The Lost Winter
The sobering news had finally hit home. The mystery virus that seemed so far away was now in our backyard. The days crept along slowly. Stay home. Don’t socialize. Travel and vacations cancelled. And utmost, the fear. Most of us sacrificed for the greater good. But slowly, our lives adapted to this new reality and we began to do the things we had done before, but with changes that became the new normal. To this day, we still live with the uncertainty, but for life, that is nothing new.
Some of us even enjoyed the solitude and quiet that came with being shuttered in. Yet, there were some that took it on the chin. Restaurants and schools bore the brunt of the burden that this pandemic had sown. Livelihoods were cratered. Education was stalled. Play was abandoned. The joy of dining out was gone. The proprietors and staff and teachers and kids carried a burden so great, we didn’t know if they would make it. Some didn’t, yet some did.
But at the time between now and two years ago, things were so dubious, it became obvious that a documentation of the times would be a story that needed to be told. These images of restaurants and schools, previously thriving with laughter and aromas, are the testament to the resiliency of people continuing to move forward without knowing where they are going. Once polished and tidy, these spaces were now utilized as storage and a stark reminder of what had been lost. Though we now have a better understanding of what is happening and our responsibilities to ourselves and others, let us not forget that time when the unknown was the only thing we knew.
