Ready to take flight

 

This past year has been so extraordinary--starting in March 2020 with the beginning of our COVID-19 caution and continuing until now, June 2021, with the arrival of billions of cicadas raising their voices to the skies...or should I say, billions of male cicadas raising their voices. I'm going to give the cicadas credit for nudging me back to writing--I couldn't let my blog lie dormant another moment with so many amazing things happening in the world around me. (I published knitwritebton.wordpress.com since June 2014, but found myself so overwhelmed by events of 2020 that I couldn't write. My reluctance to preserve that year in writing lingered well into 2021, but I can't remain silent a moment longer. Inspired by the cicadas, I've decided to take flight with a new blog on a new platform.)

Instead of rehashing challenges of the past year, I'm going to focus on the bright side. After all, Eleanor Porter's Pollyanna, was one of my favorite books as a child. You may wonder why I was reading a novel published in 1913, but I suspect it belonged to my grandmother, who allowed me to borrow books from a suitcase full of turn-of-the-century literature she kept in her attic.

This past year I missed my active social life--going to the theater and concerts, volunteer activities, hosting dinner parties--but I've always been a self-starter so I had no problem filling my COVID-quarantine days with home-based activities. First came the purging of things no longer needed. It felt great to see spaces open up in drawers and cupboards. Second, I found myself more aware of birds, flowers, clouds, and all the colors nature had to offer as I set out on regular walks. I marveled at how many other people took to the city's paths--keeping distance but smiling with their eyes. A knitter with a large stash of yarn, I vowed to finish projects and knit for charity. While I did complete many items, I seem to have acquired more yarn along the way, some of it needed to finish projects, but other skeins purchased to lift my spirits. Then there was a renewal of my interest in sourdough bread baking.  I discovered Zoom--for book clubs, and yoga, and horn and piano lessons.  

All of these activities, plus more, helped pass time and distracted me from the daily news. Better yet were the driveway and garage get-togethers with friends and neighbors, spontaneous conversations on sidewalks, and regular Zoom calls with friends. While we seldom had any earth-shaking news to share, it was nice to compare notes, even if our main topic of conversation was how busy the grocery was at 7 a.m. or where you could find a certain brand of margarine.

Now that more of us are vaccinated, guidelines are changing, people are beginning to resume former activities. It's been hard for me to get used to going without a mask, and I still carry one everywhere I go. But I am venturing out into the world a bit more every week, and it feels good! So, like the cicada, I'm ready to take flight.