How comforting to write these words from my office chair! Looking over these last six months, so much of my work has been done away from my big, broad desk here in the Parish Office, and it’s nice to be back among my scrawl-labeled file folders, jumbled bulletin board (whose Kalendar is still on April!), and hidden stash of smokehouse almonds.
I have been “on-campus” quite a bit, though – when we closed St. Anne’s in March, the painting of the exterior of the building had just begun. COVID-time actually allowed our contractors to start a bit early, so the spring sun brought our fresh facades into brighter illumination. Since then, my days have been spent – either at home in pajamas or at St. Anne’s in worn dungarees – coordinating the Carroll School’s arrival to St. Anne’s and retrofitting the church building to COVID-safe protocols. In May we said good-bye to our tenant the Lincoln Country Day School and its 25 years of accumulated paraphernalia, after which Noah and Hayden Jennings scrubbed the Terrace Level to gleaming. Several gallons of paint later, the entirety of the downstairs is ready to take on Carroll School students and their teachers in clean, safe form. This new (literal) lease on life led us to make some “maybe-later” repairs and improvements such as the bent railing and new pathway out back, replacing cracked weatherstripping and torn screens on the windows, and reorganizing storage spaces. It’s been a lot of work to get ready, but it’s going to be wonderful to hear kids chirping around here again soon!
Our parishioners are already seeing some of the safety protocols we’ve established around the church – outdoor worship and other in-person gathering are conducted with masked social distancing and ample “hand-sani” as the cool kids call it. It’s important to note that the church itself is still closed to everyday parishioner use, yet with now more people accessing the building more frequently, we have instituted a sign-up sheet in the vestibule for effective contact tracing purposes. However, happily I’m in the office on a more regular basis so am available to answer questions by phone or leave items you might need outside the doors.
Even on days of doubt, I like to imagine I can see a light at the end of this tunnel, the shining faces of St. Anne’s denizen filling these walls with cheer once again! Until then,
Jennie