About a month ago I wrote a blog about traveling back to VA amidst the Coronavirus outbreak and our upcoming plans. No sooner had I posted that blog on a Sunday - suggesting our plan for an Appalachian Trail (A.T.) hike of 7-10 days, when we had to pivot Monday morning. We began reading that while many were not working and were staying at home, they were actually heading to the trail for day hikes. The trail which spans 14 states and passes through 88 counties, is within a day’s drive for half of the U.S. population! Parking areas were full, picnic tables and latrines were seeing heavy traffic and folks were not social distancing. So whereas we had once thought hiking in the woods was a good way to distance from the virus, we soon learned too many others thought the same thing. Shelters where through hikers spend the night or use the picnic areas to prepare food were being closed in NJ and MD. Virginia soon followed suit. We had to rethink our plan. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy that manages the trail from Georgia to Maine requested a temporary closure on April 1. This was/is no easy task, given the public land in those 14 states is managed by national parks, National forests and a patchwork of locales. The Conservancy has promoted the benefits of experiencing nature and hiking both physically and mentally since 1925. But the group’s president said this unprecedented act was necessary: “The past few weeks have shown that the A.T. is no longer a place where effective social distancing can take place, and that drastic action must be taken to help limit the spread of this highly contagious virus both on and off the Trail.” The conservancy along with 29 of the 31 Appalachian Trail Maintaining Clubs formally requested the official closure of the 2,193-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) by delivering a letter to the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture, the Deputy Director of the National Park Service (NPS) and Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) recommending the Trail’s closure effective immediately until April 30, 2020. So for the third year in a row, out attempts to hike the AT have been stymied. While I’ve given up the idea of hiking the entire trail in one calendar year, Terry still hopes he can, beginning May or June...of course dependent on the trail opening and the Coronavirus. So for the time being, we are staying with mom in Clarksville, Va and hiking nearby Occoneechee State Park where camping and the visitor center are closed, but hiking trails are open. We bought an annual pass on a weekend when there’s someone manning the booth at the park entrance. (During the week, there’s an honor system with envelopes for fees.) The park has a boat launch which is open, and manning the booth on weekends should help the park make some money. The ranger wore mask and gloves and had a fishing net on the end of a six foot pole which she held out to visitors’ car windows. The basket contained an envelope for you to put your money in ($7.00/day if you don’t buy the annual pass) and the ticket for your car window. Social distancing while taking payment... So we’re able to get in shape for the A.T. when it’s safe to hike it, and we’re so happy to be recreating outdoors. I’m really sorry for those in cities with limited options. We can bike ride, dog walk, hike, and even take the kayaks out on the lake. This morning I spent a few hours paddling to a nearby heron rookery in a cove. Quietly I watched as herons flew overhead, fed chicks and even did some nest building. (I saw 21 herons throughout the whole day.) There were also lots of turtles out as well as a family of geese, eagles, vultures, cormorants, even blue birds. A neighbor pointed out a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest. The birds were fast and flitted in and out - not sure if they had bugs - while I gawked. I’m happy to say that my family is safe; although, Terry’s Aunt Dorothy passed away April 7 in her sleep after living to be 101. Feels odd to not be able to gather with family and celebrate her life, but we will find a time when things are safer. She will be buried at Arlington Cemetery alongside her husband, Capt. Robert E Shea USM (Ret). Rest In Peace Aunt Dorothy. Stay safe friends and family, and may you find beauty wherever you are, even if it’s just the Cardinals outside your window, or a nature film on PBS!
