Open Window

A New Normal

The New Normal

"Necessity is the Mother of Invention" and the need to create a new normal during this pandemic has led to some inventive and entertaining solutions. Outdoor dining is now "de riguere", with sidewalks and parking lots being converted to "patio-dining". Backyards have become gardens where one can relax in the fresh air and enjoy a cool beverage. "To Go" is now the thing to do with pick-up services having fancy titles like the Butcher Shoppe and Curbside Kitchen despite the backdoor delivery. "Cocktails to go" are even permitted with one restaurant loudly advertising in every window the location of a special "Fish Taco and Margarita Window". Plexiglass separates and "protects" us while giving us the illusion of being a part of a shared experience whether in restaurants or stores.

The special service introduced in New York City in the '80s of hiring a personal shopper is back, but this time it's free. Shopkeepers are cleverly creating the allure of catering to the elite amongst us given the limitations imposed upon them due to the coronavirus. One shop is offering FaceTime Shopping - anything to engage and encourage its customers. Stores selling items that appeal to children are posting signs asking the impossible of their young clientele "Hands in Pockets". I wonder how that's working out for them. Churches too are advertising, in their case outdoor services with one church welcoming its congregants to gather for worship under "the old oak tree". And everywhere there are signs demanding that we all wear masks, which now come in various forms from industrial hospital-style to fancy designer patterns. This is the landscape of the new normal and these are the new norms.

Photos and Slide Show © 2020 Claudia Ward
"Too Close for Comfort" by Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra from the Soundtrack of Hollywood ending

 

"A Republic, If You Can Keep It"

I have tried over the last ten years to make this blog primarily subject oriented: photography, food, travel, and living, and the latter was loosely defined. It truly depended on what was passing through my mind: thoughts of relatives who have passed on, the differences in taste buds (savory vs sweet), perspectives (normal and unusual), .... just aspects of every day living. I tried to keep my personal thoughts on politics, economics, religion, social justice or injustice, and democracy out of this small blog, but it becomes harder and harder, if I want to write at all.

I am ashamed to say that I and my education failed me. Why? Because I never read the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution of the United States ... that is until Trump was inaugurated. We all have heard so many of the Articles quoted and referenced in the news and in television programs, so I guess I thought I was well enough acquainted with their contents. The inauguration and Trump's early performance as President made me seek out copies of both, each of which I have read several times.

Like too many of us who have been fortunate enough to have been born in the United States in the mid- to late- 20th century, I've taken our democracy for granted. In college, I studied other forms of government, but until recently, I never thought I would ever personally see the the face of any other possible form of government. Democracy seemed to work despite ourselves. I'd read about monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny, and recently even became acquainted with the term plutocracy, but never thought I'd need to understand exactly what those terms and governmental structures could mean when living within them.

So many have said that Democracy is fragile and it's proving to be true. I pray to God, we do not see it fail completely. There is a story, repeated often, that when Benjamin Franklin exited the Constitutional Convention he was asked what sort of government the delegates had created for this new country. His answer was "A republic, if you can keep it." Reading this, sent me immediately to research the exact definition of "republic". A republic is " a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officials and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law".

Our Congress men and women are elected officials and have sworn to uphold the Constitution, our laws,  and our Democracy. Why are they failing so blatantly? Why is any of this being tolerated? This behavior terrifies me for the future of not only our country but the world. Tolerance and compromise seem to have vanished from our representatives. Self-interested politics appears to be the driving force in Washington, undermining the rule of law and nearly all of our democratic principles.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, in one of his daily Corona briefings recently said, "Politics defeats intelligent conversation". Observing politics operating in the U.S. today, I agree.

Professor Richard Beeman, Ph.D., a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania wrote an article titled, "Perspectives on the Constitution: A Republic, if You Can Keep It", in which he said, "Our Constitution is neither a self-actuating nor a self-correcting document. It requires the constant attention and devotion of all citizens." It is our collective responsibility, elected officials and the electorate together, to protect and defend our Constitution. We need to be wiser and smarter about who is elected to represent us. It is our responsibility to hear candidates' positions and demand answers to any and all of our questions, and to make educated votes based on facts, not politics.

Perspective: The Last 50 Years

Graduation Mortarboard

2020 marks the 50th year since my classmates and I graduated from High School. Where did the time go?!

