Coffee With A View: Angels in the Outfield

I call this photo "Rain Through The Branches". I shot this after a long day at work, after the Wyoming rains had their time. I know, no photo can do Wyoming's beauty justice, but...that evening, the droplets of rain...the branches on the tree...the wonderful sunsets I experience, every night...always applicable to my subject matter.

This is not a "usual" post on Coffee Pong. This post today deals with a few "reality checks"...

When a community’s economy is focused so much on tourism and local events, it can be challenging when something like COVID comes along and, quite literally, takes it down. 

So here are my thoughts du jour, right off the top of my head:

• I’m bummed that I can’t frequent my favorite farmers markets, but…I’m a resourceful person, and have found local farmers who produce what I need and want. For eggs, milk and meat...
• I love earrings, and I have Cheryl Payton of Dragonfly Beads and Kathleen Davis of ZeeBlings to custom-make my earrings.
• I can’t have my monthly massages anymore, but I’ve remembered everything that Brandy LaRae of the Amador Wellness Cottage and LaTonya Dykes in Ogden, UT have taught me about relaxation techniques and essential oil combinations that really “speak” to me.
• I have seeds to plant a garden…and space to plant it in.
• I have candles, fuel and firewood.
• I have plenty of coffee! LOL
• I have a shotgun that I hope I never need to use. Let that be a warning…
• I have a Hybrid Prius. Just filled it up for $17…after 2 months. Don’t need a fancy sports car or a gas guzzling truck. I’m good.
• I thought ahead and developed my 72-hour kit, food and supply storage. There are still a few things I need to make it how I really want, but…all in all, I’m pretty set.
• I want Pho in a restaurant that really knows how to make it, but I’ve learned to make it myself, and that’s ok! 
• I wanted to attend a Holi Festival again, but every morning, I dance around my living room instead. Hail Cardio! LOL
• I was and am very much happy to have not just one, but two Moms who have blessed my life with wisdom and guidance.
• I am blessed to have a Dad who often says, “You might wanna…” I know, I know. Gosh...
• Still waiting for my awesome, beautiful fire pit from my brother, Mike. Hehehe...check them out on Facebook at Dicks Customs Pits.

That said…

• I don’t need video games. I don’t need books; got plenty already in my own library to catch up on!
• I don’t need a decorative doohickey or a functional thingamabob to keep up with “The Jones”. Never had that mindset, anyway. I don’t care what you have that I don’t. Never have. Never will.
• I don’t need the latest phone upgrade.
• I don’t need another refrigerator magnet, another coffee mug, another product branded with your marketing logo.
• I don’t need alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, I want alcohol! LOL But I don’t need it. Now, Amador County wines? Temptation to the max...damn you, Amador Vinters!

So let’s admit what we, as consumer-driven societies, don’t want to admit:

This caught us ALL off-guard…sometimes even our own very own local shops didn’t and never did see this coming...and they didn't, never did and still don't carry what we needed or wanted in the first place.

Let's face it. We really don't want to dress in a mask or full PPE to go to the only place in town we can get everything in one fell swoop: Walmart. Costco. Sam’s Club. Grocery store chains. Pain in the ass, (but another "reality" these days.)  Does anyone really want to do this? Raise your virtual hands. Not that I'm counting...LOL.

So...are we really going to judge those who do commerce online? Sure, we may be scrambling around to find local producers who offer what we want, whether online or "six feet apart", but...

You know what really matters to me right now?

• Communication & The Internet. That I can communicate with all of you, right now, via this blog and on Facebook.
• Electricity. Solar power sure is becoming a thing now, isn't it?
• Emergency and health services. Goes without saying.
• Transportation, not just for me, but our truck drivers, our delivery services. I can spray down my packages with Lysol, or set them outside for a few minutes/hours. No big deal. Do not discount those who deliver products via your doorstep.
• Music. That I can make and create it.
• Family and friends, who come by and check up from time to time.
• All essential workers! I have family, friends and friends of friends in assisted living communities, and I truly worry about them. If your State calls EMS services “non-essential”. I would totally beg to differ right now.
• Prisons. Yes, that’s a touchy subject, but it’s a reality of what we have done as far as the incarcerated...and have ignored.

This is a short list, folks. All that said…

• This is a time of testing of us as human beings on Planet Earth.
• There are so many who don’t have what they need. So many who have so little and need so much.
• There are those who are desperately looking to the systems that have repeatedly failed us all…through every election, every court hearing and every tax season.
• There are those looking to “family” and “friends” who turn their backs on them, abused them, failed them miserably. Shame on you.
• There are so many who say that they will “pray” for them…and do nothing more. Out of sight, out of mind. What are your prayers really worth?
• There are so many who have multiple holes in what they thought were their “safety nets”. Who will repair them?
• There are so many who truly want to help, but can’t because of governmental or corporate rules and legalities.

So what is to be done?

I readily admit...I don’t know. All we can do right now is examine what kind of human beings we really are and be a leader in those capacities, Because you can’t make someone not go out into public. You can’t make someone wear a mask. You can’t make anyone do anything that may help or hurt during these times.

Yes, we as Americans are “free”. But free to do…what, exactly? Time will tell.

“This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System…”

If you believe in angels, guess what? Now is the time to become one. And the road is and will be difficult, I’m telling you right now. We need to be Angels in the Outfield...because the Outfield just became pretty damn important.

But do not despair in the mission you may be, are or will be called to. And please, I don’t mean “angels” in any religious sense whatsoever. The faith of Atheists is just as powerful.

Think about that…