Not that society in 2020 was ever very innocent — not as innocent as, say, in 1820, when  James Monroe was president, America was involved in no wars, and toasts were raised to “my country, right or wrong.”  Certainly the sectionalism that would soon raise its ugly political head would put all that Era of Good Feeling stuff severely to task, and the several decades following would make Americans wise, albeit less innocent.  But a trace of innocence persisted, in the sense that we are American, America is strong, and America will never be brought to its knees. . .

. . .and then the novel corona virus hit.

With CoVid-19 we lost our last shred of innocence. Even as we strive to flatten the curve, we know that the comfort we seek in returning to “normal” may not be found. . .because we know that we head towards a new “normal,”  one we’ve never experienced before.  Life will never be the same — CoVid-19 has made sure of it.

I’m not the only one who photographed this weeping angel because of its poignant present-day connotation; there are at least two others* (that I know of) and probably more.  Even so, I felt compelled to post it here, along with my thoughts and with due acknowledgement to those whose photos came before mine.

* Stephen Ransom, https://www.stephenransomphoto.com/.  Mr. Ransom mentions another photographer, Matt Emery, whose photo predated his.