We’re locked down again.

It seems just like it was just shy of a year ago, back when the world stopped turning in March of 2020.  This time, we are not acting out of fear.  No, now we react out of responsibility, and our desire to do the right thing for our neighbors, friends and colleagues. 

But the six bags of chicken feed scheduled to be brought home over the weekend?  The grocery shopping we do only once a week?  The hay bales the rabbits need by Thursday, when temperatures will drop back to the teens overnight again? The appointment for the Bernese Mountain Dog’s weepy eye? 

Enter those same neighbors, friends and colleagues.  Six bags of chicken feed were stacked in the shed this morning.  Food—carefully matched to the food list I’d emailed—came in yesterday late morning.  Hay is scheduled for drop-off later this week.  Emailed photos of our young Aspen’s eye convinced our veterinarian to prescribe an ointment—and her unfailing kindness led her to drive slightly out of her way to drop it off at our mailbox. 

Basking in the kindness of others at a strange time of need… that’s the silver lining for tonight.