Our status is still pending

Do you feel like the above headline is where we are on “reopening the economy,” “reopening the state,” etc? When in your life did you ever think that we would even consider uttering phrases like that – let alone have them as part of our daily language?

It almost seems like the past two months has been a blur – I said almost – because it sure was not for many people including our team at The Beacon. While learning to work remotely using technology that at times was frustrating – “my power was out,” “my internet is down,” etc. became phrases that we heard from time to time as we managed to negotiate working together while not being together. Yet, despite all of these apparent hurdles, we managed to publish the Coshocton County Beacon each and every week during this crisis, continuing to cover the positive happenings in our county.

Yes, The Beacon office is now open to the public – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday thru Friday just like back in the “old” days – that is, before the global pandemic swept us off our feet and our norms.

The good news is that we can return to restaurants and actually have a sit-down meal! This is certainly good news for all of those worn out moms – and dads – that fixed a whole lot more meals in eight weeks than in the previous six months added together. Well, maybe. That’s not true for everyone of course – but let’s face it, as Americans we love to eat out. Let’s get out and support our favorite restaurant or two or three. They will appreciate it.

It looks like the Three Rivers Bridge project is coming along nicely – with painting underneath the bridge the current project it seems. When you see gray 55-gallon drums sitting on the deck of the bridge you can only come to one conclusion, I think. Let’s get ‘er done and open! Hard to believe that this project is coming up on two years. And that’s what they said it would take. Let’s also agree that the weather has not always been very cooperative during this time period.

There are still many unanswered questions about COVID-19 and hopefully we will get some answers to our questions in the next several months. There will be legal action taken by some, there will be others that refute the evidence of the virus even existing (that is now as well) and much, much more that will come out of this as we go forward over the next year.

We also have a Presidential election in the midst of all this. How the COVID-19 situation will impact the election is anyone’s guess. Sure, you can listen to the pundits all you want but how did that turn out in the last Presidential election?

Will we have college football this fall? Pro football or other sports? High school athletics? The OHSAA is planning for it. Meanwhile let’s plan on returning to some sense of normalcy in our lives over the next few weeks and months!

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion