Myself being one of them. Itâs been a year-plus of isolation for a lot of people since the COVID pandemic began last spring, and the frigid north country winter only exacerbated that isolation. Where as summer in Northern New York still offers plenty of hiking and beaches and a million ways to get outside and, frankly, away from other people and just enjoy a piece of the world that feels normal, the winter is a cage within the cage of pandemic. Add to that the wet, gray and inexplicably snowy weather in recent weeks, again driving many people inside, itâs been long and itâs been lonely.