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Dear Future: In a hundred years, I hope you will consider these words. We are living in perilous times. It’s 2020, and a pandemic is sweeping the world. I know it by three names: the Novel Coronavirus (which sounds almost pleasant because of the word novel, but the name’s deceptive and the virus, anything but pleasant), Covid-19 or just the Coronavirus. Some people choose to nickname it with racial slurs, but they’re not worth repeating so I will skip that. It’s deadly, indiscriminate, and some days overwhelms our collective psyche. It’s slowly making its way around the world insinuating itself into every day life, seemingly in every corner of the globe. For me and other Americans, it means daily White House briefings, constant reports through our televisions, radio, Twitter and Facebook accounts with data about how many people are infected, how many have died, how many have recovered, how many test kits are available, and where the clusters of outbreaks are. Weekly the data gives doctors and scientists new rules for how we manage our lives: Whom we can see (but mostly whom we can not see), how close we can be to each other, whether we cover our faces, how often we wash our hands and surfaces around us. The rules get stricter, and we get more concerned. No doubt all of the above words will be obvious to you. Because I’m sure much will be written about this devastating virus, it’s after affects and the challenges it presents for our future. But here’s the thing...I want you to remember how it made us think about the world around us. I want you to remember that amidst all the charts, graphs, and data points that there was a psychological shift. And that for those of us who have time to reflect on our future (for those who aren’t swept up in trying to treat the sick or mourn the dead), there are some important lessons that can be applied to life in the future. I’m not talking about how to stockpile necessary personal protective equipment or mobilize workers to care for the sick. I’m not even talking about how to keep the supply chain running so we have safe food, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I’m talking about the most important lesson of all. We live in a global society, and we need to protect our planet and each other. It’s really very simple. In fact it’s so simple, it’s astonishing that we’ve ignored it for decades, even centuries. If we continue to ignore the connectivity of us to each other, to all living things, we don’t deserve this Mother Earth. For Americans, it’s easy to come together to help out our neighbor - the one on our block, or in our home town, even the ones in a neighboring state. But it gets harder to look beyond our borders and realize that suffering happens everywhere. That plants and animals, clean water and air don’t recognize the borders humans draw on a map. That what happens in a small village in China may impact a little girl at school thousands of miles away. We need to take better care of each other, and while we may disagree on the way to govern individual countries, we need to at least agree on the way we take care of our planet. I find it hard to believe that in a hundred years, when most of us who lived through this horrific event are dead, that harmony will exist across borders and nation states with no warring factions. But I implore you to come together on global laws that will keep our planet safe. Climate change is real, and if anyone reads this letter in 2120, will we have taken steps to clean the water, soil, and air for future generations? Will we have recognized how connected the rainforests are to the melting ice fields? The polar bears and seals to the whales and the kelp forests? How connected we are to each other? Drought, wildfires, increased tornados and hurricanes threaten whole communities. And in turn, those devastated effects ripple through countries and across borders. So, do the consequences of viruses which can be transmitted in many ways. This Novel Coronavirus travels in respiratory droplets which can live on inanimate objects as well as travel onto our skin where it can easily make it into our mouth and lungs. It’s a pneumonia like disease that leaves some people gasping for air. And that’s the clean air of their bedroom. But it’s a metaphor for what life may be like in the future.
I’ve always been an optimistic person. I like that about myself. It enables me to get up and face the problems in life without despair taking over, even in the most dire of times. So what I’m trying to focus on today, April 4, 2020 is the other psychological shift I see taking place. Since we’re social distancing, my mom, husband, and dog Rocket and I are only interacting with folks from a distance or through our computers. But what I hear from friends on the phone, read on Facebook or emails, is that many of us are fighting the isolation by strengthening the relationships of those closest. Parents are spending more time with their children who are home from school for the last few months of the school year. Adult children who are living with their parents, are talking about the state of the world with those they love most. And important friendships are strengthened as people connect on FaceTime or Zoom where they can see each other’s laughs or tears. We’re social beings and connecting with each other is therapeutic. Another by product of this disaster is the connection musicians are making with audiences far and wide, using Facebook as a performance platform. Solo guitarists, band members connecting through computers and broadcasting duets live, even re-broadcasts of past concerts free, these have been a balm for me after watching a newscast full of death and disease. So what I want readers from the future to understand is that while this is a terrible pandemic and the suffering for many is unimaginable. The ramifications of how this will impact our financial markets, future job market, health care systems, mental health and so much more will be huge. But the one thing this pandemic has done is give us time to reflect on what’s important in our lives. For me it comes down to relationships: relationships with my family and friends, relationships with my God, my neighbors, and relationships with Mother Earth. I hope that 2120 (or any years between now and then ) will not see a pandemic like this. But if that’s the case, I sincerely hope mankind will be more conscious of our connectedness. As author Herman Melville wrote:
“A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men. Our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” Sincerely, Holly Barden Stadtler - April 4, 2020 |
AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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