The streak would have continued. That’s what I thought about this past Sunday morning, when Atlanta was bathed in sunlight. The afternoon ended up peaking at a high of 72 degrees, which was the perfect invitation to go outside. In a word, the weather was perfect. So, had we been able to host our annual RayDay celebration in the fields of Serenbe last Sunday, we once again would have enjoyed wonderful weather. In the eight years since our first RayDay, we haven’t been rained out yet.
Alas, RayDay 2020 was destined to be one of the millions of special occasions lost in the wake of COVID-19. It’s unfortunate, because we have seen the magic that comes from 2,000 people gathered in common cause to celebrate Mother Earth and the many organizations that work to protect her. Important connections happen organically at every RayDay. People are reminded how enriching it can be to stroll through a field with the sun shining on your face. Children discover that nature is both the best teacher and the best playmate.
As they say though, when one door closes another one opens. Knowing that we couldn’t celebrate the legacy of Ray Anderson in person this year, our Foundation instead did it virtually for the past 13 weeks. In lieu of RayDay, we held a CelebRAYtion! I hope that many of you engaged with all of the great social media content that we shared along with 13 of our closest partner organizations in advancing environmental sustainability. Our gratitude goes out to these organizations for walking this path with us.