Letter from the Editor My right hand still bears the scars of fire ant bites from this summer. I was working on a farm, harvesting carrots from hard Georgia clay, when the ants started to crawl up my hands; a meager trickle quickly became a swarm. My hand burned. My heart rate elevated. I needed relief. But first, I had to finish harvesting another 10 pounds of carrots. My hand burned for days afterward, but those were the sweetest carrots I’ve ever tasted. These scars remind me that growth and perserverance are often painful, but the sweetness of the outcome makes up for the bitterness of the journey. In this issue of The Yard, we explore the growth of our city, through leadership changes (pg. 10) and through times of intense pain (pg. 20). We see how our culture’s myriad ebbs and flows push us to become more inspired and connected (pg. 18), and how it is possible through hard work and dedication to change systems formerly mired in the muds of bureaucracy (pg. 26). The notion of change can be scary, but it will happen regardless of whether or not we want it. And when change is accompanied by determination, by the overwhelming belief that after every rainfall comes harvest, we become unstoppable.
Olivia Cohen Editor-in-Chief
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