Everywhere I go I find a pal
Peter Weinschenk, Editor, The Record-Review
The bad news is that humanity around the globe must deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The better news is that northern Wisconsin appears to be somewhat buffered from the disease for the moment.
Coronavirus spreads where people are densely populated. Thus a national map of the outbreak shows lots of confirmed cases in the largest cities in the United States, but not many in depopulated “up north” Wisconsin.
This doesn’t mean that the disease won’t find us—the seasonal flu comes here eventually every year. It does mean, however, we have precious time to prepare and slow the spread of the outbreak.
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The coronavirus is impacting all kinds of businesses, all kinds of workers.
It’s no different here at The Record-Review.
Much of our job is to tell people where and when to get together. We report on what happens at these gatherings. Thus we normally report on sporting events, concerts, snowshoe races, et cetera.
Now, by order of Gov. Evers and other offi cials, that’s all been suspended. We can’t even invite somebody to a coffee shop and chat with them for an interview. The restaurants are all closed. We will have a tough job. We will need to report on what’s happening when nothing will be happening.
This will be a big-time challenge.
My request is that people stay in touch with phone calls and internet messages and share with us stories that the community needs to know about.
The coronavirus pandemic will test our strength as a community. People, I am sure, will rise to the occasion and do great things, heroic things. The community needs to hear these stories. So, stay in touch.
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Spring has sprung.
On Monday, I saw my first robin of the season. My neighbor’s silver maple tree is oozing sap from its branches. Daffodil shoots have grown up several inches on the sunny side of neighborhood houses.
Most importantly, cereal rye planted as a cover crop has sprouted in the parts of my backyard vegetable garden not covered in snow. The rye’s little green shoots poke into the air like little squiggly corkscrews.
This is great. I am trying no till gardening for the first time this year and was thrilled to see the first rye sprouts. I quickly ran to tell my wife, Susan, who bundled up in her winter coat, raced out to the garden to see the sprouts for herself. She was impressed. The sprouts were a sure sign of spring.
I have my work ahead of me when it comes to no-till gardening. I need some compost to toss on the no-till garden after harvest. I tried to get a compost pile going this past fall with a large pile of leaves. To my dismay, the neighborhood deer herd over the winter smashed down a wire fence and gobbled up all of these leaves.
My job, then, is to make some deer-proof bins to store leaves, grass clippings and other compostable greenery.
I’m excited to try no-till gardening, but I have to learn, step by step, what to do.
Contact Peter Weinschenk at pweinschenk@ tpprinting.com
