Now, time for nourishing the spirit

In this time of vaccination and boosters, more events are happening than in 2020 or 2021, giving all the opportunity to find some inspiration even during this deep winter moment that was harder to come by last year. As we enter February, it’s a good opportunity to overcome cabin fever (which it can seem we’ve experienced over too many months of the past two years) by getting out, even if masked, and gathering once again.If that doesn’t do the trick, there are additional ways to increase the goodwill to all so necessary to enjoying the lengthening but still bitterly cold days of the year. You will have your own ideas, and this year we would really like to hear about them through letters on our opinion pages, but here are a couple of suggestions to get you on your way.

Take a look through Compass this week to see calendar listings, as well as briefs throughout the newspaper, to find things to do that will get you out of your cocoon. The Ski Jumps in Salisbury are coming up Feb. 11-13, and there will be accessory events happening that can help with easing the soul through this end of winter. There are also art exhibits and concerts, as well as movie openings. Attending any of these will go a long way toward gathering some good feelings for the rest of the season. And after all, the days are getting longer, the sun higher in the sky, so we should be halfway there.

One important thing to remember at this time of year, though, is that area nonprofit organizations have gone through another year without the large events that help fill their coffers annually.  These include not only the churches, food pantries and day care centers, but also the libraries, historical societies, fire companies and more. Many of them may just wish to break even, yet would benefit from greater support at this time of year, especially after a time of extended pandemic-limited activity.

Our plea to readers to support nonprofits will include, of course, this newly minted media nonprofit. The Lakeville Journal Foundation is now an approved nonprofit organization, and as noted in our ongoing advertisement of appeal for support, any donation to it will have tax benefits as allowed by law. So thank you to all our readers who include us in your annual giving. It means so much to all of us who are working to keep local journalism alive in the region.

Thinking about our neighbors who could use some help getting through the cold winter months, can help give us all some reasons to feel good about giving to worthy organizations.

If we find ways to help those in our communities who are struggling, and carry that sense of community into the months ahead, that spirit will mean even more and have longlasting effects for those around us, and for ourselves.

Latest News

Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less
StepCrew stomps Norfolk Library for St. Patrick’s Day

As legend has it, St. Patrick was brought to the Emerald Isle when he was kidnapped by pirates and enslaved.

Though he eventually escaped, he returned and advanced Christianity throughout the island, according to his short biography, the “Confessio.”

Keep ReadingShow less
World War II drama on the stage in Copake

Constance Lopez, left, and Karissa Payson in "A Shayna Maidel," onstage through Sunday, March 24, at the Copake Grange.

Stephen Sanborn

There are three opportunities coming up in March — the 22nd, 23rd and 24th — to be transported through time and memory when The Two of Us Productions presents “A Shayna Maidel” at the Copake Grange.

Director Stephen Sanborn brings to life Barbara Lebow’s award-winning drama, weaving together the poignant reunion of two sisters after World War II through the haunting echoes of their past.

Keep ReadingShow less