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Lately the news has been disheartening, as usual. Stories about the rise in gun violence across America, in small towns and large metropolitan swaths, have caused me to ask the same old question: will we ever embrace peace? Currently, it seems as if the last year and a half of dealing with the pandemic has fueled folks up with frustrations of all kinds. Tolerance levels are at their lowest. Any little act, any little remark can cause some of us to suffer an emotional eruption, spewing a variety of violent acts, resulting in bodily harm or worse death.

Recent news has reported that there’s an unwelcome resurgence of covid-19 numbers. The Delta variant, more virulent than its older cousin, is causing tallies to rise in my state. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has reopened its covid-19 care area, preparing for an expected influx of covid-19 patients.

Arkansas and other contiguous states Louisiana and Mississippi have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. For whatever reason, some people just don’t see the need to get a covid-19 vaccination. I read an article in our state’s largest newspaper this morning about a young mother who just had her first child. See saw no need to get the covid-19 vaccine, contracted the disease while carrying her child. She almost lost her life. Her baby is still in the hospital.

People across America are anxious to get back out there and start trying to reclaim some degree of the normalcy they enjoyed back in 2019. They want to go to movies, parks, museums and all the places where public fun is had. The politicians and businesspeople are hankering to accommodate all who want to get back out there, regardless of what dangers might await an anxious pubic.

Suffice it to say, Chris and I haven’t been rushing to assist in filling the restaurants, movie houses, and other commercial establishments here in Little Rock that seem to bring such joy to many folks. Amazon has become a good friend over the last year. Of course, even purchasing stuff online that we probably don’t need, since we’re not going to many places, seems a bit wasteful. However, one thing has been made clear to us and probably to many Americans is that we don’t have to leave the house to purchase many of the things we want and need.

Out of all the things have been going on the last few months or so, one thing has been quite impressive, the short development time for delivering vaccines for the virus. As soon as the vaccines became available, we took them. We didn’t assume that because we were vaccinated, our masks could be discarded. That face covering is still attached to our faces whenever we find ourselves in a public place. We’ve both had covid. No one needs to convince us that being safe versus sorry is wise.

A few days ago, I had to take the car I drive to have the air conditioning repaired. When I drove into the service center, the first thing I noticed was that no one, customers or employees, were wearing a mask. I might have looked strange, but that was okay. Everyone in the place was conducting themselves as if the pandemic were over.

It looks like covid-19 will be around for a while yet. It also looks like our behavior will assist in making  that so.

I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.