Spring is coming! Thank the gods and goddesses. Ever since I moved here, spring in Virginia has blown my socks of. The beauty is breathtaking. The weather wonderfully dramatic. And don’t get me started on the diversity of plants and animal life. Every year I’m in awe.
I’m just as in awe of the kindness and generosity of the people we interact with. Apart from our friends, whom we see less than we would like regarding workload, we mostly interact with The Echo World readers, contributors and advertisers. Which is really neat, because the support we have gotten is as breathtaking as a Virginia spring. And sometimes there are also the classical spring storms. This is to be expected. You just don’t take over a legacy like Jim Ward’s Echo – and think that everyone will love every move you make. I like storms. They make us appreciate diversity and passion. They also make us re-think and analyze what we’re doing and try to do better.
We often get comments that many people want more local and more environmental content. We would love to have more of both. What is lacking is contributions of articles in these areas that we can use as is. It would be a very boring magazine indeed if Michael and I wrote the most part of each issue. Neither would we want to, as that counters the whole idea of diversity and many different voices. So, send us articles, ready to print, about the topics you want more of, especially local and environmental oriented ones. Or, if you’re not a writer, see if you can encourage someone you know, or know about, to submit articles. The only thing we ask is that the material is exclusive to the The Echo World and follows the general guidelines.
A section where we have started to get great contributions, but often seem to need more, is our Cuisine Section. I know there are nutritionists, great cooks, as well as people with extensive knowledge about food and health, whose texts we would be proud to publish. Pieces of 250-500 words on what excites you in this area is welcome, including recipes. Bring it on!
We are also looking for more material for our section Ghost, Mysteries, Oddities and Miracles in Virginia. We have gotten some very interesting pieces over these two years, but often fall short. Michael and I are both very excited about this section and want to keep it going. We know that there are stories out there in abundance that would fit. Remember, it can be a personal encounter with something out of the ordinary, a local legend, a story your grandmother or grandfather told you when you were a kid, or a write-up about a historical site with claims of ghosts and oddities. The only requirement is that the content has Virginia origin.
Spring is coming. Actually, it’s already here. We heard spring peeper frogs the other day on a morning walk, high pitched music stemming from the ponds, occasionally mixed with the bass contribution of bull frogs. We took a pause in our walk and allowed ourselves to be showered in the music. It lit up all the spring frenzy feelings you can imagine. Spring, for me, is about trying to balance the need to run, create, pour out ideas with keeping your vision, and your head, somewhat clear. Not all spring energy is expressed as an actual activity or a creative end-result, mind you. Sometimes it just has to wash through us, and with that we can leave the slow, cold gestation period of winter behind.
Let’s run, let’s get frenzied by the spring sounds, let’s finally warm up and shake things up. Pour out your writings and ideas and send them to us. Together we can create something really fun. Enjoy the March issue of The Echo World. And don’t forget to listen to the spring frog peepers. They have a way of setting your whole being in motion.
First published in the March issue 2018 of The Echo World. Read the whole issue here.
