#AtoZ 2021 Theme Reveal!
Good morning! Today is Theme Reveal Day (like it's a big drama or something). Anyway, I'm going by the A to Z guidelines, so today I'll let you know what I'll be blogging about next month.
This past year has had plenty of challenges, as I'm sure it's been the same for you. On this day last year, I boarded a flight at Boston's Logan Airport and flew to Reykjavik, Iceland, then on to Zurich, Switzerland. I've blogged about that ill-fated trip, cut short after a few days when COVID-19 concerns had me flying back home just three days later. Since then, it seems that COVID has dominated everything - the news, chats with friends, concerns with family, how we socialize, dine out, shop. And we're not quite out of it yet, but the days do look a little brighter. (Please get vaccinated when it's your turn!)
This year I have stayed close to home, and I'll be blogging from A to Z about places within the 1,214 square miles that make up Rhode Island, my home state and the smallest one of the fifty. Road trips with my husband gave us fun destinations in January and February, as we plotted out our drives. I was able to cover all the letters in the alphabet, even if I did have to get creative with "X" and "Z." (Don't we always have to get creative with at least one of the letters?!) There was history to research as well, and not all of it is pretty. Rhode Island was inhabited by Native people until European settlers moved in, sometimes forcefully. The state's industry was rooted in the mills, and the wealthy mill owners relied on the labor of immigrants. Textile mills turned cotton (picked by slaves in the South) into fabric. Slave trading took place along with the import of tea and spices from far-off lands. I hope to provide you with a little insight into Rhode Island and its Native American and early Colonial connections, as well as our beautiful shoreline. We are The Ocean State, after all.
My theme for 2021 is...
STAY HOME! WEAR A MASK!
So whether you're a Rhode Island resident, someone who was born and raised here but have since moved away, or you've never set foot in Little Rhody, this is a chance to learn a bit about the 13th state. I hope you'll join me, every day in April except Sundays (when I'll be catching up on all of your blogs!).