Roundup of January 2021 Posts

Well, we made it out of 2020 and into a new year. In itself, that was cause for celebration. But the turn of the year doesn’t mean we have gotten out of the woods. We have a ways to go first.

Upside / Downside

seesaw, playground, up and down, playing, shadows

  • Pandemic hospitalizations are dropping in the US but it still threatens via new variants that spread it more easily.
  • We have an historically effective vaccine but production and distribution have been slow, uneven, and complex.
  • A new administration is creating order out of chaos but still has a lot of work to do.
  • We can see the light at the end of tunnel and even when life might return to normal but we probably won’t get close until June or September.
  • A snowy winter in the Northeast has recharged aquifers and reservoirs but it’s still a snowy winter.
  • The pandemic has forced us to create or acknowledge new ways of communicating, working, worshiping, and even singing but we really, really miss being together.

See what I mean? I feel like we’re teetering on a seesaw, up one minute and down the next. One hopes the arcs will lessen over time.

Good for Writing Discipline

Snoopy, It was a dark and stormy night, writing, creative writingThe combination of a pandemic shutting down things to do / places to go and cold, snowy weather proved conducive writing. I have spent a lot more time at my computer writing and editing.

I am rewriting and editing the final draft of a completed science fiction novel and writing the first draft of a brand-new Young Adult novel. If I can’t do things in the world I live in, I can always go and play in another world. I also sent off another short story but won’t hear on acceptance until June.

I also write my twice-weekly blog posts, of course, along with publishing Suze’s regular Monday post. Regardless of what happens out there, she and I always have something to say.

Roundup of January 2021 Posts

Here is the roundup of January 2021 posts for your review so you can catch up on anything you missed. If you like a post, feel free to share it with your friends on email, Facebook and/or Twitter. We welcome all non-trollish readers; The more, the merrier.

Boston and History

Entertainment

Friends and Family

Health and Safety

Lifestyle and Culture

Writing and Language

Six More Weeks to Go

groundhog, groundhog day, Punxutawney PhilWith January 2021 behind us, we head into the shortest month of the year and the six extra weeks of winter that Famous Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has declared lie ahead of us. Somewhere in there I might be able to score some vaccine and will probably find out that our April Viking River Cruise has been cancelled—again. Up and down. Up and down.

This entry was posted in Books, Boston, Friends and Family, History, Language and Writing, Susanne Skinner and tagged , , , , , , by Aline Kaplan. Bookmark the permalink.

About Aline Kaplan

Aline Kaplan is a published author, a blogger, and a tour guide in Boston. She formerly had a career as a high-tech marketing and communications director. Aline writes and edits The Next Phase Blog, a social commentary blog that appears multiple times a week at aknextphase.com. She has published over 1,000 posts on a variety of subjects, from Boston history to science fiction movies, astronomical events to art museums. Under the name Aline Boucher Kaplan, she has had two science fiction novels (Khyren and World Spirits) published by Baen Books. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies published in the United States, Ireland, and Australia. She is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and lives in Hudson, MA.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *