We participated in another birthday caravan parade today. Lauren, one of the farm’s wonderful student/volunteers and also our farm-sitter/apprentice turned 18.
I’m sure you’ve been having many of the same conversations with friends and family that we’ve been having. How the Corvid-19 pandemic is going to be a defining event for these young people as other generations have had in the past. My maternal grandparents grew up in WW1 and, like much of their generation, were part of the wave of imigrants that came to the America where they then endured the economic collapse of Great Depression. My mother speaks of the polio epidemic prior to the development of the vaccine and how scary that was for families.
It’s a defining moment… the concept and meaning of “social distancing”, public “schooling-at-home”, “flattening the curve” and the sudden absence of sports and so many other activities that have always played big parts of our lives. These things will return in some form or other, but for kids growing up there are these and other things about the current times they will always remember; for some, the economic hardships of lost jobs and changed livelihoods while for others, the battles or fears of the disease affecting their loved ones.
Hardship can bring about good things. The generation that lived through the Great Depression and WW2 changed the world by becoming, as Tom Brokaw said, “The Greatest Generation”. We’ll hope and pray that the challenges these young high school and college students are experiencing by studying at home or trapped in some apartment; and the loss of parties, graduation ceremonies, internships, and other life milestones will inspire them to change the world in positive ways. Meanwhile, Happy Birthday to Lauren and to all you others who are having parades instead of parties.
Best trail camera photo of the week.
