May 17-31

Since the middle of March a powderkeg has been building within the boundaries of our state if not the whole damn country, sooner or later someone or something was going to light the fuse. The people of this commonwealth have been on interminable lockdown for reasons that are no longer supported by any data scientific or otherwise, entire families are starving, struggling to survive and in danger of losing everything they own. All the while the governor and the state secretary of health steadfastly refuse to loosen the death grip they hold over the very population they were elected to serve. In recent weeks more and more small businesses have opened in spite of the governor's guidelines (which are not LAWS and are therefore unconstitutional) and have been harassed by various law enforcement agencies. One of the most egregious examples is a business in York County owned by an 80-year-old veteran of three wars this country has been involved with. In many areas the local prosecutors have said they will not enforce the governor's edicts or prefer legal charges against those who are merely trying to make what living they can to survive. I have always felt that this entire situation will end when The People decide that it's over, as the month of May drew to a close the long-overdue eruption was beginning. On Monday the 25th (as we were supposed to be celebrating Memorial Day) there was an incident in Minneapolis, Minnesota involving an African-American citizen and a Caucasian police officer that resulted in the civilian's death. On the following weekend peaceful protests in many cities turned violent and I truly believe that the Minneapolis incident was only part of the reason. What started as a protest of the treatment that gentleman received escalated into ugliness because it gave the general populace an excuse to work off their simmering pent-up frustrations. The People are fed up with the hypocrisy and double-dealing at the political level, they are tired of being chained up at home with no way to support their families and no outside entertainment diversions available. The governor issued a statement that actually praised and encouraged the protesting provided it didn't become violent (what exactly does that even mean?), needless to say that idea didn't work out at all. As it stands my county is scheduled to "go yellow" on June 5 under his alleged "plan" to reopen the state, from what I can see his plan is in the trash because "social distancing" was vandalized and burned to the ground over the weekend. Stay tuned, friends. It may get uglier before it gets better. Thanks for reading.

May 1-16

The month of May began the same way it's been since this situation started in March. One noteworthy event happened on the 8th when I saw Jenny (albeit briefly) for the first time in six weeks. She was in town for an overnight visit with her friend's two young daughters and I had some goods I'd been keeping for her and her mother. Her friend was taking her home over the lunch hour so we arranged to meet at my usual lunch spot at the plaza. We were only together for about fifteen minutes while we got our subs and loaded the merchandise into her friend's car but every minute counted. The sub shop is managed by a very nice young lady named Erica, when the governor and the state's health secretary ruled in April on mandatory use of facemasks in public places she was kind enough to get one for me since she knows people who make them. I offered to give her a few dollars for the materials, the time involved and her kindness but she wouldn't hear of it. When the state government instituted this stay-home/lockdown/quarantine in March most people were largely willing to be reasonable for a REASONABLE amount of time. What was originally in good faith two weeks has become two MONTHS, under the governor's plan it is to last until June 4 and I'd lay odds it will last even longer. On May 10 our county's political leaders sent a letter to the governor informing him that the county would "reopen" on the 15th regardless of his plan, among the reasons being that (a) the predicted infection/fatality numbers from this virus were poorly projected and simply don't warrant continued closure and (b) many small business owners are on the verge of bankruptcy if they're not already there. Many other counties around the state are expressing similar concerns because the governor's plan (at least to the naked eye) appears to be haphazard with no scientific basis. On the 11th the governor addressed the various counties' representatives by saying that their actions were cowardly and they were deserting the fight. Up to that point I never had an opinion of the man either way but when he said that he lost me completely. For two months the people of this state have done everything asked of them and MORE, we're now at the point of enough is ENOUGH. You cannot keep people locked up indefinitely over something that MIGHT happen. I could be killed in an automobile accident but I'm not going to stop driving. I could break my neck falling down the stairs but I'm not staying on the second floor forever. I could die from the pollution in our atmosphere but I'm not going to stop breathing. The original idea behind "stay-at-home" was to "flatten the curve" and that has happened. It's no longer about the virus, it's become a matter of political agendas, power and control. Stay tuned, friends. Take care, thanks for reading.