evening that feels like Fall, then before you know it we’ll be bringing out the extra quilt to layer on our beds. This year we are not making quilts and pies to enter at the County Fair. We will not have an end-of-summer neighborhood street party. But we are thinking of our friends who live alone, and calling them to make sure they are ok. We are baking for the family who has lost their income and have mouths to feed. We are still sewing facemasks to sell or give away. We are discovering parts of ourselves that we never knew existed, and there is the hidden treasure in the midst of these troubled times.
Through it all, I find I must create every day to maintain my mental health. We hope that in some small way, by supporting your creativity, we can help many of you to find your way from Summer to Fall with a full heart and a clear head.
with hope for the future…
Luana and Paul
