Tales from 2020 can soothe
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Even those who we turn to, like a popular yoga instructor, seemed flustered, working hard to tap into her inner zen. Suzy Sherer, whose yoga classes I’ve enjoyed over the years at the Bethlehem YMCA, wrote:
March: Stopped my (YMCA) Yoga class & calling to cancel my massage clients, today was very hard. Glad for the reassurance they'll come back. Much less income, gonna be tight. Thankfully, I've tucked some resources away, have enough of everything I need, a safe little home, clean water, power, food, paper goods, meds, clothes . ... I am thankful. Such uncertain times, scary. After a lifetime of being Super Busy, Everything has stopped. Just like that! What will I do with all this time? In a way, I like that part ... maybe I really am an Introvert, though I chatter incessantly around people ... but when alone, I rather like the silence & serenity, alone with my thoughts, which I record here in my Journals. Our society became too busy, seriously too busy & overextended, full of stress & pressures & standards .... Waaay too programmed ... now families can all be together, slow down & actually get to know each other ... for better or worse. What would this have been like when my 3 children were little? I am grateful I like myself & can be alone with myself.
April: Are we there yet?how much longer?when will we be there?how long till things "move" again? No work, No Market work, No Quilter retreats, NO backstage work at Concerts, No Shows, NO Massages, No Yoga classes (though that has promise on-line & outside somewhere …) It's all
hitting me today, when apprehension creeps in, I breathe, such gratitude for my Yoga training … really testing it now ... working hard to stay ok
The end of life as we know it, entering a new season without knowing … All this time alone after a full life of being busy. I've lost track of time.the days are long, but the weeks fast.
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Susan Weber of Loudonville sought comfort in her garden and in the kitchen. Not only did she write about what was happening in the larger world in her journals, she illustrated private moments. Drawings that are lightly colored are sprinkled throughout her pages: her pets, a vexing eggplant parmigiana dish and so many flowers and plants. There’s even a laptop with her friends in Zoom boxes.
They are saying 100K new
cases per day. Very scary. We are always masked, seldom socialize or eat out, and wash hands frequently. This life we live now is extremely strange. Masks everyone wearing. Surfaces being wiped constantly. People staying apart — still not used to it after eight months! And it is likely to last another year. Bleh!
Peaches out of season now — they were wonderful this year – I have two left!! Apples coming on, and the tomatoes are excellent! A fresh tomato sauce is on the horizon this weekend. Got a quart of Romas for $1.
Happy New Year 2021 for all! … Peace in our hearts, in our homes and in this world” — a wish for 2021.
That sentiment followed with pictures of a mended coat, a dog-chewed moccasin and two kids playing in a snowbank.