Photo: Paul Moore / 123RF.com
Joe Allen
No fear of Corona in Sedona, Arizona
ANOTHER WORLD: Sunrise at Cathedral Rock, Sedona.
T
he charming Sedona art dealer shook my hand without hesitation. That’s how I knew I’d escaped to the right place. She stood a couple of feet away as we talked about Arizona’s current efforts to reopen the economy. Galleries and restaurants were now open – with restrictions – as well as health spas and state parks. A few cautious tourists wore face-yarmulkes, but most were grinning up at the desert sun. Over the last two months, the state’s conservative governor had refrained from the tyrannical lockdowns employed by neighbouring
Handshakes, statues, hippies, and a state of magic between the prickly pear and a juniper tree states. To everyone’s surprise, dead bodies hadn’t piled up in the streets. The art dealer may be as liberal as shaman-blessed kombucha, but even she was impressed by her state leader’s response. “He never forced places of worship to close”, she told me. “He simply asked them to stop gather-
ing until it’s safe. The choice was theirs to make”. As we chatted, the landlord came by to discuss the excitement of the coming week. He gave her a big hug – shook my hand eagerly – and handed her a colourful poster with the new “reopening guidelines” – six feet of distance, wear a mask, no touchy feelies. Superstitious practices, supported by science, meant to ease the panicked consumer back into the marketplace. When I asked the dealer if she was afraid of the Demon Germ, she flashed a white smile and said, “I believe in strong immunity”. This ColdType | June 2020 | www.coldtype.net
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