Perspective vs. Prospective

THE CORONA WAR
Military rhetoric floods the media as politicians and pundits discuss the corona virus crisis. Our leaders hope to use the war-like references to unite our country in a common cause. The Corona is an enigmatic and ruthless enemy hell-bent on destroying our way of life. War involves high rates of mortality, economic upheaval, fear and uncertainty. There are winners and losers. The poor, the old and the young are often the most vulnerable. The big, bad corona virus has us all frozen in place, lost in thought about the prospective outcomes. We could use a little perspective.

FROM THE FRONT
Now in the thick of things, it’s difficult to see the big picture. Family and friends are sharing their thoughts and concerns on the pandemic. The most heart wrenching notes are about those engaged on the battle front: The professionals directly in harm’s way: doctors, nurses, police, EMTs, researchers and all those fighting the pandemic. What we are hearing is as frightening as news from any war front. A desperate need for reinforcements, ventilators, masks, protective gear, medicine and, most needed, an effective cure. From northern California, our friend Frank writes, “We’re sort of in the midst of the crisis with our son Matthew MD, an anesthesiologist, doing fewer surgeries and being called to the front line giving care. We’re also so very concerned about supplies and have talked with our congressman to help.  We’d ask everyone to reach out to their representatives to draw attention to the shortage crisis. Feel free to share! Thank you!” Barb from Madeira emails, “I do worry about Ryan in D.C., as he is in charge of COVID-19 for his entire healthcare corporation.” We need to act now for our warriors and assist in any way we can, even if that’s just staying home.

THE SHUTTERED, SHUDDERING AND HUMOR
Even with muted prospects, the American people have the ability to see humor in rather grim circumstances. Checking in with family and friends, I shared that Steve and I were “holed up in our condo shuttering-in-place”… I meant to say, “sheltered-in-place.” Frank then made the comment that “I feel like our shelter-in-place could be called shutter-in-place!!” Or, maybe he meant, shudder-in-place! Linda, a Cincinnati friend shares, “There is a lovely little book called Ella Minnow Pea written by Mark Dunn…  If you say the title quickly, it becomes LMNOP.  The story involves a community in which the residents lose their ability to use certain letters.  Z is first, followed by Q.  Those aren’t too bad but it gets worse as more letters fall away.  Quite entertaining.  This is similar to listening to the Ohio Governor’s daily news briefing.  Every day something new is taken away and we are now on … lock down.  Among the worst for me (worse even than bars closing!) was the decision by the public library, followed by the Mercantile, to close indefinitely.  The end of civilization as I know it! (And luckily) we are … finding odd little things to laugh about.  Hairdressers and salons closed?  We will all get a chance to remember what our natural hair color looks like!” Laughing is good medicine, especially to dispel the stress. 

FEAST OR FAMINE?
Americans enjoy cheap and plentiful food. The fear and/or boredom of being shut in may encourage too much feasting. We need to be vigilant. A positive outcome of this crisis could be improving our health. Soups are a healthy and soothing antidote to whatever ails us. Let’s clean our pantries, refrigerators and freezers and make a wholesome pot of soup. Beef–Vegetable Barley is the recipe of the week that I built on found ingredients. Summer is just around the corner, plan a garden or hire a landscaping firm, like my cousin Edamarie’s Backyard Bounty, to plant one for you. Crises are opportunities to learn.

LESSONS LEARNED AND FORGOTTEN
A great outcome from this crisis could be learning healthier habits. Washing hands more often, eating more nutritious food and being aware of the proximity of those around us. There will likely be repeats of this type of enemy. A healthy immune system is the best protection for this type of war. In a sense, we’ve have always been at war with viruses. Continuing to learn and apply learning to our daily life are of the upmost importance. Researchers are in labs searching for a cure. My cousin Teresa sent an interesting response to my thoughts on the 1918 flu pandemic which her father and my grandmother survived, “You talk about what my parents went through in those years (1914-1918).  Those are years that only (my) generation and our parents went through and remember. My mother lost a sister (3 yrs old) and also her brother (7) came down with polio.  We went through the same thing we are going through now.  Polio was the unknown. The month of August we were forbidden to go swimming and not play with anyone.  Polio had no boundaries.  Young or old. Even our President (FDR) got it. Thousands got it every year and were crippled and died from it.  The Media has failed to mention it.” How quickly we forget.

KEEP LEARNING!
According to a recent USA article, Teresa is right on! “60 million Americans (Teresa’s age, which is over 75) have seen this horror show before: the polio scourge that ravaged the world’s young from roughly 1916 until Jonas Salk’s vaccination arrived in 1955.” People were social distancing for almost 40 years with polio! Yes, yes they were! Thanks to continued scientific research and building on the successes of the likes of Jonas Salk, our prospects on winning this war on THE CORONA are excellent. We need to tell our children and grandchildren, currently marooned at home, about the necessity of continuing to learn outside the classroom. A beautiful perspective on this comes from Dominic, a Louisville cousin, “(To) All, I saw this and thought you would like it as well … this quote from C.S. Lewis that seems appropriate at this time. This is from a sermon called “Learning in Wartime” where he was speaking to students of the importance of continuing their studies even with WWII going on…

C.S. LEWIS PUTS THE CORONA CRISIS IN PERSPECTIVE
“I think it important to try to see the present calamity in a true perspective.  The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.†Life has never been normal. Even those periods which we think most tranquil, like the nineteenth century, turn out, on closer inspection, to be full of cries, alarms, difficulties, emergencies.

AND MORE…
I have created a CORONA scrapbook page and I will share the thoughts and comments I have received to date and will add others as I receive them. Please share your “sheltered, shuttered and shuddering” experiences with the DM community. If by chance you are cooking or baking up a memorable recipe, I’d love to post it with any photos. This too shall pass! For now, keep the crisis in perspective and pray for a prospective vaccine.