"The two major challenges for the 21st century are to improve the economic situation of the majority and save as much of the planet as we can." - E.O. Wilson
I know I'm not alone and yet, sometimes, I feel alone. This may be largely due to what I like to refer to as "physical distancing". The accepted term is "social distancing" but, with the communication technology that many of us have, we need not necessarily be at a distance socially. The global pandemic of COVID-19 is far from over and has only begun where I live. The part of the United States where my town exists is remote. The entire county I live in has a mere 15,000 souls. The nearest "larger" town is a couple of hours away and it has a population of 35,000. As this is written the confirmed case count for our county is 10. I'm not optimistic.
This is not to say that no positive things are happening. People are showing heroism in many ways and this is before we even have any significant outbreak right here. There is a general frustration with many being out of work and no visible "clear and present danger" that is being fought. On social media, every kind of conspiracy theory for "the real truth" about the pandemic takes the place of verifiable data. Actually, that isn't true. The truth is still there but the signal-to-noise ratio seems to be worsening in favor of the noise.
We had my wife's children and their children over for Easter meal after attending church by digital means. My wife said it was necessary. We (my wife and I) had a couple of arguments about "pain of distancing" vs "pain of regret". In the end I supported it. They brought the new family member who is doing great. It was great to spend time with them and it may have to be the last time for a while.
I continue to work on my garden and my yard and to write stuff here. That is normal for me. I have less in my life that has changed than many of those in my town. I know this will pass and I wonder how much the "new normal" will differ from the old. I would hope that, as a country, there will be lessons learned that, at least in part, make up for the "pain of regret".