Blog

As these spring days continue to unfold, the challenge of "the virus" are forefront in our existence.  The number of sick and dying continue to rise. Many of us are homebound, mandated by the powers that be, to try to stem the explosion of sickness around us. We are told repeatedly to stay home and keep the world at a distance.  It is a troubling time, economic challenges to most people are spiraling , and unemployment is rising as businesses struggle to survive.  Our medical workers are on the front lines, risking themselves to help others.  So are the grocers, the delivery drivers, the gas station owners...it goes on and on. Each doing their work, each part of the tapestry of our world. We are at war with an invisible, worldwide enemy, united in our adversary.

As an artist, I am hit hard, selling a luxury that is not a necessity.  I'm forced to turn to online sales, to get the work even seen.  It isn't a bad thing, but it consumes time that would be more pleasantly spent in other ways.  At least my work will not spoil, or deteriorate! (Unlike our local dairies who are having to pour out several days of milk production because they have no market for it. School closures account for a large part of that.)  As I recently discovered, my studio is so well supplied that work could go on for a long time in isolation. I'm fortunate to be so blessed. I have food, and I am comfortable in my quiet little house. I'm one of the lucky ones.

We don't get to choose the events that surround us.  We just choose to live through them with hope and positive attitude/actions, or we can let fear control our hearts and minds. There is always a choice, and each of us make them. I'm really interested in my family tree, and work quite a bit in tracing who they were and what their stories are.  A common thread, like all of humanity, are the periods of challenge different generations faced -- war, want, disease, political upheaval.  It is all there.  This is just our turn in history to step up and fulfill our story.

So this morning, as another day unfolds on my hill in Pennsylvania, I step up.  Life will go on, and we will all get through this somehow.  I am sitting here at the window, watching life go on in the town below, alone but not lonely. Trucks and cars still go up and down the main road in town. I can see someone standing in the middle of the street, talking with a policeman in a car...catching up on the news and keeping their distance. The train on the mountain beyond blows its horn and continues on. The back yard is full of birds of all kinds, enjoying the bounty of birdseed and awakening bugs. A riot of daffodils nod in the light breeze, with the tulips and flowering trees close behind on Nature's fashion runway.  The sun is shining.

We choose every day. We choose to be part of the light or the darkness.  Keep the faith, this too shall pass. I choose the light.