This month is feeling a lot more like a new year to me than January did. Social media is filled with posts from folks remembering their last public event before lockdown measures swept the country, and I can’t help but compare each day to where we were last March. There are hopeful signs on the horizon as case numbers fall and vaccinations continue to expand.

Spring in Minnesota is an inherently unpredictable time and the precarious nature of our place in this pandemic seems matched by the season.

The last public event at the Historic Scott House was the annual “pub night” This year,...