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2020
Magical Summer!
Because of all the restrictions in place last summer, it was hard to watch all the kids in the neighborhood try and find stuff to keep them occupied and happy. I live next door to three little girls. So one day, when they were not home, I built a small fairy house on the tree between our yards. The girls believed that a fairy had moved in and they couldn't be more excited. Every few days or so I would go and sprinkle glitter around the house so it looked like the fairy was walking around the house. It was so much fun to hear the girls yell in excitement when they saw new glitter or a new addition to the fairy house. It made them and happy and it made me happy. Of course, their parents knew it was me, but to their young imaginations, a real live fairy was living in their yard. -
2020-03-13
Christianity Has Been Handling Epidemics for 2000 Years
Religions, having been around for millennia, have a unique history of dealing with various pandemics. This article, written by a Lutheran Christian, details the message of Christianity that has been preserved through the centuries. Specifically, according to Stone, Christians have always taught, even if not displayed, that one is to love and care for their neighbor, even to their own detriment. It is not reckless care, where someone may go care for their neighbor and then spread the virus; rather, it is being cautious, but also continuing to love for one’s neighbor. -
2020-04-30
Won't You Be My Stranger
Before Covid-19 descended upon Chicago, Ukrainian Village was a neighborhood of friends and acquaintances. The threat of illness has suspended neighborly activities. The neighbor whose door this belongs to has a beagle named Molly I used to pet on her walks. Now Molly and I keep our distance, lest her owner or I get sick. It’s demoralizing not to be able to trust people, not because of any personal shortcoming, but because of the potential that one of our health be jeopardized. The status friend and acquaintance has been supplanted by temporary stranger. -
2020-10-06
Approaching another Civil War?
A friend took this picture of her neighbors’ house. It’s a duplex shared by two families- one that supports Trump and one that supports Biden. It’s hard to ignore the feeling of impending civil war here in the US these days. The political polarization only continues to get worse. It’s starting to seem like no matter what the result of the Nov 2020 election is, this division will not be remedied. Perhaps the worst part is that preserving the union doesn’t even seem as important as escaping “the other half.” The only thing that makes me want to work to keep the country together (not that I can make much difference) is the fact that there are vulnerable folks living in Red states who would be made even more vulnerable if the Blue states left the union or joined Canada or whatever other flippant solutions are bandied about. -
2020-09-20
Jewish Melbourne Rosh Hashanah in the time of covid
Our Neighbours offered to blow the shofar for the street. A few Jewish families live on our street in Balaclava. We all gathered in the street, All still and all connected by the mitzvah of hearing the shofar. It was a very special feeling. I felt the need to document this extraordinary event, this moment in history. In this time when so many of us are disconnected this moment of togetherness felt precious. Shofar, Rosh Hashanah, community, connected, isolation, mask, generosity, neighbor, listening, Mitzvah, covid moment, improvising, Balaclava, outside, togetherness