My first editorial of 2020 included some weak pun humor about hindsight. Of course, I had not the foggiest notion of the the year we’d be looking back on now. Who could have possibly predicted the unprecedented events that unfolded? But we soldiered on under mask and distanced knowing that better days were surely to come.
I don’t have to tell you that there were challenges aplenty. You faced them, too. The December issue in your hands or on your screen right now is the result of all of us here at ABOUT holding on to threads of hope throughout the year with no idea of what even the next day would bring let alone the months ahead. But hope is all we had and, now, that hope has some degree of tangibility.
As I type these very words, a new vaccine has been proven largely effective in combating the coronavirus. I am not in any way implying that this pandemic is over. It’s decidedly not. If anything, we’re in store for perhaps the worst of the virus as the cold, dark days of winter descend upon us. Even in a best-case scenario, we’re months away from inoculation on the scale required for public safety. But while 2021 likely won’t swing wide open with the promise of things getting back to normal (or even, hopefully, better than our old normal), there is that glimmer of optimism.
For ABOUT, we’re wrapping up the year with another leading lady on our cover. This time it’s Ann Taylor who, after decades of teaching River Valley young ones the joys of dance, decided to retire. We’re also featuring the cross-country story of how a pipe organ made it to Bruce Moore’s house atop Buck Mountain near Dover, where to find incredible eats, and more words of humor and wisdom from our regular columnists. Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to one of those regulars. Jill McSheehy won’t be returning for next year with her gardening column, which is always a delightful how-to sprinkled with insightful views that extend beyond the tilled soil. As some consolation, Jill is leaving us for the best of reasons — her professional career as a writer has taken off like cucumber vines in June and she simply doesn’t have the time. As one of the best and most professional writers we’ve worked with, we wish her the best of luck. But filling that void in 2021 and beyond is going to be tough.
We’ll figure it out in due time. But we can’t get too caught up in looking ahead or ruminating on the past, because if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that all we really have is now.
