A bird flew by the other day as I sat in my dining room-turned-office. Being a dining room-turned office as opposed to a patio-inspired workspace, this wasn’t ideal. Better a bird than a snake, I suppose. But the lesson of not leaving the back door open to accommodate the dogs is relearned.
The bird, a young jay from the looks of it, made it out. I think. If it hunkered down in a dark corner to ride out its errant adventure and died there, we’ve yet to smell it anyway. And dogs smell everything. (It did find brief respite behind the frig at one point.)
The whole thing reminded me of this topsy-turvy spring of coronavirus. Like a bird perched on a curtain rod just out of sight and but not out of mind, COVID-19 lingers. For most of us, the virus remains out of sight; we see its handy work on the news or on social media, or when we drive by parking lots usually teeming but now empty.
Many of those empty lots belong to restaurants, especially equipped to suffer in a quarantine-like situation. Gov. Asa Hutchinson opened them back up for business the first week of May, on a limited basis. We’ll see how many choose to do so. Limited capacity is better than none, right, but will restaurant owners find it worthwhile? And will patrons be ready to venture back out?
Inside this month’s issue, Dwain Hebda looks at the impact of COVID on local restaurants, and we also talk to business leaders from a spectrum of Arkansas industry: How has your business/industry been impacted, and what does the “new normal” look like? Find out, inside.
To all those directly impacted by the virus, our thoughts and prayers remain headed your way. To the front-line workers, our hat remains tipped. And to everyone else doing simply what needs to be done to keep things as normal as possible, a hat tip as well. Here at AY Media Group, the designers, photographers, ad coordinators and sales reps make this particular engine run, and I’m so appreciative and grateful for their hard work.
Coronavirus, I think we’ll all agree, is for the birds. Here’s hoping it’s swept out the back door soon, and for good.
But now, about that giant fly….
Questions? Concerns? I’m always open at [email protected].
— Mark Carter
