This spring, as with every spring, we expected the dead of winter to regenerate into the birth of new life. Flowers bloom, tree leaves turn robust green, fresh spring rain irrigates the land with the smell of cleanliness and baseball optimism abounds as the sound of bats hitting balls remind us of the New Year where there is a sense of great things to happen with our home team.
But that did not happen this year. Oh, all of those Mother Nature events happened, we just did not notice. We, as a nation were hunkering down trying to fight off an epidemic not seen in ages. To combat this predicted calamity, we started a program called social distancing. We started washing our hands more.
We took our shoes off before entering the home. We checked our temperature every day and of course we did not dare to touch door handles, countertops, fences, bathroom toilets or sinks or anything else that might give us a virus that could be deadly. Eventually, with government intervention and with research from the health community, we started to see the epidemic subside so that we could get back to somewhat of a normal state of society.
That has not fully occurred as of this date. I am not sure that we will ever see the normal we once knew. There has been a rebirth, so to speak, of innovation that has occurred. We all now know how to use Zoom or Google Hangouts to host meetings.
Family, friends and business has used these devices to help fight off the stay at home initiative imposed on all of us. We have learned to stay in touch and conduct business this way that in the long run may be beneficial in cost cutting travel. We have learned to walk more, another way of life that may have been missed by a majority of Americans.
We also have learned that automation is an outstanding way to make life easier and healthier. A company called Autoslide developed an automation system that opens and closes doors with a simple wave. They will be installing these doors in restaurants and office buildings everywhere.
The company CEO Mark Hancock was quick to point out that. germ prevention is now the norm. We also have seen a rise in kindness and charitable contribution in volunteering. The economy has been decimated, so I believe that the contributions in funding will be challenging for quite some time, but the next best thing, volunteering is something that we all should do more of.
