From This Valley

By Pete Steiner

ONE YEAR

I’m guessing, if you’re even a bit like me, you sent out more than one Christmas card at the end of 2020 that included a line something like this: “2021 has to be better, doesn’t it?”

Like many, I was hoping against hope there could be a snap-of-the-finger turnaround from COVID isolation and political fractiousness.

Then came the dismaying insurrection at the Capitol and the too-slow rollout of vaccines. So was 2021 also to be historically demoralizing?

Well, maybe not. There suddenly seems to be some optimism that, while there’s a long way to go, we are starting to see a few good signs in the battle against COVID. Half a million deaths later, some light.

Maybe not the end of the tunnel but at least a path to start moving toward it.

“Strange. Surreal. Eerie. Just plain weird. I struggle for the right adjective to describe this period … I have seen a lot, but never anything like this.

All our comfortable routines – social gatherings, outings, shopping – all obliterated by COVID-19. The sense that things will never be the same … I am thankful whenever I get to venture out for groceries for a little forced socialization …”

That’s what I wrote for my May column last year, the first of three columns focusing on the virus that would upend so much of daily life, that would compromise our accustomed convenience. I still struggle to comprehend the vastness of COVID disruption.

As I looked at photos of elementary students returning to in-person classes after the New Year, I thought about how much of the special nature of those first few years of school has been stolen from them and their parents. And of how much of the special nature of the senior year has been taken now from two successive years of graduates. Yet if I start to list everything that’s been taken, I will need more than all the pages in this magazine.

Nevertheless I keep trying for the right metaphor: Is it like living under house confinement with an ankle bracelet?

When we were little, one year could seem like such a long time. As one aged, each year became a smaller percentage of our total time on earth, so that some years seemed to fly by. Not 2020!

We kept yearning for normalcy, and for a while, it seemed things could start settling back as outdoor restaurant dining became popular over the summer and early fall.

Then came the big late-autumn surge in new cases, and we again retreated.

Recently, as some virus numbers started to decline –new cases, hospitalizations and deaths – Dr. Anthony Fauci said we might begin to approach some semblance of normal by this coming fall.

Could that mean concerts at Vetter Amphitheater? Rock Bend Folk Festival back after a one-year absence? Friday night football crowds? Booking a fall cruise? It never hurts to hope.

How good will it be to hang with friends again? To return to an office and mix with co-workers? To shop at a brickand-mortar store?

This is the time of the year some of us would be planning to attend year-end concerts of our favorite choral groups. Not happening this year, as choral singing remains a major threat to spread the virus.

But for those who love choral music and have not yet found this, here’s something very uplifting: The choral wunderkind Eric Whitacre has miraculously stitched together 17,000 singers from 129 countries, all recorded separately, yet magically merged into a virtual choir performing “Sing Gently.” E pluribus unum. A beautiful quilting of sound.

Finally in this column, salutes to two giants who left us in January: Henry Aaron and Larry King. I know a lot has been written and spoken in their memory, but give me my 2 cents.

Henry Aaron was a hero for me and my brother when he signed in 1954 with our (pre-Twins) favorite team, the Milwaukee Braves (before their move to Atlanta). He would join Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette and others to produce one of the greatest teams of the 1950s.

One little note you might have missed: Had the Giants offered Aaron just $50 a week more, their outfield would have paired Aaron with Willie Mays!

When Aaron made a stop here at MSU shortly after his playing days were done, he also visited our legendary Michaels restaurant. Brother Billy tried to buy him a drink but was told “Mr. Aaron does not drink alcohol.”

As for Larry King, you know I have a soft spot for radio guys. He was the King when talk shows were about the guest rather than the opinions of the host, when the goal was not outrage but insight. Fiftythousand interviews? Even Brando and Frank Sinatra?

Enough said.

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