Looking forward
Dear Fred, The beginning is the hardest part of any journey.
When I started writing to you a year ago, it was in an effort to give some local perspective as to what was going on in the world and how it was impacting our communities. The idea was that you, future reporter Fred in the year 2120, would perhaps find them useful as your editor assigned you to do a story on the 100th anniversary of the pandemic. I can hope that 99 years from now, someone might find these useful to read over.
A year ago, Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency which ultimately led to safer at home orders dramatically changing the patterns of people’s lives and disrupting the economy. The state’s orders were followed up by county and city orders. Major events like the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce Home and Business Expo were canceled overnight with dozens of other events canceling or postponing over the ensuing months. Schools were shut down, initially with the hope it would be temporary, but then with the growing realization that this wasn’t going to be a quick ride.
Looking back on what I wrote you last year when this all began, I am reminded of the fear and sense of helplessness that permeated virtually every household and workplace.
On the foggy mornings following the governor’s order, I went up to the normally bustling Hwy 13 to see if anything had changed. I was struck with the silence as midday may well have been midnight judging by the lack of traffic. It took weeks before the bustle of life resembled anything approaching normal and I am reminded when I talk to my family on the East Coast that in some places it still has not fully returned to normal.
Fear is a strange emotion. For some, it can easily lead to despair and a sense that nothing good will ever come again. For others, it prompts them to take action, either through anger or cold resolve.
Where a year ago, there was a sense of fear and helplessness, the prevailing sense for many people today is of hope. The sense of foreboding that was keenly felt by many has been largely replaced by this sense of hope and a steady return to normalcy.
The world did not stop turning when the pandemic struck. While many of us suffered the loss of friends or loved ones, commonsense precautions and modern medicine kept the death tolls far below the early estimates. Now with the wider availability of vaccines that effectively prevent death or serious illness from COVID-19, there is cause for optimism where there wasn’t a year ago.
Just as many long for a world the way it was in the “before times.” The past year has not been entirely bad. Faced with scarcity as shutdowns slowed down the centralized production process, people relearned relying on local sources. Faced with not being able to go out, people relearned staying in and in the process reconnected with their families.
The challenge going forward will be to be deliberate in how we add things back into our lives. The pandemic gave us a reset button and an opportunity to review our chronically packed schedules. All of us could do with prioritizing to separate the things that are important from those that are simply time consuming.
Fred, I can only imagine what life must be like for you there in 2120. I expect that much like when I dig back into the archives, you will find some of the issues we covered and items in the paper as quaint. Other issues are more timeless and with the few updates will likely be as relevant to modern readers as they were decades ago. Heck given the expected lifespan of infrastructure projects, chances are you have written or will be writing about the need to replace the Camp 8 and Chelsea Lake dams.
I hope I have given you enough material to appease your editor and helped in informing and entertaining your readers about what was going on here in Taylor County during COVID-19. Good luck.
Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.
