As a journalist, covering the pandemic has

been possibly the biggest story of my life.

That is the main thing I will remember about

this crazy period.

I reached out to some other interesting folks

and asked them what they will remember:

World traveler and bestselling author Mark

Jenkins of Laramie says: “The world is suffering

horribly, so much so that I feel guilty living

in Wyoming. Due to our wide-open spaces

and small population, we can still get outside

without seeing a soul. I have cross-country

skied or rock climbed or mountain-biked or

hiked every single day since the beginning of

the pandemic.” Down in Wheatland, Chuck

Brown says: “Kate has cleaned every drawer,

every closet, every other conceivable surface

in the house, and my greatest fear is that she

is going to start on me very soon! She also

has been seen out scouting around the yard,

just waiting for one or two weeds to surface

so they can be demolished as well!”

Helen LaRose of Lander: “We’ve gone

back to basics. Both of us are over 60 years

old and one of us is immunocompromised.

We drove back home from a winter retreat in

Texas under the radar and quietly self-quarantined

for two weeks.

“No bread on the shelves? I restarted my

sourdough. It’s never been so bubbly and

well attended. Occasional drives out to our

Wyoming beauty have taken our breath away.

What do I miss? Being able to help. I fall into

the elderly ‘be careful’ group. I can’t volunteer

to this community and it hurts my soul.”

Former Green River resident Jack Pugh:

“The Spanish flu killed about 18 million people

worldwide. We’re all too young to have

lived through that. But we’ve got this one, this

pandemic. We need to see the present through

the lens of the past. This current pandemic will

have to do us, I suppose, and the docs say it’s

far from over.”

Tom Cox: “The best part of this pandemic

is speculating on how it’s going to change our

culture. With the technology available today,

I can see some big advances in the pharmaceutical

industry. Maybe even, a better understanding

of cancer or neurological maladies.

It’s been a rough few weeks with some more

to come before we develop immunity for everyone.

The biggest disappointment, I think,

is the pervasiveness of politics in dealing with

this crisis.”

Check out additional columns at www.billsniffin.

com.