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Dear Docents:

Have you ever seen the musical “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”?  There is a wonderful song in which the Peanuts gang must write a book report on “Peter Rabbit.”  Each character sits in front of a blank sheet of paper and proceeds to sing of their troubles and the torture of having to do the book report.  I do NOT feel that way about writing to you each month….but I do feel a kinship in that I find myself just staring at this blank sheet of paper (screen) wondering what to write.

I could write about fall, the cooler weather, or football.  I could write about how beautiful our city is (I’m sitting with my laptop gazing at the Chicago skyline.)  I could write about being  “back-to-school”.  But no matter what I think about to write, my mind turns back to the pandemic.  How exhausting it is that any conversation, interaction, or communication ultimately ends up being a discussion of COVID.

By the time you read this, things may have completely changed.  For me, this is the cause for much of my exhaustion.  The lack of certainty over the past 18 months has been brutal.  I have spent so much time….as a professor at Loyola, as Docent Council president, as the organizer in my family….constantly making plans, revising them, cancelling them, and re-planning them as health conditions change.  Perhaps the greatest comfort is that I know I am not alone in my frustration!

When we get to the end of 2021, I will reflect on this year.  But right now, I am so thankful for June and July.  Although briefly, things felt almost normal.  And for the CAC, the fact that this “almost normal” period coincided with our best tour weather was very fortunate.  CAC has financial challenges ahead, but the immediate critical need was mitigated by a solid, if not robust, River Cruise season.  Walking tours seem to be doing very well, though the percentage of members has been greater than paid guests throughout the summer.  Typically, paid guests exceed members during tour season.  CAC is experimenting with different tour and member options, offering some “premium” tours to which only members have access.  These are not free to members unless you have a certain higher membership level.

The training program has launched the 2020 class out onto the streets.  Thanks to ALL the 2020 docents, teachers, sponsors, certifiers, and readers who helped get them to the finish line.  Also, many thanks to the new River Cruise docents and those who helped them through training.  It is so exciting to see new and energetic docents on the river.  I love to eavesdrop at the dock and listen to the introductions and conclusions to your tours.  The variety is incredible, but the consistency in quality is inspiring.

Hopefully, fall gets a little better.  I would love to say good-bye to the delta variant….not to mention the lambda, mu, and other variants that scientists are currently studying and trying to figure out.

Happily, I did not need to resort in today’s letter, to Lucy’s solution to completing her Peter Rabbit essay.  Falling short of the 100 word goal, she had to finish with…..”and they were very, very, very, very, very, very happy to be home.  The very, very, very end!”

Kent