Reflection

Greetings from the coast of Maine,

Without the benefit of hindsight and the wisdom it provides, we’re not very well prepared to meet the challenges of the future are we? After all, a little help from the past is a good thing. So it’s appropriate that our first newsletter of 2021 should be a look back at the past.

There’s no one better to turn to than E.B. White for a little advice about the current state of things (looking backward to look forward), being as he was, a keen observer of all things, who knew “some pig” when he saw one and the “queer mess” man has made of things.

In March of 1973, Mr. White responded to a letter from Mr. Nadeau, who bemoaned the sorry state of affairs in which the world found itself at that moment in time. White replied from his home in North Brooklin, Maine with remarkable insight about the past, and hope for the future, words worth re-visiting today as we take stock of our own “queer mess” and look forward.

North Brooklin, Maine
30 March 1973

Dear Mr. Nadeau:

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society—things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,
E. B. White

So hang on to your hat, hang on to your hope, and wind your clock as we turn to 2021.

A reminder that we’re going to take a short break and close for a few weeks beginning Friday, January 1st. When we return on Tuesday, January 19th, we’ll be open

Tuesday – Saturday
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Wishing you the very best in the new year!

More later from The Meadow,