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.