Photo by Kattie Hansen
These are some trying times, aren’t they? Normally in April, we at AY About You are getting the boat ready for lake season, at the garden center getting our spring annuals and dining al fresco at our favorite restaurants. But the COVID-19 pandemic has put everyone’s plans on hold. Everyone’s. We are saddened and anxious that our favorite restaurants and service-orientated businesses might not be reopening when the crisis is over and concerned that fellow Arkansans will be struggling both financially and emotionally.
At press time, we are in the middle of an unprecedented (we’ve heard that word a million times) event for our nation and world with the coronavirus. We are doing our best to practice, a new term to us, “social distancing,” but we are taking this so seriously. We care about those vulnerable and to protect them, we have to protect ourselves.
Yet in full AY fashion, we are still celebrating Arkansans. We have stories this month that will keep you entertained during the slower pace of life. Stories on finance because we know that is a concern for all of us. Stories on how to improve your vision. And of course, we always have experts on board, and this issue is no different. We have many who have chimed in for our “Ask an Expert” series we publish yearly. We also spent some time digging into the best dives in the state, because we still want to celebrate the hard-working businesses that make Arkansas unique. And with best dives, we included some recipes that will help you recreate them at home. This issue also represents as our first-ever faith issue, with a section of stories related to religion in Arkansas. It was always slated for this month, not timed for the world’s current situation, but the relevance of it has weighed very heavily on our hearts and minds over the past few weeks.
Keep in touch. As always, I am an email away: hbaker@aymag.com. It is my privilege to partner with you. We are #bettertogether. Let’s work to help our city and state and nation recover.
Heather Baker,
Publisher
