Monday Morning Musings
Posted on May 11, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Cabot Trail walk – August, 2019 – Ingonish
(Bronwen Smith Cooke photo)
We are all coming to the realization, or at least we should be, that this could be a marathon. The experts tell us that only a vaccine will ultimately bring this situation under control. This is not the news that we want to hear heading into summer.
Will summer come or will we have snow in August as well as May?
Everyone is trying to process what’s going on, but it is a real struggle because no one of our generation has been through something quite like this where virtually everyone on the planet is being affected directly or indirectly. I wonder and worry about poorer countries who don’t have the resources to implement financial measures. They will be hit harder one would think.
For many of us, the pandemic is inconvenient. We still enjoy many creature comforts. For many others, however, this is MUCH more than an inconvenience. It is life threatening for many, especially the elderly, as the death totals continue to rise. Essential workers are being put in harm’s way every day. Children can’t go to school and visit with their friends and parents who are out of work, in many cases have the double whammy of reduced incomes and their children at home.
I think most people agree that things will never be the way that they were three months ago. Even when a vaccine has been found and a sense of safety returns, the mental, emotional, psychological, and financial impacts will be felt for a very long time. Some would suggest that the business world was already in transition. Coronavirus has accelerated the process by several years.
Many sectors of the economy were struggling before the virus hit. This could very well be the death knell of many, many small businesses, built by hard working, enterprising people. Sadly, the economy has no feelings and the carnage will be substantial. Just the other day, two major retailers filed for bankruptcy. Aldo, a Canadian retail giant and Neiman Marcus, an American behemoth have fallen. As one economist said, “Big trees are falling. Many more small trees will also fall.”
I hope this is not too terribly depressing, but I think we need to brace ourselves for more difficult times. However, mankind has proved its resiliency before, and it is certain that it will again. Things will look different but often, different isn’t such a bad thing.
We need to brace ourselves for the “brave new world” we’re entering.
One thing keeps me grounded and gives me perspective when I feel gloom descending upon me. At times like this, I think of refugee families like the Hadhads and others who spent years in refugee camps. These families lost everything in wars not of their own choosing. They lived in fear and uncertainty without creature comforts. With nothing but the clothes on their back, along with hopes and dreams, they have built new lives. This gives me great hope.
Have you driven around the Cabot Trail? Have you ever had an adventure while doing the Trail? Please send me your stories and I might add them to the final chapter of the book I’m writing about my Cabot Trail walk last summer. But you need to do it soon… this week! Fire me off an e-mail at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com.
Have a great week.
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