We all saw the videos of the crowds at Newport Beach last weekend.
We are all drawn to the sun, even during these days
when the pandemic has not resolved.
Growing up I remember when my mother used sunshine as a healer. As we recovered from the chicken pox, flu or a cold, she would sit us outside in the warm sun and fresh air to help us get well. She would even set out books from the library in the sun because she thought that any germs lingering on their pages would be eliminated.
During the 1918-20 flu pandemic, the health workers had little to relieve the patients from their suffering. The nurses would wheel patients out to sit in the sun. My mother, born in 1915, grew up in a world where quarantine signs hung from house windows, where there were no vaccines, no penicillin, and no anti-viral remedies. So, she too looked to the sun for healing.
We all know that the sun can boost our supply of Vitamin D. We also learned how harmful too much exposure to the sun can be. We are aware how close proximity to others can spread germs. Unfortunately for my mom, setting books out in the sunlight for a short time probably didn't kill any viruses. But the sun felt good to me after being inside with an illness for several days and helped lift my spirits. We are all drawn to the sun.
This year when the weather has been gloomy, chilly, or stormy, I found it easy to be inside. Now that the warm sun comes out in the morning, I am tempted to venture outside my home's boundaries. Here in California for the most part, we have flattened the curve of cases of Covid-19 by adhering to the sequestering in place order. I am mindful of that when I open the door to our backyard and choose to sit there instead of on a public beach in the warm sun.
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This week, the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto put up its latest exhibit, Wish You Were Here, the Postcard Show, online. Please take a look at the wonderful examples of art. Each image is postcard size. The cards are displayed as inchies. Click on each one to expand it and to see the artist's name.
The postcards with this post can be viewed in Part 1, Row 29.
https://www.pacificartleague.org
For a quick review of both benefits and harm from sunlight:
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ss/slideshow-sunlight-health-effects
For more in-depth review:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/
Read about the 1918-20 Flu Pandemic:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html
Thank you for this beautiful and hopeful entry! I just love those watercolor collages, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, again, for reading and commenting about my post. Stay well.
DeleteYour comments about sun and health took me back to my youth. Growing up in England sunny days were not as common as we liked. My mother also saw the sun as a great healer and would encourage us to be outside to recuperate.
ReplyDeleteThe postcard show is fascinating, so many ways to put feeling onto a small space. Your postcard really provides a powerful message at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Pat, for your comments and for reading my blog. The postcard exhibit is a small place with many interesting thoughts expressed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful artist! Along with an impressive skill your ability to transmute the negative to the positive, is the job, and you do it well. Kind regard only, Carla
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carla, for reading my post. Your comments mean a lot to me.
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