Hope for 2021 from Annie

There is hope, finally. Vaccines give us what has been tough to sustain these many long months. As we turn our backs on a terribly crippling year, I am reminded of what we had in common- fighting the virus. Fear united us. Maybe you learned from that fear like I did. The challenges I felt as a small business owner exceeded 37 years of previous ones. Examining possibilities and finding the courage to enact them was only made possible with the small group of dedicated individuals that make up the staff of Annieglass. Santa Cruz County Bank gave us a PPP loan, another through EIDL gave us a chance to weather this storm. We are the lucky ones. Annieglass will survive and flourish.

I truly hope my favorite merchants and restaurants can do the same. Please find it in your heart and wallet to buy a gift certificate or purchase something to save for a rainy day from a local business. They sustain the communities we know love and live in. It won’t be the same without them. We have the power to keep them going until better times return.

I re-learned my priorities in this pandemic, maybe you did too. Watching the whole world stop, not just my little part of it, reminded me of the reverence I’ve always had for nature- but this time it was an evil one, able to kill so many so quickly. But nature is what keeps me sane. My sanctuary are the redwoods, the ocean, the dry hills of where I live, the forests and ridges of the Monterey Bay region.

We are so lucky here. Thanks to Dr. Gail Newell, chief health officer, this county was one of the safest in the world for most of the pandemic. The vaccines are coming. We all want to jump back into our old lives, but it is too soon to do that yet. I just remind myself of the Monterey cypress trees. I love their crazy directional branches. They are a model for how to live right now, carved by the wind and adaptable to its direction but not broken by it.

Good riddance 2020. Welcome 2021 with hope, resilience and patience.

Stay safe. Happy Holidays. Wear your mask.

Annie

Featured above: Roman Antique Round Party Platter & Mod Small Plate.