It was all a dream, I publish the Pulse magazine!
The Pulse rolls on. Despite the shutdowns lately, we continue to deliver a slice of Murfreesboro life to our readers.
As always, thanks to every one of the sponsors who make this endeavor possible. Please support these businesses. Pay Sunshine Nutrition a visit. You may find something there to help boost your immunity or otherwise achieve your health goals.
Now that the dining rooms of Hank’s, Station Grill, 219 Mixed Cuisine, Nacho’s, The Alley, Carmen’s Taqueria, Primrose Table and Donut Country are back open, I am sure they would like to see you.
The good folks at Nexgen Barbershop will help you out if you are emerging from isolation looking like Chewbacca.
Remember, each and every one of you is essential! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Some local business owners did not like being told that their business was not essential. I’d bet the business is pretty essential to the business owner, even if someone else says otherwise!
My condolences go out to the families of the 11 individuals who died due to the coronavirus in Rutherford County (according to the Tennessee Department of Health). The community is saddened at these families’ loss, and I hope that they remember the good times with their loved ones. All lives matter.
I definitely felt the discouragement in the Murfreesboro business community in April 2020. State executive orders mandated that restaurant owners, many of whom expected to have large crowds of patrons enjoying a meal with their family and friends, could not host dine-in customers; gyms, many of which have large communities of regulars who come in to work towards improving their health, were required to lock up; and Easter and springtime gatherings of 10 or more were banned. MTSU, normally bustling with activity during this time of year with students congregating outdoors in the spring weather and a crop of seniors working hard to complete the final coursework before graduation, became a locked-down ghost town.
Social media moms debated the ethical and social ramifications of having a haircut or going to the park.
Lots of anger. Some fear, loss of control, a little depression. I sensed some frustrated emotions swirling in the air and in the hearts of the people.
Will this incident plunge our nation, one built on ideals of liberty, free markets and individualism, into some sort of ultra-controlling tyrannical state where government seizes even more power and dictates even more of what can and cannot happen in personal life?
Will citizens of the U.S.A. lose freedoms to assemble, to work, to shop, to worship, to attend sporting events, concerts or school, to travel, to get a manicure or massage, to eat a sandwich in the neighborhood restaurant or practice yoga in a group setting?
“Nothing good will come of this!” many lamented. “I want the old normal back!”
While I don’t dismiss these valid and important concerns, I continue to attempt to stay positive and look on the sunny side.
The idea that nothing good will come of all this—nonsense!
Just a few of my favorite positive elements about a world in pandemic and a socially distant country in lockdown:
1. You can wear masks in public! Have fun with it. Express yourself through the facial covering of your choice. Maybe it’s a tribute to your favorite masked wrestler or an old Soviet gas mask, or maybe you sport kitty whiskers on your mask or wear a futuristic steampunk covering. Or maybe you reject the forced masking of America.
2. More time to practice the instrument of your choice. Public life is cancelled. Most everything is closed. Play music! Compose a new piece or learn a classic. Have you ever wished you had more time to dive into those dusty piles of sheet music? The time is now.
3. Less traffic. So many people used to complain “oh, the Murfreesboro traffic is so awful.” Well, they should have driven around in mid-April. Hardly any traffic.
4. No one expects you to be anywhere. At all. No expectations. Get out of bed . . . or not! “Yep, my schedule is clear, whatever day this is . . .”
5. More time to enjoy the outdoors and gardening.
It happened during springtime when the sun was beautiful and garden planting time was upon us. Most people would want to be home for that, right? Get outside and become one with the dirt. Learning as much as possible about food production may prove useful.
6. It was a wake-up call. It’s kind of a simulation of a real doomsday event. Good thing the food supply, gasoline, electricity and water didn’t actually get cut off, or you’d really be screwed then, eh? Get prepared. Unless you truly had respiratory issues connected to the virus, it’s not like this thing caused many real emergencies. Most unpleasant situations related to this were not caused by the thing itself, but rather by man-made, manufactured responses to the thing, and those can be corrected. It’s not like a huge meteor hit the earth and quickly wiped out a huge percentage of the population. Consider this a practice run.
7. The curve flattened. The whole shutting down of gatherings and everyone staying home seemed to have worked. No millions of people dead as many predicted.
8. The realization that going to school or work or the store really wasn’t all that necessary. Students didn’t attend group classes in a traditional school building, but many of them likely still learned something and furthered their education at home. Numerous office workers didn’t report to the office, but many still used available technological resources from home and kept projects moving forward. Shoppers couldn’t browse items in a brick-and-mortar store, but the good folks at a certain highly profitable online ordering service with a massive distribution center right in Murfreesboro would bring it right to the porch. This may eliminate some of the pointless commuting (an area that may be truly non-essential in some cases) and the going just for the sake of going in the future.
9. Challenges make us stronger. Many have had to use a little creativity and imagination and determination to get through this strange period. They are probably stronger and more skilled for it.
10. Family game time. It’s a great opportunity to spend some time with the people in your house now that there are not as many options for everyone to scatter in different directions. I’ve had Bracken Jr. teaching me some katas and laying the smack down during home training in karate and other forms of combat that involve the chokeslam and his signature Angus stomp.
11. It did not interrupt the NFL season. The draft went off just fine and professional American football looks to be on track for the fall. Good timing.
12. Less traffic means less pollution. Urban air is getting cleaner.
13. Cheaper gas. Demand goes down, so do prices.
So, be all “doom and gloom” and “end of the world” and “loss of civil liberties” and “economy is tanking” and “disruption” and “panic” and “many of those in power are using this as a way to advance the agenda of their political party” if you want, I’ll be over here on the sunny side. I say life is still great, I have lots for which to be thankful and it’s a wonderful world!
Rejoice, fear not and do not worry.
Play music, stay healthy and God bless America!
