BEYOND THE MARGIN By Joe Spear
Minneopa State Park bison mother watches over her recent baby. File photo
Silver linings and distancing from bad news T
he bison roaming at Minneopa State Park seem to be the only ones easily isolated from the coronavirus. But they’re seeing a lot more visitors driving through the Minneopa preserve as people look to escape the isolation. Imagine the bison backtalk. “What’s up with all the traffic this year? Gurummp! If those humans would just stick to their own species and business, we wouldn’t have all these zoonotic viruses. They wouldn’t be out 10 • OCTOBER 2020 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
here gawking at us.” What we do. Who we talk to. Where we go. All governed by the virus of 2020. Depressing. But have no fear, the Mankato area Optimist Club is still meeting. And if they can still meet, journalists can find a silver lining under the cover of COVID-19. The Optimist Club of Minnesota Valley as recently as Aug. 10 invited people to their Zoom meeting. And the club links to a story from Alive.com that poses the question on its Facebook page. Can
