MARCH 23, 2020 – For years, whenever I observed over-indulgence—on my part or by others—I thought of the future book about our profligate ways. The working title: They Ate Well. I thought of the irony in “well,” since many Americans suffer from myriad ailments because of oversized portions of unhealthful food, but the more accurate title, They Ate Too Much Junk Food, would be too clumsy. Besides, They Ate Well, would address more than gluttony.
And here we are. The future.
Yesterday my wife and I ventured out into the raw, windy day to hike in Indian Mounds Park overlooking the big bend in the Mighty Mississippi just east of downtown St. Paul and a short drive from our house. The bluffs afford a spectacular view of the effects of ice melt at the end of the latest ice age 12,000 years ago.
In the fierce wind out of the southeast, we read a sign about the geologic history within our panoramic view. It described millions of years of earth-altering forces, not the least of which were several glacial periods of many millennia. All but the very surface of the vastness of time was visible to our 21st century C.E. eye. I thought about our trips to the Grand Canyon, where more than 1.5 billion years of geologic history are on clear display.
Along the edge of the bluff are a number of Indian burial mounds, which provided park founders with a ready appellation for the park. An old sign speculated that Hopewell people, originally from what is now Ohio, settled in these parts somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. Those ancients developed a sophisticated culture, which, among many other attributes of civilization, included elaborately stocked burial mounds.
As I contemplated these remaining attributes of an ancient people, I couldn’t help but ponder their lives, their grief, their joy, their suffering, their triumphs, their cries, their laughter—the same afflictions and affections that we to this day, and in this day, experience. Who, I wondered, will ponder us 2,000 years hence?
After taking in the view, to escape the wind we huddled inside an old pavilion and took a call from our dear friends, Ann and Ravi. Ravi’s a physician at a St. Paul family clinic serving a diverse population. Ann and Ravi had just visited at length by phone with their older son, Annand, who lives in Seattle with his significant other. Kumar, Ann and Ravi’s younger son, and his significant other, live closer to home. We heard how they are faring, adjusting; how Ravi follows a careful “re-entry” protocol every day after work, to protect his elderly-with-underlying-conditions-live-in Mother. My wife and I reported on our family, ourselves. We all recognized tacitly that the “abnormal” is now the “new normal.”
My wife and I continued our walk. As we did so, my stomach growled. I instinctively checked my watch. How long before supper?
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
