Not Just a New Chapter, But a New Story

No man, I've heard it said, steps into the same river twice because both he and the river have changed. When, not if, this pandemic ends and we start returning to normal, let's agree that the normal to which we shall be returning will not be the one we had before this began.

For those who've been directly affected by COVID-19, that goes without saying, or should, but for all of us, from the sheltering in placers through the public health professionals who manned the barricades to those who stocked grocery store shelves, pumped gas and performed all the thousands of other tasks we never thought twice about in the "Before Pandemic" timeframe, the river of our lives Post Pandemic will, and must, flow differently. 

Chalk the Walk

Monday night's City Council meeting, with select alderman in council chambers, socially if not philosophically distanced from one another, while other council members were sheltering at home, was live on public access and on the city's website with citizens' comments via email (prior to the meeting) and telephone during the public comment portion. 

The City Manager's proposed budget was I suspect for nearly all of us the item of greatest interest and in light of the circumstances we find ourselves in, I'd suggest he was successful in his presentation. You can find all the budget information on the city's website. Let’s leave for another day the debates about line items and requested dollars. I'll return to that (that was a promise, not a threat), but not today.

Chalk the Walk

There were, as could/should be expected, some technical bumps along the way (after all the Wright Brothers didn't have beverage service or a movie on their first flight at Kitty Hawk) but everything starts somewhere and this was how we start to learn the language of how we may need to speak to one another not just about our next budget but all aspects of our community life together. 

Some of us I've encountered in recent days (it's hard to know who we are with the masks, scarves, and bandanas across our faces) seem to think we're in the midst of some kind of snow event and eventually, life goes back to the way it was (or the way we remember it was) before but I think that's not the lesson we should be taking away. 

Chalk the Walk

We pride ourselves on our inventiveness, adaptability, intelligence, agility, among other traits and it's those, along with perseverance, collaboration, and cooperation that will, I believe, allow us to emerge on the other side of this challenge, stronger and more able to continue to successfully define our future.    

National leaders have called what we now face 'the greatest challenge since Pearl Harbor and The Great Depression' but let me share some words President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told his countrymen and women during The Great Depression. "Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Yet ...(c)ompared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. This Nation asks for action, and action now... We must act and act quickly."

Chalk the Walk

Not talk; action. True then, and truer now. We need to realize we’re not starting a new chapter, but a new story.
-bill kenny