Typically spring is a time of rebirth. Hope. Not this time.
Not at this particular moment.
Southern California winters don’t offer much by way of “weather.” With recent exception, rain, clouds and genuinely cold weather are as foreign to this region as science is to climate change deniers.
Nevertheless we breathe a collective sigh of relief when the sun starts shining more consistently and rain forecasts return to the mythical realm.
More daylight, warmer weather and chirping birds are the sirens that draw us to open spaces where we enjoy an afternoon picnic or a pre-slumber nap.
Here, laissez faire springs are the appetizer to frenetic Southern California summers and all their outdoors activities. We are fortunate to live in a place where they are served to us in quick succession.
Warm weather has always been able to coax people out to celebrate life. And that’s what has me concerned.
It is a bold understatement to say we are living in interesting times. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a majority of the world to an economic and social standstill.
To stop the spread of this new potentially fatal virus that doctors and researchers are still studying we have been asked —some will say ordered — to stay at home as much as possible. Businesses and their employees deemed non-essential to promoting safety and well being have been asked to stop what they are doing or find ways to significantly limit their social contact.
People have lost their jobs, some businesses are closed indefinitely and bills are going unpaid. Meanwhile stress levels rise.
And the sunshine beckons.
When it is gloomy outside —when the gray skies match the global mood of a populous living in the time of a pandemic — it is relatively easy to ask people to stay inside their homes and limit their outdoor activity.
But when the sun is out and the days are longer and warmer and there is an ache to return to “normal” sooner rather than later? I fret the urge to gather en masse and save the economy before it is safe to do so — before we have enough resources to adequately treat the afflicted while protecting medical personnel; before we can test or treat all those at risk of contracting the virus — will lead to a longer, deadlier winter after a brief moment in the sun
Obviously, I hope I am wrong.
