Hopalong Cassidy Trail
Streator, Illinois
The Quiet Surprise on the Prairie
Streator has taken a motto. "The Quiet Surprise on the Prairie". The town has quieted down since the executive order of Governor Pritzker, a very wealthy man who has yet to outshine Whitmer of Michigan or Cuomo of New York. All three have battled virus hotspots in the northwestern states. All three have seen results from their vigor and admiration for their courage.
Gretchen Whitmer has an impersonator on the cast of Saturday Night Live, a good omen for her political career. The actress must hope Whitmer will advance to the Federal level and go eight years as Veep and then eight years as the first Female American president. That would make for brilliant careers, Whitmer and her court jester.
I have a pet peeve to pick with the writers of SNL. Okay, the East Coast writers fly over Michigan on the way to LA. Still, why did Gretchen Whitmer drink a Labatt's Blue? Sure, the beer has a big brewery in nearby London Ontario. Can the writers give her a Stroh's brewed with Detroit River water next time around. That's the ticket. Or even a Two Hearted Ale or an Oberon brewed in Kalamazoo? It's Michigan. We brew beer.
Yesterday, one of my favorite writers recounted a trip to a grocery store. I read every word because I have been his faithful reader since 2008. I heard him talk at the Grand Rapids Art Museum about the orange Calder statue erected in downtown Grand Rapids Twelve years later, I remember a tenth of what he said and exactly how he spoke. As I keep reading his writing, I grow in admiration of the man. I have also written about his partner, an award winning painter.
Let's call him Tim. Tim stood in a line, awaiting his turn to shop. The line features markers at six feet intervals to keep shoppers at social distance. A shopper behind him walked up to closely. Tim was wearing a mask. The shopper who waited behind him had a mask in a pocket, where it could be of little use.
I routinely keep my peace when fellow travelers share music with me. I find it's better to pop in earplugs or put on earphones than to confront a volunteer disc jockey taking it to the streets. I've worked out that the audible music almost serves as an invisible shield for people who must second guess every move through public space.
Tim shows his love by speaking his mind. He requested more space. He recommended a mask. I'm sure he tried to say it calmly and without hostility.
He met resistance. And probably poetically, he gave voice to the thinking of all who practice social distance and masking. In short, "Mask up! I don't want to be the cause of your suffering!" I've never heard of this writer losing it. Over two hundred of his readers applauded him for saying what needed to be said.
I started to wonder why Americans have broken into two camps, those who mask and those who do not mask yet. I know masks are hard to come by because no one sells masks at the pharmacy. One friend, a painter and an educator, offered to send me one made by her friend, who makes masks during all waking hours. I am reminded of the rollers of bandages in World War II Finland. I am reminded of Sadako Sasaki, who made paper cranes as acts of forgiveness granted after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. The makers of masks follow the same selfless impulse.
I have checked the daily mail. And I understand. Her friend can't make masks fast enough. And yes, those masks must stay local. I should help develop my town's mask making community.
I have started to collect images of my friends wearing masks. And I am glad to see them taking #Maskies, selfies with a mask in place. Once we can find several masks for everyone, how can we ask everyone to wear them as an act of love? If two people are wearing masks, the risk of transmission plummets low. Wearing masks might be enough to force the virus into dormancy. It will be a contributing factor most surely. It's better than no masks at all.
As Marianne Williamson said many times from the stage of Renaissance Unity in Warren, Michigan, "We either learn through love or we learn through pain". Let's help our neighbors learn to love the mask. We can help them learn through love rather than pain.
Todd Hancock, Chief Mask Maker and Proprietor, Tenden of Grand Haven, Michigan
#Strohs
#Tenden
#MarianneWilliamston
#Calder
#GrandRapids
#Covid-19
#SocialDistancing
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