Making Calendar Sense of #2020

Kevin Flood Accessiblbe Trail, Amherst MA
Featured Photo for February - 2015 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar
Photo by Sharon Vardatira

Back in February 2015, when the snowstorms kept rolling through New England in quick succession, a co-worker came to me one afternoon, his Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar in hand. “You’re the reason we’re having all this snow,” he proclaimed. “Look at this photo. Just look at it!” He tapped on February for emphasis, and softened the accusation with a smile. The photo happened to be one of my own. I had taken it a few years before, after an overnight storm turned the Kevin Flood Accessible Trail (adjacent to Puffer’s Pond) into a winter tableau, every tree branch bending under the weight of several feet of new snow.

Although I know it’s absolutely ridiculous to imagine that a calendar photo could have any effect whatsoever on the weather, I nodded in agreement. And although there’s nothing particularly unusual about having a photo depicting snow featured in a month that is typically snowy, I apologized to my co-worker and accepted full responsibility for unleashing such awesome power. Winter 2015 went on to break snowfall records across New England – Amherst recorded 63.4 inches of snow through March 2015, and Boston was buried under nine feet of the stuff. Naturally, most of that snow fell in February.

The human tendency towards “apophenia” – the drive to seek patterns in random information – is what may have led my co-worker to make a connection between the February 2015 calendar photo and the weather outside. Of course, it doesn’t take a great leap to connect photos of different seasons with weather typical for that season. Anyone looking at our calendar will immediately grasp that each photo depicts winter, spring, summer, or fall – and has been placed in a month that aligns with that season.

And still, even when we know the science, or logic, or sheer randomness of certain occurrences, many of us still seek out the deeper meaning and hidden connections. How many of us get a new calendar and immediately flip to our birthday or an anniversary to see what insight can be gleaned from a photo or quote? Or maybe you’re one of those people who refuses to look ahead so as not to jinx your special day. As objects that both look into the future and speak to our past, calendars have fascinated people for thousands of years. From inspiring supposed ancient Mayan doomsday prophesies to YouTube videos on “how to predict the future using any calendar at all,” calendars of all shapes and sizes can take on a life of their own. Even, apparently, our own Head in the Clouds Amherst calendar.

Statue of Robert Frost with Mask
Amherst College, May 2020
Photo by Sharon Vardatira

Which brings me to March 2020. Locally (as if anyone needs reminding), that’s the month when “global pandemic” entered our everyday lexicon. Starting on March 10th, when our governor declared a state of emergency, almost overnight workplaces across Massachusetts shut down or became virtual, schools closed, and every one of us was forced to grapple with a wholly new, frightening, and unknown reality – a reality that is still with us at the time of this writing.

The March photo in our 2020 calendar, by Annie Tvetenstrand, will go down in Head in the Clouds Amherst yore as eerily prophetic. The scene, familiar to anyone who visits Puffer’s Pond in the winter, showed a frozen pond under an overcast sky, with a large branch half submerged beneath the ice and frozen on the surface. Annie’s comment below the photo beautifully captured that singular demarcation between winter and spring:

While walking around Puffer’s, I noticed a twisted branch suspended on top of the pond’s thin surface of ice. It was waiting for spring, awkwardly trapped by the rigidity of winter, just like me.

The Edge of Spring ~ Puffer's Pond, North Amherst
Featured photo for March, by Annie Tvetenstrand
2020 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar

March 2020 seemed to last forever. And every single time I looked at the calendar, that branch trapped in the ice hauntingly mirrored the physical reality we were all collectively experiencing, with the overcast sky making sure no sun would penetrate the surface. 

I remarked on the parallels to no one until I learned, a few months later, that Annie herself not only shared my perception, but she actually harbored some small worry that her photo was somehow responsible for everything that had befallen our world in March. Okay, I am probably overstating her feelings (Annie is, after all, a sane, smart individual, firmly rooted in science). But sometimes the connections between random occurrences, objects, or pictures are just too strong to deny, even when we know better.

A calendar is that place where images and events we project into the future intersect with time. So it’s really no wonder that calendars have long been associated with prophesy and a touch of magic. And while I don’t for a second believe our photographers have the power to bring down the snow or set off a pandemic, could we unknowingly tap into some vast prophetic force?

Featured Photo for June
2021 Heads in the Clouds Amherst Calendar
Photo by Mindy Domb

It’s all pure coincidence. Most likely. But just in case, we are taking no chances with our 2021 calendar. This year we are featuring an unprecedented number of photos that include people in nature, happy pets (including one extremely happy dog), and several meditative birds. Annie’s work reappears in a more friendly month, no overcast sky in sight. And we have also traveled beyond the borders of Amherst for the first time – one of the dependable joys of 2020 was being able to explore our local area, from the farmlands, rivers, and hills, to the trails all around us.

Thank you for traveling with our Head in the Clouds Amherst community. We look forward to opening the calendar for 2021, and finding new ways for all of us to share our love of the sky and clouds, nature and weather, and all those places, locally and more distant, that take our breath away.

You can view and purchase our Head in the Clouds calendar at Hastings (across from the Amherst Common) and online though Etsy for delivery by mail: https://etsy.me/2GSujYK .