Are you all hanging in there? It must be getting harder for a lot of us. Not just families with kids in school, but people alone who are denied the much-needed socializing. My only opportunity to see the Minneapolis newspaper is through the window on vending machines. A couple headlines there can give a heads-up for the direction of things. And this morning, after walking past the green device in front of Don's, I realized that rules and restrictions are getting tighter.
At first there was some relaxation of rules, remember? So there was a sense, maybe, we were coming out of the worst. That is definitely not the sense now. Everyone is so concerned about school. That's understandable if the issue is having the kids supervised while both parents are gone from the house. I'm less sympathetic to the concerns if it's just about "learning." Internet access gives all of us boundless opportunities to learn and enrich ourselves.
Would this be the weekend for the football opener? Would be close for sure. And if you argue that sports is such an essential part of community life, I would demur with a shake of the head. Many boys who would play football, who play for the cheers and adulation of the crowd, will now be spared all the pounding on their bodies. They will be spared the risk of serious injury. And if you cannot find a way to fill that void, you have problems.
Work proceeds on the UMM softball fields, apparently to be re-purposed for both college and high school. Won't we need some certainty about a vaccine before we proceed with such activities? We are blinded by the kind of optimism that comes from people with obscenely rose-colored glasses. I mean like politicians. I mean like Donald Trump, who needs to sell optimism as a way of staying in office to stay immune from the law catching up to him. Or, to his family members or other associates, many of whom have already been convicted and are writing books and jockeying for pardons. Sounds like pure farce but this is the America of 2020.
I am surrounded by people here in Morris who will fight for Donald Trump. We see more of his yard signs and flags out. A concerted effort by the federal government from the very start would have limited the reach and tragedy of the virus. Trump was afraid of upsetting the stock market. He sells the stock market above all else. And in order to keep it stable or keep it from crashing, his Federal Reserve now says it is increasing its tolerance of inflation.
At present there is very little talk on the street about inflation. Believe me, this specter can arise as it most definitely did in the 1970s. It became a hot-button issue. In case you need a primer, inflation destroys the value of money. Sounds like something that would get your attention. Don't say I didn't warn you. We may have to use inflation to pay off the national debut with devalued money. Is this how we paid for the Vietnam war?
I see headlines today about more schools possibly re-considering when to open. Beware all these schools: they are desperate, desperate I tell you, to protect their standard model of the in-person experience. They need to keep justifying all the money they consume. Otherwise society might develop better ideas. Colleges are probably worse than public schools this way. Public schools at least offer the babysitting service, in effect.
Our college system is overbuilt. We see this in spades with the old State University system, now called "Minnesota State" as if that accomplishes anything (other than reminding us of Jerry Van Dyke). The response to this overbuilt situation has been tortoise-slow, surprising no one. Adjusting government-sponsored systems is worse than trying to turn a barge around in a river.
We are blessed here in Morris MN having the more stable and prestigious University of Minnesota.
The Morris area is not without its issues now, Covid-related. What about the planned start of school? Could well be wiped out. A source tells me this morning: "There were at least 50 Apostolics in the area that had tested positive for the Covid. If that is the case, that may well affect the Sept. 8 start of school for here and Hancock."
The source of this info was reportedly an MAHS teacher.
I wonder if DeToy's Restaurant in Morris will come under pressure to conform to rules/recommendations better. Going there now gives the impression there are no rules/recommendations at all. This is even with law enforcement people in there. I have observed this. You have to behave because who'd want to get shot seven times in the back! But the law enforcement people aren't paying any heed re. the Covid-related guidelines, based on what I saw. This could change at any time.
And then there's the curious case of the Dennis Johnson visitation at my church of First Lutheran Friday night. I assume it was held in the church as planned. Thought that was very strange. Touching, yes, because Dennis deserved a generous public gesture at the time of his passing to the next life. But how prudent is this?
It's like the recent Joe Lembcke funeral where people essentially "stormed in." Well, Donald Trump thought his rally in Tulsa OK was so essential also, and Herman Cain most likely died because of attending. Such grave things to have to weigh.
These are not pleasant times. Wait until we all get cooped up for the winter - no chance to take a pleasant walk - and have to live with indoor air constantly. We might shudder.
The Morris newspaper
My "Morris Mojo" podcast episode for today is about the Morris paper's difficulty finding news to cover. The editor has a column about this. Her "woe is me" is rather understandable given the near-halt to so many things. I invite you to listen with this permalink:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/The-Morris-newspaper-eire0g
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment