PUBLISHER'S WORD

Take a positive step today

Like the beginning of spring, I’ve always looked at the month of September as a time of rebirth. The weather reminds us that most of September still resides in summer, but the cooler nights and shorter days seem to bring with them a fresh energy. In most years, kids excitedly prepare for the new school year and we start thinking about fall festivals, events and football games. September, usually, is a time of enthusiasm.

This year is different.

Most of us have been more of less homebound for the past six months. The events we look forward to all year long have been canceled or turned into virtual shadows of themselves. When we do get the rare opportunity to see extended family or friends, we greet each other with a wave instead of a hug. Despite all the sunshine we’ve had this summer, the pandemic still hangs like a dark cloud over our daily lives. It’s natural, at a time like this, to fall victim to the numbing comforts of the couch, of Netflix or of another glass of wine. It’s easy to fall into a rut.

One of our goals with this September edition is to help our readers make small changes in their daily lives to break out of the “Covid Rut” so many of us have experienced over the past five months. And so we solicited a number of area experts to help us out, by providing advice under the theme: Take a Positive Step.

Perhaps you find yourself cooking the same meals day after day, week after week. Michele Bellso, who has been teaching free online cooking classes during the pandemic, offers some inspiration on how you can introduce new and exciting meals into your menu repertoire.

Maybe, with the gyms closed, you’ve fallen out of shape during these homebound days. Amber Howland, who challenged herself to run 1,000 kilometers during the pandemic, has some tips for how to deny the allure of the couch and improve your fitness and health.

For many families, the shared isolation of the pandemic brings its own stresses, as we spend so much time under the same roof that we’re starved for some alone time. Dr. Sarah Speigelhoff shares some thoughts on how we can cope with the challenges this pandemic has created for our most important relationships.

Yes, as individuals and as a community, many of us have fallen into the Covid Rut. But it is not permanent. The pandemic, like so many challenges before, will pass. Until then, it is up to each of us to take a positive step each day so that we may be able to live the lives we want to lead and be the people we want to be. We hope that in some small way, this edition of Syracuse Woman Magazine helps you do that. SWM

David Tyler

SyracuseWomanMag.com contact@syracusewomanmag.com

PUBLISHER David Tyler dtyler@eaglenewsonline.com DESIGN Andrea Reeves

PHOTOGRAPHERS Paul Kammer Nancy Miller Alice G. Patterson Andrea Pollard

CONTRIBUTORS

Angela Antonello Michele Bellso Ashley Casey Amber Howland Farah Jadran Dinah Olson Colette Powers Joy Rafferty Kristy Smorol Dr. Sarah F. Spiegelhoff

Cover photo by Alice G. Patterson

ADVERTISING SALES Renée Moonan Linda Jabbour 315.657.7690 315.657.0849 Rmoonan @eaglenewsonline.com Ljabbour @eaglenewsonline.com

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