After a year plagued (pun intended) by changes in, well, just about everything, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We anticipate receiving our COVID-19 vaccines sometime in April. That will be a giant step toward the next phase of normalcy in our lives.
We’ve always loved the cold, snowy Vermont winters. They’re typically filled with lots of social gatherings revolving around skiing – the posse of ski buds meeting up at Sugarbush, apres ski gatherings filled with friends and music, friends and family get-togethers for infamous collaborative dinners – none of which happened this season! It’s been a different kind of winter.
As the days grow longer and sun feels warmer and vaccination schedules are announced, we’re feeling optimistic. Although we won’t emerge from the social isolation of the pandemic unscathed – relearning how to have a discussion that lasts more than 30 seconds will take time, for example – we realize we are fortunate in many ways. Let’s list of a few of them here.
The Best Things That Came Out of This Virus From Hell:
THE ELECTION. (And that’s enough about that.)
TELECOMMUTING. We did it for years, now many more have been able to trade a long commute for life-balancing activities: time with friends, family, art. Plus there’s less traffic, less noise, less pollution.
TELEHEALTH. Adoption of remote healthcare technology has accelerated. So much healthcare can be done through convenient, efficient, cost-effective technology that will improve and extend access to care. Sue’s tele-health visit with her shoulder surgeon took only 10 minutes so he could see how high she could lift her arm (the rest of the visit was talk about skiing), and she saved 2 hours of driving time.
MUSIC. Our music is improving! We acquired some more recording equip-ment, which we are learning to use, and several of our almost viral recordings are on youtube – to see the progress on our wannabe rockstarness, visit thedestinators.com/projects.
FOOD. Whether from the peril of shopping or fear of restaurants, people are thinking more about cooking and where their food comes from. More of us are again cooking at home, gardening, and buying direct from farmers. Our small, local farms had a record-breaking year. People are eating good food!
REFLECTION – INTERNAL. Lots of people (ourselves included) have taken this time to look inward and figure out what’s really important
REFLECTION – EXTERNAL. A spotlight has shone on essential workers and helped to increase awareness of income, gender and racial disparities. We’ve got a ways to go to address these inequalities, but progress is accelerating.
AFFIRMATION. We still love it here in Vermont, and it’s proving to be an excellent place to wait out the virus. Great friends, miles of hiking trails and dirt roads right outside our front door, a community that believes in watching out for each other – and neighbors far enough away to tolerate the musicians in the ‘hood! We’re grateful to be here.
