Newsletter — May 2020

Dear Friends,

As the world is blossoming all around us, the lilacs are in full bloom and the first yellow rosebud has appeared tightly wrapped with the promise of bursting forth in the garden, we too want to burst forth but are constrained by our care for others and ourselves. With the hope of making these days a little easier, Open Spaces article, “Useful Diversions for Challenging Times.” to provide some thoughts and some links both diverting and useful (e.g. science & entertainment for kids, ways to stay close to grandchildren until hugging them again, sleep & how to get more of it, book reviews, music, humor, and recipes for big and little hands, etc). Open Spaces has no association with any of these sites or their advertisers.

We hope you find the ideas helpful and invite you to submit suggestions of your own to share with our thoughtful and engaged readership. We will select the suggestions that we believe to be most helpful to our readership. No advertising please.

We give special thanks to all those incredibly brave first responders and those providing other essential services who demonstrate the best side of human nature and give us all hope for the future.

Compensations

Friends, Neighbors and Strangers seem to be kinder to each other, offering help to those who must be homebound and sympathy to those under duress. As we walk the neighborhood, face masks securely fastened, we see little kindnesses to each other:

• Offers from younger neighbors to shop for older ones
• One house offering riddles on its fence for the enjoyment of those passing by
• Another house offering a poetry box to share
• A third with a mannequin next to a driveway holding out a roll of toilet paper

With fewer cars on the road and less burning of fossil fuels, we are all beginning to see the clearer skies and brighter colors that can be possible with clean energy.

In short, we are remembering who we are: good people who care about one another and are all in this together.