It seems like every time I turn around someone is sharing a story about the changes being experienced in their industry. I find myself in conversation after conversation about whether or not this is the new normal. The definition of your “this” might vary, but at some point, this insane supply chain ripple effect will make it to your life. Its impact? To be determined…

This letter is normally the last task of each issue before I button her up and send her to print. Everything else is submitted as approved and Im struggling to put these words on paper today. I guess under normal circumstances, my letter feels like a quick summary of my feelings on the book as a whole, but this one is different. While the same intentional development of each and every story was performed, the same routine working with our incredible advertisers was done, and we’ve been through the agony of choosing an image perfect for the cover, there was one thing so very different that I want to document it.

Paper! Thank God we found what we found.

It’s the absolute truth that I am a paper snob. I like. No, I love a good magazine to sit down and flip through. Part of what I love is how the paper makes me feel—I’ll spare you my feelings about certain typefaces. For seventeen years, I have watched this community grow through the increasing print quantities needed to saturate our zip code with a magazine for each and every mailbox. Like most small business owners, I’ve had my fair share of worries—meeting payroll, deadlines, expectations, but never in my wildest fears did I think finding the paper upon which to share these stories to be not just scarce, but gone.

This very expensive downgrade in paper that you are holding in your hands was not a choice, but an absolute lack thereof. Printers are on allotment with no guarantee they will receive what they have ordered— the paper that we have all grown to love is just not available anywhere and there is nothing I can do about it! This is how the ripple rolled into my life, and I guess in some ways now yours by way of Reflections.

The quality of the stories, the photos, the design, and the print will always be at the top of the standards to uphold at this company and as unsure as I am about the paper we were able to source, I do find comfort in the balance I feel from the words I know will be found upon it. I hope you enjoy reading them knowing that the same energy and excitement was behind them— even if the paper doesn’t make you feel as good.

Please remember to shop local and to thank our advertisers, as they are the reason we are able to send this magazine to your home.