Catching February Past and Present

It is bitterly cold with a howling wind, which has been howling all night.  Happily, we might have warmer weather next week.  I think of a long ago essay in my Runner's World Running Log, the kind of spiral bound weekly planner which had space to log miles and do calendar type things, along with an essay at the beginning of every month.  I remember the one for February one year entitled "Catching February"--as in, "I haven't run this month because I caught February."

I have caught February this week; it's been very hard to make myself get out and walk in this cold weather and brisk wind.  I have no trouble walking in cold weather, but the wind that cuts through me is a deal breaker.

I am thinking of past months of February.   Two years ago, I wrote a letter to Spartanburg Methodist College which had advertised nationally in Inside Higher Ed for a variety of adjuncts.  At that point, I was fairly sure I'd be moving back to our Lutheridge house since my seminary housing was slated to be demolished for new construction.

That housing still stands, but I am so happy to be back in the mountains and to be teaching at Spartanburg Methodist College.  It's a small, liberal arts college which remains true to its principles, a school with affordable tuition and lots of scholarships and lots of support for students.  I'm happy that a substantial number of students are the first in the families to go to college and/or receiving Pell Grants.

I'm also remembering 5 years ago, in the waning days of February of 2020, when spin class was canceled, and I stopped in the WalMart Marketplace on my way home.  My favorite brand of toilet paper was on sale, and I stocked up.  I didn't know I wouldn't be able to find that toilet paper again until May.

By then, I had a sense that something bad was coming; I had been paying attention to the new disease we would call Covid 19.  When I look back, I am still shocked by how bad it was and continues to be.  And of course, I am paying attention to the bird flu outbreak which continues to spread, and might be worse than Covid 19.  I am thinking of a past outbreak that was able to stay contained to a few Asian countries, where the fatality rate was 50%.  I realize that might be artificially high, because minor cases probably weren't caught.  

But if this disease spreads, it won't be a case of the infected only catching pink eye and sniffles.

I am trying to stay informed and keep moving forward.  This week, it's hard.  I am gobsmacked by the recent developments with Ukraine and the apparent intention of the U.S. administration to side with Russia.  I am thinking of past moments of history and wondering why we are doing this to ourselves.  I am worried about all the federal employees are being fired, all the expertise just dismissed.

I was about to say that I am having trouble making sense of it all, but there may be no sense to be made.  I often spend a lot of time trying to figure out the reasoning that brought various people to their opinions, and this time, I'm reminding myself that there has likely been no reasoning process in the way that I understand the fundamentals of policy making.

Well it is time to get myself together and go down the mountain to teach Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" to students who have never read it.  There is good in this life.