Who could have imagined, fourteen months ago, what would unfold in the year to come. We went from familiar day-to-day concerns, living with plans, opportunities and the usual minor daily obstacles. Gradually a new and unfamiliar set of constraints settled onto our daily lives. Things which had been commonplace, like going to a restaurant, a theater or a store, suddenly became impossible, unimaginable. Our friends and relatives were no longer accessible; gatherings of anyone not in our own household were forbidden.
Worst of all, no one seemed to know what was going on, no one seemed to be in charge. Speculation was rampant, but scattered and uncertain. Everything was turned upside down. The future was a fog. Were we destined for a medical and an economic disaster? Would everyone we know lose their jobs and livelihoods? Or their lives?
National leaders downplayed, or seemed to completely ignore, the crisis. “Just look away, folks. Nothing to see here!”. Seemingly sane voices were ignored. There appeared to be no plans beyond “it will go away.”
In Oregon, unprecedented natural disasters in the form of wildfires added unimaginable tragedies on top of the background chaos that was the pandemic. Nothing seemed normal, nothing could be meaningfully planned. One kept waiting for another shoe to drop.
Not all of life is political, but the beginning of a new administration planted seeds of hope. The development of vaccines, and hints that a rational distribution might emerge, allowed one to hope. As time passed, the ability to schedule, and then receive, a vaccine, seemed to open the blinds on what had been a dark world.
And now Spring, actual Spring, arrives with new light, new hope. Never has the Spring sunshine been as bright, never have the early buds and blossoms been as beautiful. For the first time in over a year, Spring brings hope.