Ellen always hated seeing summer end. She loved summer. She loved the warm, sunny days. She loved eating seasonal fruits and vegetables bought at the local farmers’ market. She loved the scent of cotton sheets dried on her backyard lines after washing. She loved having windows open, with a gentle breeze blowing through her home. She loved all the flowers in her yard.
Meanwhile, she hated the cold, dreary days that set in during fall...and didn’t relent until spring.
That September day, she sat at the table on her back deck, thinking about how the end of summer in 2021 was harder than usual, thanks to the seemingly endless pandemic.
What would happen this winter? she wondered. Would winter bring new lockdowns in her area, as rumors kept suggesting? If there were, would the business she owned survive? Or would it go bankrupt, which would bankrupt her? She looked at the sheets waving in the breeze. Today might be the last day she’d ever have sheets dried on these lines. She might lose her home by next summer if her business went under!
And what would happen with her kids? They were a year behind in school, thanks to remote learning that was one step short of worthless. If schools shut down again, her kids would never recover academically.
She knew she could only hope for the best. That next summer things would be OK...and she’d able to sit out here again, enjoying a warm summer’s day. But after a year and a half of the seemingly endless pandemic, hope was hard to come by.
Meanwhile, she hated the cold, dreary days that set in during fall...and didn’t relent until spring.
That September day, she sat at the table on her back deck, thinking about how the end of summer in 2021 was harder than usual, thanks to the seemingly endless pandemic.
What would happen this winter? she wondered. Would winter bring new lockdowns in her area, as rumors kept suggesting? If there were, would the business she owned survive? Or would it go bankrupt, which would bankrupt her? She looked at the sheets waving in the breeze. Today might be the last day she’d ever have sheets dried on these lines. She might lose her home by next summer if her business went under!
And what would happen with her kids? They were a year behind in school, thanks to remote learning that was one step short of worthless. If schools shut down again, her kids would never recover academically.
She knew she could only hope for the best. That next summer things would be OK...and she’d able to sit out here again, enjoying a warm summer’s day. But after a year and a half of the seemingly endless pandemic, hope was hard to come by.
