To the editor:

What a difference four months made. A cultural tsunami crashed on everything we believed permanent, The Before Times. The celebrations at the year’s end and new year’s beginning are relegated to a distant memory. During December and January most were shopping without cessation, cooking without restraint, stressing because we may not be doing enough.

Compare these celebrations with those of spring in The New Times. In March we celebrated more quietly, with few excesses and with great reflection. We celebrated health, family, community and a glimpse of life lived differently. A life lived differently might include shedding the superfluous and donning dignity. As we learn to do with less, we may choose more compassion for others.

In April we honored our Earth and the life she sustains for the 50th time. Fifty years from now I hope the generations that follow will observe that it may have taken a pandemic but at least their ancestors identified what is enough. Amid the pandemic if we listen carefully to our planet we may hear a sigh of relief and restoration. When the pandemic is behind us in The New Times let’s remember our interdependence and community and make certain these rise from the ashes.

Constance Hutson

Fort Myers