The editor of Montezuma Magazine pokes a little fun at himself, then addresses COVID-19 and other serious issues.
By Keith Brake
They’ve got “Murder Hornets” in Washington State!
OMG, what’s next?
Well, I don’t care how poisonous or big they are, we can see ’em, so . . . I’m not worried about them.
If they head this way, they won’t get past Boise before the government zaps them, right?
Covid-19? We can’t see it. And a lot of differing pictures of its dangers are being put into our mind’s eye.
Anyone offering a service will confirm that it’s tougher to “sell” the invisible.
More on that in a bit . . .
First, I want to assure my friends in Iowa that Linda and I are healthy up here in Wisconsin. We’re in day 50-something of our statewide lockdown.
I’m starting to look like my cat.
I thought it would be fun to try and grow a beard. I have only done it once before – about 45 years ago, when I was in my 20s.
It was fire engine red. It gave me a look of distinction.
So, it’s starting to fill in. But there’s not much red. It looks more like a grass fire went through it, what with all the gray and black.
And, I think I’m starting to look like Smokey, our 15-year old kitty.
Actually, Smokey is better-looking. I can’t match his green eyes.
Now, I guess, I have more of a look of extinction.
Oh, and yeah, that one photo was taken right after I heard about “Murder Hornets.” OMG!
But I said I would get around to the virus crisis.
I wonder if any of you are really afraid . . .for your life, your family . . . for our country?
I’m not afraid for my life. I will be 69 years old in two months, and I know that faded leaves are starting to fall from my tree. I still would prefer to have some choice about how, or generally when, it happens, but death means going Home and I’m not afraid of that.
I remember being really petrified during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which started in October of 1962 and lasted almost two weeks.
I feared the United States and the Soviet Union were headed for nuclear war. I was 11 years old at the time and could barely conceptualize nuclear war.
We were instructed on TV and in school to “duck and cover” if we heard the defense sirens. So, was a nuclear weapon like a windstorm?
More like a heat ray, we learned later, that would vaporize you. Instantly, if you were (lucky enough) to be close to the impact point.
Well, that’s different! Not to worry. . .much. Remember, I was only 11. I still feared tornadoes (which I had not seen . . and still haven’t) and garter snakes.
I don’t think the term “meltdown” was part of the language yet.
Here in Wisconsin, I’m told that conquering worry is as simple as popping the top on another can of your favorite beverage, putting your feet up, and promising not to worry about it. Then, repeating the process. . .
What, they do that in Iowa, too? Still?
But, I’ve never lived through anything quite like this.
COVID-19 isn’t over. I agree that the worst of it is ahead, especially for rural America.
It won’t be over until a vaccine is discovered. . .no, it won’t be over then, either. After the debacle we’ve seen so far with testing, can you imagine how long it might take to produce just the first 330 million units of that vaccine?
A problem is that America is a service economy with a product marketing model.
If it’s a car, we can kick the tires.
If it’s social distancing or staying home from work or self-quarantining we’ll do it. . .but we can’t see the virus, we can’t work, we can’t pay, we can’t feed . . .we demand that “normalcy” returns. Increasingly, we’re having trouble really buying into fighting this unseen enemy.
We’re becoming even more of a service economy. We sell services – to others and to ourselves – by picturing what life will be like after we order (and receive) the service.
It doesn’t help that many Americans feel they’re being ordered around by socialist types. Perhaps they’re right on that, but as Dr. Fauci and others have said, it’s the virus itself that ultimately will determine when America fully restarts its economy.
The only thing the American people have been given to beat this virus is social distancing. And, it can be argued we’ve all done a great job.
What will history write about the end of the American Empire? (Yes, it’s an empire, an economic empire and way of life like no other, ever).
Will it be written that the empire met all enemies – seen and unseen – and fought them off?
Or, that it imploded from within?
It didn’t take long, did it, for this pandemic to go political? It was predictable . . as soon as the case numbers and deaths began to decline in New York, the “media” started to churn out a maelstrom of partisan accusations.
We need for leadership to arise from within. We must be there for each other.
So yes, I’m pondering the country’s future.
Still frustrated? Talk to God. Talk at God, if you want. Whatever you dish out, He can take it. And He may give you peace about this, if you’ll just ask.
He doesn’t change. He’s still there.
What a rush it must be to exist outside of time! You wouldn’t have to look back. Just forward . . .
Try wrapping your mind around that concept, and then tell me if controlling what you CAN control is a good idea. That’s a different answer for each of us, and easier to do if we know Someone has got our back.
