7 Apr
2020
7 Apr
'20
8:31 p.m.
This is Sarah Roberts, using my husband, Larry Koplik's membership. I
know that people do what they need to do to get through this time, which
for many reasons is tougher for some than others, and they help in the
ways that they can, such as delivering groceries for neighbors.
For me, making face masks is a way of coping with a worry by doing
something about it. I worry that medical workers will die, terrible
enough in itself, and then there will be nobody to take care of the sick
people. The doctor who I'm sewing for is a friend, though not a dancer.
Many of our dancers are healthcare workers, and I worry about losing
them. I'm not against people making quilts; that's the way I coped with
two miscarriages. When there are enough face masks, I might make a quilt
from my scraps, or maybe a patchwork dance skirt. We could have a quilt
show in a year or two.
I do sometimes feel lonely and isolated in my sewing room making face
masks, and would love the support of my fellow dancers in this project.
I, and maybe other contra dancers making masks, could use a forum to
share encouragement, advice and tips, supplies, frustrations, triumphs,
compliments, not to mention to recruit more sewers, and any non-sewers
who might be willing to help with non-sewing tasks such as sewing
machine maintenance, drop-off and pick-up, sharing supplies,
pre-shrinking fabric, cutting, pinning, etc. Maybe next year all this
will lead to dancers' sewing classes or quilting groups.
Sarah (Roberts)
On 4/6/2020 7:56 AM, Chrissy Fowler via Organizers wrote:
Thanks Sarah, for this important reminder! We all
need to stick
together, and remember that there are many many many ways to act
positively in this unprecedented situation.
Here in Maine, we have all sorts of wackiness going on, including
vigilantes who are tailing out of state cars for "bringing Covid-19"
here, and people who are angry at privileged summer residents for
coming here earlier than usual, from NYC and CT and other
high-community-spread places. And wackiness of people like me who are
enraged that access to all Maine beaches is banned -- since seeing
that water and sand and rock is a necessary balm for the soul. (Yes, I
ignored that edict, but it still troubles me more than I'd have
imagined.)
And Bread and Roses is the perfect song for today* As the song goes,
"Our lives shall not be sweated, from birth until life closes. Hearts
starve as well as bodies, give us bread but give us roses." and
"Small art and love and beauty their trudging spirits knew—
Yes, it is Bread we fight for—but we fight for Roses, too."
Things I'm especially worried about are these:
-small businesses failing because they are not "essential" (including
ones that are in the "roses" category)
-workers in "essential" businesses being put at risk and paid poorly
to boot (grocery clerks, Amazon workers, mail delivery folks at US
Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, etc)
-dance and music and song organizers watching their volunteer
organizations crumble with crippling financial losses and the
stigmatizing of all activities that are based in positive human contact
-at risk children living at home in unsafe conditions when they
typically would have some sort of respite at school
-the politics of oppression marching onward, continuing its dirty work
of dismantling environmental protections, eroding human rights,
codifying the control of women's bodies, legislating unequal
distribution of wealth.
I could go on and on.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who's working hard, in whatever ways they
can, to keep a positive attitude and to work for the common good.
With all good wishes,
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
*April 6, 1882 is the birth date of Rose Schneiderman in Sawin,
Poland. She was a US labor leader who dramatized the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory fire. Noted for phrase "Bread and Roses" associated
with 1912 textile strike of immigrant women workers.
//** ** **
//
//Dance Calling//| ////Transcription//| //Belfast Flying Shoes
//
//chrissyfowler.com <http://www.chrissyfowler.com> |
westbranchwords.com <http://www.westbranchwords.com> |
belfastflyingshoes.org/blog <http://www.belfastflyingshoes.org/blog>/
<http://www.chrissyfowler.com>/
/(207) 338-0979/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Sarah Gowan via Organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Monday, April 6, 2020 7:25 AM
*To:* organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
*Subject:* [Organizers] Re: Maintaining contact with our communities
Might I suggest that there is no right or wrong way to pandemic - there is
only taking care of ourselves and each other in the best ways we can. The
quarantines are likely to last longer than most of us ever imagined and I
think those of us who have been sidelined from our regular activities will
find the time for both creative and useful crafting. At this moment I¹m
gazing at a mountain of scraps left over from making masks and mentally
arranging the pieces into quilt designs. Oh my, maybe that¹s the project -
Quaranquilts? Quiltantines? Mask-arade?
As the saying goes, "Bread for all, and roses too².
Sarah G.
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