Springtime
It is seventy degrees outside here in South Jordan, Utah. The sky is blue, all the more so because the shelter-in-place (such as it is) has reduced traffic giving us smog free days. (Did you know that Salt Lake City has a smog problem ? It is nestled in a valley between mountains, just as Los Angeles is and is therefore subject to smog being trapped under inversion layers. I find it ironic that we moved to a new city and a new state, only to still have smog and earthquakes. Yes, we have had several of those since we’ve been here. This has been what they call an aside. Now, back to our regular programming,) It has been over 45 years since I’ve lived where there is a real winter, hence a real spring. I am enjoying watching the trees sprout spring-green leaves and the daffodils spring from the earth in profusion. The dead looking plans our association planted around are house are actually showing signs of life. Inspired, I decided I should begin putting out some flower pots and bowls to join in the fun, so off I went to Home Depot. Yikes!! No parking places and a line to get in a block long. And nary a mask in sight, except for mine.
It was a reminder that this spring is different. I have been saying from the start that our government over-reacted. Certainly measures were required but a complete shutdown and masks everywhere seemed like more panic than caution. The media and the public have wondered whether the warm
weather will slow down the coronavirus, as it does the flu. Our president has warned us that we should not make the economic damage worse than the pandemic itself. And the inimitable Dr. Phil says the damage to metal health of the shutdown will be worse that that of the virus. Health experts seem, in general, to be advising patience and caution but protesters don’t want to hear anything but restart the economy. Governors reactions are mixed, some pushing forward and others saying, Wait, mostly depending on the severity of the the pandemic in their state. But what I saw today tells me people are going to begin to try to go back to normal, no matter what. Yesterday, when my wife and I went to the park, there were kids playing on the playground equipment, ignoring the closed because of COVID-19 signs. The less affected states and those with more impatient governors are going to be the test cases for whatever each of us believes … and for what the health experts say they know. The numbers won’t lie.
Me? I’m going to keep taking the precautions that I’ve been taking … clean hands and surfaces, social distancing, mask when in public spaces. If we’re going to have an unintentional social experiment regarding COVID-19, I don’t want to be in the petri dish, thank you. How about you?
Tags: coronavirus, health, opinion, perspectives, politics
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Older Eyes 
April 26, 2020 at 2:56 pm
We have very confused orders from Texas officials. I live in Fort Worth which is Tarrant county, but we are adjacent to Dallas which is Dallas county. The two county judges have issued differing guidelines which also differ from the governor’s. Some outlying suburbs are going rogue and challenging all the guidelines. I’m planning to continue isolation and precautions until the local virus cases decline for 14 consecutive days, which is supposed to be a turning point.