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The Howling: Americans Let it Out from Depths of Pandemic

Associated Press

   DENVER - It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative
   yelps. Then neighbors emerge from their homes and join, forming a
   roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end
   another day's monotonous forced isolation.

   From California to Colorado to Georgia and New York, Americans are
   taking a moment each night at 8 p.m. to howl in a quickly spreading
   ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from
   one another by the coronavirus pandemic.

   They howl to thank the nation's health care workers and first
   responders for their selfless sacrifices, much like the balcony
   applause and singing in Italy and Spain. Others do it to reduce their
   pain, isolation and frustration. Some have other reasons, such as to
   show support for the homeless.

   In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate.
   Children who miss their classmates and backyard dogs join in, their own
   yowls punctuated by the occasional fireworks, horn blowing and bell
   ringing.

   "There's something very Western about howling that's resonating in
   Colorado. The call-and-response aspect of it. Most people try it and
   love to hear the howl in return," said Brice Maiurro, a poet,
   storyteller and activist who works at National Jewish Health.

   The nightly howl is a primal affirmation that provides a moment's
   bright spot each evening by declaring, collectively: We shall prevail,
   said Dr. Scott Cypers, director of Stress and Anxiety programs at the
   Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center at the University of
   Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. It's a way to take back some of the
   control that the pandemic-forced social isolation has forced everyone
   to give up, Cypers said.

   "The virus' impact is very different for everyone, and this is a way to
   say, 'This sucks,' and get it out in a loud way,"Cyperssaid. "Just
   being able to scream and shout and let out pent-up grief and loss is
   important. Little kids, on the other hand, are really enjoying this."

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