This year has been a treasure hunt for silver linings amidst the rainout-your-whole-life clouds of 2020. At some point this spring, my partner, Melinda, and I swapped our rhetorical lament, What is going to happen next?, for an actual question: Wonder what we’re going to do?
What followed was a wonder quest for experiences uniquely enabled by these times. Here are a slew of moments that got me through this year in no particular order.
(Note: This is not a productivity list, at times, surviving was more than enough. I also acknowledge my work-from-everywhere privilege and ask, if you are also in the position to do so, please signal boost and/or donate to an organization committed to helping those in need get through this time and be resilient on the other side — and, of course, keep wearing your mask, washing your hands, and socially distancing.)
Citibiked: Manhattan
Read: How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell
Picked: Cherries (spring), Peaches (summer), Apples (fall) at Rosehill Farms, and Jalapeños (near Seneca Lake)
Watched: Flamingos mate for life (Celestún, Mexico); gulls soar through Manhattan; turtles lay eggs; lambs be born; caterpillars eat bouquets of dill; bears roam; foxes fox; cottontails bound; wild turkeys fly; Mom’s new kittens play
Drank: Compaigne des Vins Surnaturels By the Lake and all over New York thanks to their spectacular home delivery
Made: Protest signs from a fully stocked children’s art supply closet
Listened: “If you waiting for life to go back to the way it was,” said my friend, Lulu, “you’re trying to live in a world that no longer exists.”
Practiced: Spanish 1:1 via Skype with SpeakShop tutors in Guatemala
Cut: Coffee (from 2 pots to 2 cups a day)
Read: A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit
Lit: ~100 fires
Picked up: 4 Charles Prime Rib
Stretched
Read: Think Small, Wendell Berry
Cheered on: Every team in the WNBA (especially the Lynx) via League Pass
Ate: Rubirosa outdoors on Pride
Microdosed
Gathered: Queer night on the farm (Chaseholm Farm)
Conferenced in: From home (Chelsea, NYC); a creek (Catskills); a fireplace (Hudson Valley); the beach (Yucatán)
Drank: Chëpìka
Chopped: Wood, like whole trees, and local farm vegetables for Melinda to grill
Voted
Saw: Uxmal
Ordered: 1 kilo of handmade, heirloom corn tortillas from Pancho Maiz
Lived: Next door to a popsicle shop
Puzzled: Sometimes looking at the box, sometimes not, and one I didn’t finish (Smoke & Petals because I got high)
Cried: When Rough Draft bookstore re-opened in Kingston
Marveled: Farm Arts Collective‘s Dream on the Farm performance amongst hemp and fairytale eggplants
Wrote: Daily journal (as I have since childhood but, for real, just to journal, not to publish)
Ate: Fresh fish
Listened: Astrology readings – now on the new CHANI app✨
Counted down to a bright new year
What’s lightened your year? Share your silver linings…
