I’m standing on a dock at Aldo Leopold Nature Center, when I hear a woman yell from the other side… some crack about if this is enough distance.
We ended up talking for 8-10 minutes. And by talking, I mean yelling at each other across 20 feet of water.
She told me she fell while trying to take a picture of a goose who was lounging in the sun… and that lead to a conversation about clumsiness & photography — of course the weather made an appearance, because we are Midwesterners and we love talkin’ about the weather — and I told her a story about a scary goose chase from my childhood that still haunts me.
This kind of thing didn’t happen pre-pandemic.
We didn’t yell at each other from across ponds. We didn’t go out of our way to connect with another human. We didn’t show our love by plastering our windows with construction paper hearts.
I hope we remember this. When our lives get back to “normal” (whatever, whenever that will be), I hope we remember how good it felt to connect. Even for a few minutes, with someone across the pond, through a window, or a mask.
Hear Jillene Khan weekdays from 3-7pm. Connect with her on Facebook here and read more of her blogs here.
Jim Bartlett
June 8, 2023
kiernan
June 6, 2023