Song of the day:
Video of the day:
Women’s History Month
On this day in…
1799, Anna Atkins is born. Considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images in October 1843 with her first installment of "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions." Atkins was known to have had access to a camera by 1841 leading some sources to claim that Atkins was the first female photographer. Other sources though name Constance Talbot, the wife of William Henry Fox Talbot, as the first female photographer. Unfortunately, as no camera-based photographs by Anna Atkins or any photographs by Constance Talbot survive, the issue may never be resolved.
1846, Rebecca Cole, the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the U.S., was born. She was an American physician, organization founder and social reformer.
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is published. Hawthorne’s work explored women’s societal roles in Puritan Boston.
1900, Eveline Burns, an economist and technical expert, was born. An immigrant to the U.S., she helped design social security and wrote “The American Social Security System,” the standard text in this field.
1940, Selma Lagerlöf died. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1909). Her most famous work is her children's book "Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverig" (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils) published in two volumes 1906-07. Part of the Romantic Revival movement in Sweden Lagerlöf's first important work was "Gösta Berlings saga" (1891) and she later consolidated her reputation as an important novelist with "Jerusalem" (1901-02).
One year ago…
A year ago today I was on vacation in upstate New York and had to get on an emergency management call for work. That call was to let us know that the campus was closing and that we should alert our staff; tell them they should leave that day and prepare to work from home. It was surreal. I’d already had half of my vacation cancelled and knew other places of business and schools had already closed. I knew it was coming but it still felt so strange hearing the words. I couldn’t imagine what California would look like when I flew back the next day. I read the county information about what was closed and what was allowed to stay open. I spent time cancelling hair and spa appointments and thought about what I needed to do when I got back. I never would have imagined I’d work from home for a year (soon to be more).
When I think back to last March there are times it seems like it was 20 years ago and others that it seems like yesterday. Time has been moving differently since the world turned upside down. I honestly don’t know what normal means anymore. There have been many times in the last few weeks where I felt like things were getting better. People were getting their vaccines, numbers were going down and President Biden actually gave me hope. I even toyed with the idea of taking a trip in May. But then I saw people flocking to Florida for spring break. I read about the new, scarier strains of the virus. I saw that Italy was going back into lockdown. I read that Dr. Fauci said that could happen in the U.S. as well if we relaxed restrictions too early. I truly wonder if the U.S. could even do a lockdown as other countries have. Would enough people actually follow the rules?
A friend sent me an article about the grief and loss so many are feeling right now, and it hits the nail right on the head. Even if you haven’t lost someone directly from COVID, what you have lost may have still left you grieving. My friend lost her mom (not from COVID) and can’t have a service. I can’t go there to grieve with her. Friends have lost jobs. I can’t take them out to dinner to console them. I haven’t seen my parents in over a year because they don’t live close by. Maybe just realizing we’re grieving is helpful. Maybe it will help us find the right tools to cope with everything. I encourage you to take the time to read the article. Maybe it will help you know that you’re not alone, and that it’s hard for everyone.
I know we’ll get through this. I can’t tell you when, but I know in the depths of my soul that we will. My faith helps me through the hard times, and I honestly don’t know what I would do without it. It reminds me that this life is temporary and that there’s a much greater life waiting for me in heaven. That doesn’t make the hard days easy, believe me, but it definitely helps.
I’ll try to make tomorrow’s anniversary of the lockdown post a little lighter. I think that’s possible. It will be St. Patrick’s Day after all. ☘️ In the meantime, please enjoy the last selfie I took with another human, my friend Jim, one year ago on my last day in New York.
I remember the day so clearly - getting our staff out safely with the items that they needed to “temporarily” work from home. They all did a phenomenal job despite the uncertainty and unknown. Since then requests for EAP assistance has gone way up. I’m sure we aren’t an anomaly, but I’m glad to know that people are seeking help they need. When I was at Levi’s getting my shot I was talking to the nurse there. It looks like we most likely will have to get vaccinated every year to ward off variant strains. I’m all for it if it keeps us healthy and safe!