COVID-19 Crisis: What have we learned?

    

Grandkids Hailey, Brady and Collin; all three of them had some
real oddities during the last school year, or so, in Iowa.

Me and Steve, in Charleston, South Carolina last spring. 

    Do we understand what just hit us? Maybe not -- certainly not in a historic sense.

    I was a child in the 1960s and well remember the terrible assassinations of that decade, including President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and Sen. Bobby Kennedy, a presidential candidate. At just 10 years old I knew these killings to be "bad," but I had no clue how they would play out in succeeding years.

    I have a hunch the latest crisis -- COVID-19 -- will become the worst challenge our country has faced in modern times.

    More than 620,000 people have died of the virus in the United States (4.03 million in the world). 

    The crisis is ongoing to an extent, partly because some Americans refuse to be vaccinated, and also because the strong Delta variant has arisen as the newest threat. Reports are that most of those affected by the Delta variant have not been vaccinated.

    What has changed in the last year, or more, as we have dealt with the virus? Let's review:

    1. We are cleaner, and tidier than ever before. 

    It's second nature to scrub surfaces, wash hands, you name it. I can't think this will change much, going forward.

    2. We are more familiar with wearing face masks. These masks did play a strong part in reducing the incidence of the virus. 

    I don't like wearing them so much, but I do carry one around. 

    Residents of other countries (such as Japan) regularly wear masks when necessary. I'm not sure we are that comfortable with the practice but it's not a bad idea. 

    3. We exercise faithfully as the best way to stay healthy.

    We did this before the crisis, but it has reached a new level in the last year. If nothing much is going on, I'm out walking or running. Next up: The 2-mile Prairie Farms event, part of the Quad-City Times Bix 7.

    4. The value of hobbies has become quite clear.

    Don't have a hobby? I would heartily encouraging finding one. I garden, feed birds, design family scrapbooks and read, fiction mostly. These activities kept me sane during the crisis.

    5. We have a very local store. After toilet paper seemed to disappear from store shelves (and family members took steps to bail us out), we made it a priority to clean out a closet, and establish a "store" of sorts. This now contains excess paper goods, cleaning products and the like. We have also stored extra macaroni-and-cheese, soups, and such. 

    It's kind of fun to go to this local "store" to re-stock what's run out.

    6. Kids have had the most unusual educational experiences that anyone could imagine. Masks were on faces, mainly, but some kids had waivers so they didn't have to wear masks in school. Officials worked hard to up the cleanliness factor and found ways to add spaces between desks, as an example.

    Teachers, for their part, found themselves in a classroom with students around the clock, at times, as lunch rooms were closed, etc. Or, they were required to teach online; a practice that works in some cases but not others. 

    Our teacher/daughter, as one example, has a toddler, who did not understand what Mommy was doing much of the day.

   It seems that for most children, the school day will return to something resembling "normal" in 2021. 

   Whatever "normal" is, these days.