A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke I think I have learned more about life in 2020 than ever before. Looking back over the past year, a painful exercise, it seems like 2020 began pretty much the same as other years. Certainly not as scary as 2000 with the Y2K computer problems potentially crashing-the-world-as-we-know-it paranoia. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Little did we know, life could get a lot weirder. I think it snowed last New Year’s Eve and our evening plans were cut short because of bad roads. It was the first time in 2020 that plans were upended to keep us safe but not the last by a long shot. Perhaps that is what defined our lives in 2020. Like a snowstorm, the pandemic changed all our plans. I remember having lunch in January with friends and discussing the possibility of a new war in the Middle East. It was a frightening thing and we hoped that the powers that be would prevent such a thing and keep the lives of our loved ones in the military safe – which they did. Other lunches, other dinners, very early in the year, followed their usual pattern. Making plans for the future, talking of kids and family and life and looking forward to summer. It was all so very ordinary. That didn’t last long. I read in late January of an odd little virus coming out of China that could become a problem. During one of my usual trips to Hometown I recall thinking I should stock up on the stuff I had on hand during the flood – bleach, disinfectant wipes and sprays, a few packages of paper towels. Which I did. I do not recall getting extra toilet paper. It would never have crossed my mind at that time that of all things, toilet paper would be something people would hoard. It still amazes me. Once we are recovered from the very horrors of the year, it will probably become known as the year we made toilet paper our biggest priority. Life as we knew it unraveled quickly. Those who could do so began working from home. Others, with essential jobs, continued to go to work, risking their lives every single day. Plans were canceled as more and more it became clear that going out was not safe.  When the art fair and American Players Theatre, and all the events we fill our summer with, announced they would be dark for the summer it was one more punch to the gut.  In May – I think – hubby Jim and I made a medically necessary trip from Spring Green to Madison to Sauk City and home that in the past I would not have thought much of it but in light of COVID-19 it was terrifying. It was surreal. Highway 14, normally so busy early in the morning, was almost devoid of traffic. Going through Arena, Mazo, Black Earth and Cross Plains we saw some cars but on the highway there were pretty much only semis taking goods in the supply line from big city to small town. Highway 12 was awful. Those long stretches rolling down through the hills toward the Wisconsin River are beautiful. But there was so little traffic it felt apocalyptic.  What has been happening to the kids of the Valley and everywhere breaks my heart. Humans are social creatures and interaction is important to development. Virtual learning is hard and isolating. Internet is creaky and unreliable. Friends are out of reach, literally. Playgrounds were closed. Spring sports down the tubes. Graduation the same. Efforts to make up for all they lost have been positive and thanks to the hard work and diligence of our administration and staff at River Valley, kids have been back in school more than not. I admit I find it a little scary but it’s what the kids need. Nothing is all good or all bad - even chocolate cake isn’t perfect but it’s nice. The year that we are saying good-bye to had bright spots. Picnics and hikes, gardening and baking, all sorts of new hobbies to try. There was, for many of us, time to get caught on books to read and movies we always meant to watch. Because we certainly weren’t going places and doing things like we wanted to, we explored new things to do and how to live safely in this world gone mad. In some ways “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” as Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities in 1859. Then again, that’s not even remotely true. It hasn’t really been the best of times at all, has it? My friends and I have been whining about all we miss. So many things that the pandemic took away from us besides our lunches. People things. 2020 was unimaginably difficult in a lot of ways. Risking your life to get a gallon of milk. Watching friends and loved ones risking their lives every time they walk out the door. There was no way a year ago we could have foreseen how our lives would change so quickly and dramatically. An invisible bug that should have brought us together in the fight of and for our lives instead divided us more than ever. And that is how the whole year has been. I read that alcohol consumption and other vices like eating too many baked goods and smoking was up in 2020. The story said that bad habits are up due to stress, which makes it hard to say no to that extra cookie or another glass of wine. Chronic stress is toxic and makes pleasure seeking even for bad things more desirable. This disconnect is one more scary thing we have to recognize and deal with. I know I’ve had a really hard time saying no to that last lonely cookie in the cookie jar more than once. This what I learned this year: Fear of the unknown can be disabling. Anything – anything – can be politicized. Opinions are not facts. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion. Everyone is not entitled to make up facts. Family and friends and community are not things to be taken for granted. There is nothing we should take for granted. We’ve all been spoiled for a long, long time. It’s time to pay the price of making bad decisions not just during the pandemic but during our lives. The choices we make matter, not just for ourselves but for our children, grandchildren, community and world.  Happy New Year. Make good choices. Be strong. Be safe.  Stay in touch. My number is 574-3159. Email me at homenewseditor@newspubinc.com or write to me at the Home News, P.O. Box 39, Spring Green WI 53588.  The news deadline is 12 noon on Mondays.  Visit our website at homenewsrv.com Get in touch with Gwen for sports or features at homenewssports@newspubinc.com. If you need a display ad, Dave Pronold can be reached at homenewssales@newspubinc.com or by calling him on his cell at 588-4777. Display ads, or ads that are in boxes, are due by 1 p.m. on Wednesdays. The classified ad deadline is noon Thursdays the week prior to publication for both the Buyer’s Guide and Home News. Classified rates are $13 for the first 10 words, then 30¢ per word for each additional word. 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