Then perhaps we can begin a glorious summer. If we share we can better understand what we are all experiencing and be better to each other. We should share what we are going through because we are all in the same boat. I usually follow her example but there are times when we need to acknowledge the toll the pandemic and other events have exacted from us. My mother was a classic Midwestern stoic and felt you should never complain about your situation. We are grateful we have good health and secure employment when so many others don’t. Our deprivations are fairly minor, mostly inconveniences. Especially given the potential long term effects of the disease. With the new, more infectious and possibly more lethal variants of COVID currently at large, now is not the time to let our guard down. I’m much further down the priority list and await my turn. My wife teaches in the K-12 system and should receive a vaccination soon. We continue to be cautious because we have come so far without catching COVID-19 (I fear that writing that down will jinx us) and relief is in sight. Our younger daughter is eagerly opening acceptance emails for colleges while we anxiously await the financial aid packages and worry about whether we can afford the fees. She has a position lined up for next year (which is great news) that will take her far from Galesburg. We all realized it is unlikely she will ever live with us for an extended period of time again. I recently drove my older daughter back to her university for her spring semester classes. They want to return to school so they can get out of the house and reclaim their usual lives more than they want to experience live teaching. Our daughters - one a senior in college, the other a senior in high school - have missed their friends. We are slowly returning to in person teaching which will be better for everyone – as long as we can do safely. They struggle to learn just as much as we struggle to teach. Our students work hard and do as well as they can, but we can tell they aren’t as engaged as they would be if we were in person. It is difficult to connect with our students. We feel that we are working twice as hard to be half as effective. Remote teaching has been an alienating experience. That ended with the arrival of cold weather and we haven’t socialized with any of our friends since the beginning of November. ![]() We even went out to eat or have a drink a few times at restaurants or brew pubs with well-spaced outdoor seating. We have been cautious about socializing ever since the pandemic first exploded last March but in the summer and fall we met with some friends in places where we could all sit outside, in moving air, properly socially distanced. Much of our weariness is exacerbated by the increased isolation we feel this winter. My family and many people I speak with are worn down by the coronavirus pandemic. When I think of our winter of discontent and our search for a glorious summer it is mostly on a more personal level. Despite Mitch McConnell finally coming forward to criticize the “loony” wing of the Republican Party, I fear there are many actors eager to disrupt any chance the son of Scranton may have to establish a glorious summer for us all. Yet when we read Richard III we quickly learn he will play the spoiler and do all he can to end the brief, glorious summer of his brother’s reign. I am pleased by the rapidity with which President Biden and his team are moving to address the pandemic, climate change and many other issues. It is refreshing to awaken in the morning to read the newspaper without fearing news of fresh horrors and embarrassments unleashed by the madness of Donald Trump and his enablers. Is the winter of our discontent over? Have we entered a glorious summer? Certainly the inauguration of Joe Biden as president brought relief. But the line, spoken by the man who would become Richard III, continues – “Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York.” His brother Edward IV is now King of England, the wars are over and the future promises peace and contentment. “Now is the winter of our discontent” - one of the most famous lines in all of Shakespeare’s plays, often quoted to signal that we are in a time of disruption and uncertainty.
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