Sadly our reunion had to be cancelled because of COVID 19 and is now tentatively rescheduled for Spring 2021. In preparing for reunion, the organizers were very creative and thought it would be great fun and interesting if the class created a year book for this semicentennial event. They created a small questionnaire to help direct our thoughts which we could use or not, as we wished. I found the questions unexpectedly thought provoking.

I responded to the questionnaire in February, weeks before we'd ever heard of Coronavirus. For some reason one of the questions I answered then keeps coming to mind: "What have been the most significant aspects of the last 50 years: the people, events, happenings, lessons, or something else … that have most mattered?" If answering today, many would think the answer would unequivocally be Coronavirus and all it's alarming consequences, and perhaps when I can get some distance between the virus and my day-to-day life, I will agree but for now I wouldn't change my response ... because I have no perspective on this pandemic yet ... only opinions.

Right now, I must feel some solace and to do that I must acknowledge how fortunate I have been to have had and experienced all that I have. Thus I am sharing with you here my answer to that very question:

What have been the most significant aspects of the last 50 years: the people, events happenings, lessons, or something else … that have most mattered?

“The most significant aspects of the last 50 years”, have been the last 50 years. We have been an exceptionally fortunate generation of Americans. Certainly, there have been ups and downs but for the most part it has been an exceptionally prosperous and peaceful-period in history. There have been wars but no world wars. There have been recessions but with the exception of that last one, we recovered from them all quickly. Post WWII, the US was respected around the globe, our democracy thrived and seedling democracies established themselves around the globe; our Constitution and Bill of Rights held fast and our elected officials worked together as reasonable, bi-partisan, grown-ups (at least most of them).

Previous generations endured world wars, famine and the Great Depression. Future generations face a future of grave uncertainty with global warming, a nervous global economy, limited global resources, and the self-interests of the players on the global political stage. For the first time in these 50 years, the next generation will not be better off than their parents. These last 50 years have been an historical exception not the rule, and we have been the generation who benefited from it the most. How very fortunate we have been to have lived these 50 years.

Happy 4th of July ... Week

Statue of Liberty at Dawn © Claudia Ward

We sincerely wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July ... week, remembering the liberties and principles upon which our country was founded.

As I was watching the Boston Pops last night, I was brought to tears listening to the Oscar, Tony and Emmy award winner Rita Moreno (86),  a woman of Puerto Rican descent describe her first sighting of the Statue of Liberty, followed by a reading from "The New Colossus". This poem was written by Emma Lazarus, a descendent of early Jewish settlers of Portuguese origin, in 1883, to be sold to raise money for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. In 1903, the poem was inscribed on a plaque that is on display at the Statue of Liberty site for all to see. The Statue was a gift from the people of France; Americans built its foundation.

     The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

 

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 

1883.

      (Written in aid of Bartholdi Pedestal Fund)"

 

Happy 4th of July one and all, from a woman of Scottish and Irish descent.

 

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Un Tunnel © 2010 Claudia Ward

Yesterday was the day of marches - Marches for Our Lives - around the globe. I was unable to attend one but I was riveted to my television from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. watching the rally in Washington D.C.  I spent most of that time with a box of Kleenex next to me as tears of pride, sadness, and hope welled up in me in wave after wave after wave. Pride in the youth who were speaking so eloquently, passionately and clearly, and who propelled these events into existence. Sadness that our youth has to live in such fear with first hand knowledge of death and violence; and, sadness that our youth has grown up so quickly and are the ones lecturing their elders in this country on right and wrong. Hope that our fragile democracy, the American experiment, just might survive, and that leadership with discipline is seeded in the next generation.

To say that I was impressed by the speeches yesterday is a gross understatement. Most of you know my love of words and how they can be strung together to tell a story, make an argument, elicit an emotion, and/or inspire thought and action. Those young adults and children "performed" beyond all of my expectations. Their poised delivery, passionate presentation, and clear message resonated with me - "No More", "Never Again", "Spread the Word", "Enough is Enough", and "Vote".

If there is any positive to come from this, in my mind it is that these young people understand democracy perhaps better than any generation since The Greatest Generation. They understand its potential power, and how it's designed to work, and they each broadcast, loudly or with silence, that they intend to make it work. Elected officials are just that, elected and can be replaced if the populace so decides with its collective votes. Democracy is a participatory form of government and this generation plans on actively participating for the foreseeable future.

For the first time in a very long time, I see light at the end of the tunnel and feel confident that it's not a speeding train heading for us.