Monday, March 23, 2020

When Everything Changes

Metzger Heritage Farmstead
I took a walk around the farm yesterday in the brisk afternoon sunshine and captured this view of the farm from the top of the hill behind the house. It's similar to this one from two years ago. But our world has shifted in so many ways since that cheerful post.
Pandemic is a frightening word. Its stark reality changes everything. I had intended to write an update and lay out our plans for the coming year on the farm but I cannot find my words this morning.
I'll just paraphrase what the experts are saying: We all need to do our part to slow the spread of this virus. We can do that by being inconvenienced, by not doing all the things we love to do, by keeping our distance from those we yearn to see. We can all wash our hands, cover our coughs and sniffles, disinfect regularly. We can all learn new ways to make do with what we have and what we can acquire easily, while still leaving some for others.
How about writing a comment here telling me (and the readers of this blog) how you're doing and offering your tips about how you're managing your brave new world.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a big help to have a full freezer and stores of home-canned food to help out while we're waiting for spring. I envy those gardeners in the south who have a head start on us in the north.

Pastor Warren said...

Pastor Warren.
Through this pandemic I’m learning new things every day. I’ve learned to love and appreciate people I have taken for granted thinking they will always be there, but maybe they won’t. I’ve learned to have far more respect for all those that keep our environment safe and clean: the janitors and cleaning staff of all our institutions, the grocery clerks and store personnel, the security guards, police officers, the civil engineers, the sanitation workers who pick up and empty trash, the hospital staff that keeps the place clean. I’ve seen our medical staff at all levels and EMTs and taxi/Uber drivers in a whole new light, brave people who are willing to risk their lives for total strangers. I’ve seen our farmers and growers as people who care that everyone is fed and provided with a healthy diet. I’ve seen the clergy of all denominations find creative ways to care for their congregations and people beyond their own congregations. I’ve grown to respect Teachers, clergy, trainers who have taken the time to learn new ways to educate and use modern technical skills to reach their students and followers. There are dedicated Funeral directors and their staff who have had to adapt new ways of comforting, planning and performing their duties just to protect themselves and their own families and the families they serve. Doctors who have had to calm and treat patients over the phone. This crisis will change who we are as a society. We will do things differently and treat each other with new respect. There will always be goof balls who laugh at us that care, who ignore rules that are set in place to protect us and them and who party all night long just because they can. They don’t give a damn about the rest of us or even their own families or the ones who will care for them when they get sick. I’ve never comprehended a pandemic before. Let’s hope we learn from this one, it is frightening enough. Can you imagine what the Black Plague was like when they had little knowledge of medicine and no ways of tracking the progress of this foul monster. I fear the next pandemic might not strike people but computers. That will set us back to the time of the Black Plague and we to will be without knowledge and facts from which to take heed.