Editor Letter: Losing Track, Staying Sane

Barry Glenn (ROBERTO GONZALEZ)

As I sat on the deck of my condo one evening in mid-April, I heard the unmistakable sound of music from an ice cream truck in the distance. Great, I thought—at least there’s one remnant of the past making its way through the neighborhood. But listening more closely, I realized the tune being played was… “Silent Night.”

Not that I was really surprised. It seemed just another example of how the coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside down and inside out, what with our health, jobs and way of life being lost or threatened daily. It’s hard to keep track of seasons and holidays, even what day of the week it is. And that’s not the least of it.

Yet, we move on as best we can. In this issue you will find images of—for lack of a better term—a society in transition. Consider our RSVP section. There are photos from two fundraisers held just a few months ago—Harbor House’s Walk a Mile in Her Shoes and the Women United Luncheon. Today the images from these events seem almost poignant. Who could have known that they would be some of the last photos we would be running that capture us as the way we were, closer than six feet from one another? In this section we’ve also included a couple of pages of teachers saluting their students with a car parade as they all moved to an online world. Those pictures are cheerful but touching at the same time.

Whether we will ever get back to our accustomed state of social interaction remains to be seen. In the meantime, for our cover story this month we’ve chosen to advise on ways to cope with this crisis while hunkered down at home with your kids, significant other, or alone. Brooke Fehr offers some great tips on cooking and meal planning, and there are recipes aplenty. Nancy Pate recommends a plethora of books to enjoy. Roger Moore outlines some great streaming options. Michael McLeod discovers numerous ways to enjoy the arts online, including live performances. Laura Anders Lee shares some grassroots fun and games options at home, while Denis Vargas picks video and board game favorites. Cheri Henderson talks to the experts about effective exercise. And Hancel Deaton gives the basics on starting a vegetable garden.

In Food & Drink, dining critic Joseph Hayes examines how this pandemic has affected the local culinary scene, including restaurant owners and their employees. In Recommended Eating, we put the spotlight on restaurants that are offering takeout during the crisis. And in her Extra Pulp column, Laura Anders Lee talks about how being a supermom doesn’t mean bearing one’s burdens alone. That column is tied to Mother’s Day, a holiday we can truly treasure, reminding ourselves that even in our current crazy world there still is much to celebrate.