On the Sunny Side

Violins and COVID-19

I’ve read that the quality of sound from a violin depends a lot on the type of wood used to make the violin. Skilled violin makers look for wood from a tree that has endured exposure to storms and severe weather conditions. Such wood is not found inside protected forests but rather on exposed mountain heights. There the tree has been toughened, the resilience strengthened and the grain features improved. In fact some have gone so far as to use wood only from the exposed, windward side of the tree.

The quality of that kind of wood makes the difference in the musical tone of the violin.

Perhaps that can also make the difference in quality of character in people. Those who have endured and survived tough times have a resilience and strength of character not possessed by those who have sailed through life on easy street. Right now we are going through one of those very difficult times. We have a choice to make. We can decide to be kind, be calm and be safe, as we’ve been urged to do, or we can let it get us down. Will it make us better instead of bitter? It depends on what we’re made of.

I need that challenge too.

Henry Wiebe

P.S. I’ve decided to use Sunny Side instead of Sunnyside because there is a TV program with the latter title.