Gathering Strength

February 12, 2025

I haven’t checked my social media feeds in a few days – a rare accomplishment for someone who grew up while this technology was taking off. It’s not the platform itself that bothers me; it’s the intrusion of the fraught news cycle into every moment of my life. Even a quick glance can be overwhelming nowadays.

So far, I’ve managed to stay just as informed through other methods (although I literally don’t know what I’m missing). One of these is good old-fashioned word of mouth, often between sips of coffee. I’ve been more caffeinated than ever in the new year thanks to various groups of friends who meet at local coffee shops. They fulfill my related needs for news, company, warm beverages, and routine.

On my way to such a meeting at the end of last year, I ran into one of the owners of Nina’s Department and Variety Store. It was a Saturday morning, and Joel was about to open the store for business. I asked if I could watch as he expanded the store’s awning, a daily ritual I’d only ever seen from afar.

Joel produced a long metal crank to reach the mechanism from below. As he unwound the spooled canvas, he told me that he likes thinking about his father and grandfather using the same specialized tool for the same purpose. (Indeed, this beloved family business is closing after 108 years of service to the people of Spring Green.)

He showed me how the repetitive cranking motion had almost worn through the metal at one end of the tool. It looked as if a metal-melting superhero had happened by. The reality was much more profound, though: the power of a routine repeated six days a week, down through the decades of a turbulent century.

It is my hope to work more routines into my daily life – to wear my own grooves. Whenever I have maintained healthy habits, I’ve approached each day with a clearer head. “Healthy” is the operative word. If they involve the small details of the community in front of me rather than what’s on the screen, I expect I’ll be more clear-eyed as well.