Spring at Last

“Life will not be contained. Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. Life finds a way.”

– Jeff Goldblum (as Ian Malcolm) in Jurassic Park

As I write this, spring has finally started to show its face in Vermont.

The maple sap has finished running, the peepers are filling the hours about dusk with their chorus, and the daffodils and crocuses have taken center stage.

Even in times like this, when we feel as if life has been in a great pause, slow-walking through a long, dark hallway of sadness and mourning, the march of the seasons and the turning of the years cannot be held back. Nature just keeps moving forward. Life finds a way.

This issue echoes with that message.

Even amid the horrors of World War II, 80 years ago, a man found a way to write letters to his wife and young son… and they got through… and they were miraculously discovered and saved seven decades on…

Even against the backdrop of industrial collapse and debilitating poverty, enterprising young Russians are finding a way to pursue and share their passion for old cars. The local militia may not like their rallies and they may not be very safe, but they are brimming with life.

Even during the intentionally forgetful years of Soviet rule, some steel-spined souls found a way to urge a reverence for the past, to see that not all of history was paved over and made into an office block.

And how can we explain the incredible lives of Bulgakov or Sakharov without referring to their artistic or humanistic obstinance?

And of course there is the village post office, which, as Darya Grebenshchikova shows with her bit of creative nonfiction, is a humming hub of community life, finding a way...

We are all squinting into a foggy future, trying to suss out what the New Normal will look like. We mourn the things we have lost or may yet lose, but let’s not forget that which will never change: we will continue to be surrounded by creative, obstinate, resilient, and interesting humans.

So, no matter what things look like on the other side of this pandemic, we will continue to have plenty to write about.

Enjoy the issue.