PanningForGold

To the future, I’m certain that by the time you read this you will have read in your history books all about the year 2020, the year of our Corona.  I hope by now it has become but a footnote in your history.  The problem with history books is that the people who write them often get it wrong.  In 2020 there is an element in United States that is trying to bury history by destroying all evidence of its existence on the premise that our history promotes hatred and racism.  Rather than stop and educate they would rather destroy.  These are the very people who have not learned from the past.  I hope you don’t suffer the same fate. 

One thing that most of us agree on is 2020 sucks pond water. Not the fun pond water, but the green slime pond water.   Corona, the Covid 19 pandemic escaped China and shut down the world, (to a degree). I am not a conspiracy theorist nor an expert on viruses or politics. but I am observant and have the ability to use reason.  This pandemic while serious was met with an un-proportionate amount fear due to both the ‘news’ and social media. We have dealt with worse and not only survived, but flourished as a world.   The survival rate of Covid 19 is 99% the news skims over that little fact,  the news gives daily updates on the number of cases as it rises each day, and the number of death and often fail to make the distinction between deaths with Covid 19 and deaths from Covid 19. 

I am not sure why the news only reports daily new cases and deaths of Covid 19 and not report on fatal car crashes, drug overdoses and autocorrect disasters.  All three of which are responsible individually, for more deaths than the virus.                                                                                                                 

Again, I am not trying to downplay the disease or its impact on society.  Heck we lost my father in law to the virus, if anything my wife and I are even more diligent in washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing. We must stand strong in our fight against it while keeping things in perspective. 

We practice social distancing, meaning we remain 6 feet apart making sex interesting. We must all wear face masks.  Nothing to fancy, some wear dust masks, others a bandana, every now and again you see someone in a surgical mask.  Others opt for the ole’ ‘wrap a sock’ around the face technique. One person was photographed in Walmart wearing scuba gear.  Masks are quickly becoming a fashion statement .  However a great many don’t understand the nature of the mask. Some don’t bother with the inclusion of the nose. Some cover their chin, while others leave the mask to hang off one ear, the other half just flapping in the wind.  I suppose this last technique is akin to those who insist on pulling their jeans up just past their knees.  Yes there is one in every crowd.

There is also confusion as to where and when to wear a mask and social distance. Some places you must self quarantine at home, other places you cannot gather in groups of 10 or more, others its 25.  The virus obviously has a moral compass. Its okay to gather in the hundreds of thousands if you are rioting or protesting for racial injustice. Again the rule of thumb is, ‘better to destroy than educate’ or for that matter take responsibility.  In those situations the virus will not spread.  Even our fearless leaders who impose the mask laws understand this.   They will stand on their soap box every day and tell us we will be punished if we don’t wear the mask.  We are irresponsible if we don’t social distance.  Yet these same leaders are seen mask-less arm in arm leading the protests of thousands en mass.  Yes Gov Wolf of Pennsylvania we all saw you.  Good thing the virus knows only to attack at small family gatherings.

Another refuge from the virus are the large box stores such as Lowes, Walmart, Best Buy.  These multi billion dollar industries can remain open so obviously perfectly safe.  The independent retailer?  Not so, in those business the virus is free to run rampant. This is a very smart Covid.  So those business must close their doors.  Sit down restaurants were closed for sometime.  They are open now and with the openings a new aspect of the virus arises.  One must wear a mask when entering the establishment and when being seated.  But once you are seated you are safe from the virus and can remove your mask.  It is no mystery as why we cannot seem to get a handle on this virus.  We are, stupid. 

There is no way I can describe what is going on in a few paragraphs or even an entire book.  What I will leave you with is a few things I have learned along the way. 

1. Nobody owes you anything.  You want something?  Pull up your pants, brush your teeth, learn to communicate and work for it.  Sorry, your excuses don’t fly with the rest of us. 
2. For the love of Pete, Wash your hands.
3. Your life matters.  If you believe in this then show respect for others because their life matters just as much as yours. 
4. When emptying a jar make sure you know where the mouth of the jar is aiming
5. History happened.  You can’t erase it or change it, you may as well embrace it and learn. 
6. What I learned from statues.  In the past people not only had a greenish tinge, they were huge!
7. Laugh whenever you can and as much as you can.
8. Always be aware of what is really important.
9. Be kind
10. “Not years enough, in life so short,   to learn a craft so long,**           whose effort’s hard, whose winning hurts, whose painful joys slides snakily off – by all this I mean Love, whose working wonderful astonishes my senses, So painful indeed, that when I think on it,I know not whether I float, or fall.  {Geoffrey Chaucer}