Covid-19 is Earth Friendly

            Whatever your perceptions of Covid-19, on this 50th anniversary of Earth Day it seems fitting to appreciate that it has been the nicest thing to happen to the earth for a very long time.

             In future posts, we'll dig into the meaning of "normal" and "new normal" but for right now, perhaps we should all appreciate how quickly hitting a pause button on frenzied consumerism and away-from-home-ism has benefitted our ecological womb.

             You can almost hear creation give a sigh of relief.  The air is clean over Los Angeles.  In Shanghai you can see across the street.  Dolphins swim in Venice.  Petroleum consumption is down by magnitudes.  Rush hour is gone.  The sudden need to build more freeways and expand airports is gone.

             So many people are planting gardens that seed companies can't supply the demand.  Tens of thousands of people are putting in backyard chickens.  Every farmer that direct markets in the local food scene is sold out and scrambling to keep up with demand.

             Finally, the Communist China leaders have been exposed; Americans want to bring back manufacturing.  "Made in America" is worth spending more for; community pride is a thing, and that's good.

             Vaunted institutions and orthodoxies struggle for relevance.  We can work from home, learn from home, and entertain from home:  in many ways, Americans have come home.  Now if we can learn to enjoy that, it'll be a good thing.

             For the first time in decades American food abundance and resilience is being questioned.  Health is a hot topic; building immune systems is part of normal conversations.  That's better than the Kardashians.  A new yearning for local food for security and quality is pulling people out of supermarkets and putting us in our kitchens.

             Are there bad things?  Absolutely, but for right now, for today, let's take a deep breath, inhale, pause, and appreciate this new enthusiasm for new values.  Let's celebrate and enjoy for a moment what taking our foot off the earth's neck might look like. 

             Can we carry these new expressions forward?