Take seriously whether UMM should start

There will be no county fair but there will be a resumption of UMM classes. Is it outlandish that we should be skeptical about the latter? On the face of it, probably. UMM has been a cornerstone of this community. But our county fair, too, is a rock-ribbed asset. We could continue a list of things that have been suspended out of prudence and concern for community health.
I'm sure UMM will say it is mindful of the current health threat and will exercise precautions. Human nature can barrel right past these precautions. Consider the great relief we feel when we can put aside some restriction, take a deep breath and act for some moments like we have our cherished routine. We try to wish the pandemic away.
The state tries to bear down with mask requirements. We wondered if this time around, there would be pressure for real compliance. On Sunday morning at good ol' Don's Cafe I sensed a real commitment. I had begun having a mask available the day before. Were we at a turning point? I was skeptical. In the time since, we have appeared to slacken. You haven't heard of the police getting involved, have you?
There were rumors of how proprietors of establishments could get in trouble. Rumors about, perhaps, "secret shoppers" making the rounds. As I entered a hospitality place this morning, I noticed customers departing sans masks. As if no crackdown had happened at all. Maybe we have all taken our lead from the nation's president. Oh, here I go again: so easy to get on a roll with this topic. But Trump has been anything but a cheerleader for such measures as masks.
He occasionally speaks favorably but clearly not with his heart in it. It's a grudging capitulation, like the pressure just builds up too much at times, or the weight of sheer science which at certain junctures just becomes irrefutable. Then he'll "re-tweet" outrageous stuff outside the realm of science and reason, in line with the conspiracy crowd, and here we go again.
There is a widespread pattern of people "caving" to an irrepressible desire to do normal stuff and not be burdened by restrictive measures. Just caught two news items this morning from around the U.S. One was a concert in New York that was set up as drive-in. The plan totally broke down and people gathered en masse. The other item was about a rodeo where like behavior occurred. The lesson is that human nature is awfully hard to police.
People who feel healthy can be incredulous about it all.
How much thought have you given to the possible consequences of UMM opening up for a new semester on August 19? So, no county fair but a brand new year of UMM. No State Fair. But college plows ahead, including in our little pastoral community of Morris where we have been so proud to have our "unique" public liberal arts institution.
I can't help but think liberal arts is just not an "essential" endeavor right now. Just exercising my own personal logic, which is often an inconvenient thing to do in Morris MN. This is a town where a party line so often develops on difficult topics, and then you'd better "toe the line." God created me with an instinct not to respect this model.
It is hard to even define our community's leadership base right now. It almost seems ethereal. Who are these people? Well, in summer they probably spend lots of time at their "lake place." The death of Prairie Pioneer Days has been attributed to this.
We have a City of Morris with questionable leadership. An ounce of common sense would have suggested to city leaders that residents needed help adjusting to the new water treatment plant. My irrepressible instinct tells me the city should have appointed an individual to answer questions from the public about how to adapt. Instead we were devoid of the desired leadership, help and education, and instead got the blunt announcement of some sort of "law" where people would get reprimanded, presumably fined or whatever. And subsequent to that, the city clarified by tamping down worries about this, making clear they would not be going around to enforce.
All I felt was confusion. City leaders talked out of both sides of their mouth. They told us in sort of a "parsed" way that the new city water was going to be good enough - maybe not ideal but "good enough" - yet we discovered that some of them would keep their own softeners going, and in one case, involving a very key person with the city: purchase of a whole new softener. He said he only did it because he was "offered a trade-in." And yes, I'm sure the water quality company offered this individual a "sweetheart deal" because what could be better for them, than to have a key person with the city telling everyone he bought a new softener.
I take no chances with my house. My parents established the place and I owe it to their memory to have it ideally maintained. But I am profoundly befuddled now that the water issue has passed through my life. The city owed us at least a little more expertise. Its leadership was abysmal, absent.
The salt level in my new softener appears not to have gone down at all, since it was installed in December. I can give you the name of another person who has noticed his own on-demand softener apparently not using any salt. This is a highly credible person: Bill Storck. We exchanged notes on this some time ago, then recently I had occasion to say hello at the drive-through of a bank. I was on foot as I always am in these situations. Bill and his wife were in vehicle. I asked him for an update on the salt level in his device. Had the salt showed any sign of going down? "No," he immediately responded. So, mysteries continue.
And if community leadership can be negligent on this, can we trust on the matter of whether UMM should open for classes as usual? I have heard surprisingly little talk about this. I fear that as August 19 gets close, we'll hear considerably more talk, but by then it might be too late to lobby for a change in plans. I suppose we'd contact our state senator or representative, a couple guys I normally wouldn't defer to on much of anything. I do know that as a matter of principle, whether they'd admit it or not, they're skeptical of a whole lot of "liberal arts" studies - they'd see it as conducive to nurturing future political liberals. Oh, I know this.
To be blunt, I'm suggesting that UMM just stay shut down for one academic year. Drastic, yes. We are in a terrible tug-of-war between our natural impulses for "normality" - excruciating - and the steps needed to blunt and overcome the virus. The Morris area has a high percentage of senior citizens. I'm worried, aren't you?
I can illustrate from this past Sunday how powerful these impulses can be. I was among six people who arrived at our church parking lot expecting we might have the usual outdoor service. Conditions were overcast and rain was possible. We discovered the outdoor service was off. I questioned that judgment but so be it. It was yours truly who then suggested the six of us could just go inside to the sanctuary where the videotaped service would happen.
Everyone was agreeable. With distancing? Well, the two married couples sat as pairs of course. Afterward I felt some guilt about having done this. If six of us take the liberty of doing this, everyone ought to feel comfortable coming to church "as usual." But these are not usual times.
I'm glad I did it just once, so I could sit in the same soft chair in back where I once sat next to my parents. It was precious. God knows how long it will be before I can go back.
It doesn't feel right making out a check to my church if there's no real in-person fellowship. The outdoor services will have to end in about six weeks. Then what? A long cold winter? And, a winter in which we'll have 1500 or so UMM students mingling among us?
So heartwarming to think we could welcome the usual influx of students. That's our desired reality. Trump wants school doors to open everywhere. So many people are influenced by that dangerous ignoramus on at least a subconscious level. God created me with genes so I'd think for myself or acknowledge the proper background info, not politics either on the macro or micro level.
By not giving money to church, I'm "getting back" some of the money I spent on the water softener.

My podcast message for today
My "Morris Mojo" podcast for 7/28 includes thoughts on having to put aside our county fair for 2020. I speculate that an Obama presidency would have taken on the health threat so much better, maybe we could be looking forward to the fair now. We'd have to deal with short-term pain, yes. Please click on permalink below for podcast:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Bye-bye-county-fair-ehc0qa
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com