April 15, 2020

Normally this would be Tax Day, but we aren’t experiencing normal right now. This got me to thinking about normalcy. We know what life is like right now during the pandemic, but what changes do you think we will see when we come out of this? I think the one thing people are really looking forward to is being able to eat and drink in the restaurants and bars as a social activity. It could be, however, that social distancing will continue in those venues until a vaccine is available or the warm weather has just killed all those nasty bugs. What about movie theaters? sporting events? concerts? visiting the dentist? Will Oregon keep allowing us to pump our own gas? so on and so on. Some Republican lawmakers across the nation, tRumpanzees, and Rush Limbaugh are pushing tRump for faster economic reopening, but it sounds like the business leaders are telling Donnie what health officials and governors have been telling him for weeks —- there would need to be guarantees of ramped up testing before people return to work. Despite what the crack Coronavirus team has been spouting, the latest figures I saw show that 0.6% of the population has been tested. This has been a major weakness in the mitigation response, and will need to be ramped up considerably in a recovery effort. Until we are at a point that people can be tested, we are not going to be opening the doors. Figures today show that Retail spending has fallen off a cliff. I guess this “Democratic hoax” is working, HeeHeeHee. Gonna be tough for King Don to tout about the economy when the economy is in the toilet AND there’s no toilet paper. It seems over the past few days he has become increasingly hostile toward reporters and anyone who doesn’t bow to the King, but I believe in karma, so unless you’re a tRumpanzee and one of his sycophants, get ready for a GOP. That would be a grand old party, not the Grand Old Party. It will be a beautiful day to party, the most beautiful day ever, no one will have seen a more beautiful day. The party will be grand really, really grand. I, Ziggyman, have the total authority and power to have a grand party if I want to. I’m no wannabe totalitarian. I can play just like Vlad, Kim, Xi, and that Hungarian fella Viktor. (I hope that sounded as rambling and articulate as our King Don).

Anyhoo, we had bought a couple of corned beefs back around St. Patrick’s Day and was planning on cooking them to serve at a party with friends. You know where this is going. Sorry friends. I had to cook one of them last night, as the pull date is approaching. Sure tasted good with those potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage. Will taste even better tomorrow night stacked between two slices of rye bread, topped with swiss cheese and sauerkraut. If we can get together for a party before May 15th, we still have one brisket left. Hey, maybe for that GOP!

Mountain folks probably know of Paul Keller, a longtime mountain resident and writer. Paul has started a monthly online publication titled “Beneath WyEast” and has just published the first issue. I have copied the first page so you can have that information to subscribe if you wish. I really enjoyed his first issue.

Dearest Reader, 

Welcome to the first issue of Beneath Wy’East ! 

The purpose of this special online publication is to bring you insightful and entertaining articles each month about the people and the land that embraces us here on the west side of Mount Hood. 

Publisher Paul Keller has been a Mountain resident for almost 50 years. In 1974 he became editor of the Sandy Post newspaper. In the late 1970s, he served as the Mount Hood Correspondent for the Oregon Journal, Portland’s afternoon daily newspaper. In 1980, he founded and became the publisher of The Mountain, a successful and well-received monthly publication—the first and, so far, only paid/subscription journalistic voice on the Mountain—that served this area’s news and advertising needs for several years. 

Starting in 2014, the Sandy Post featured one of Paul’s essays each month. “I really enjoyed writing those pieces and sharing my work with the Sandy Post’s readers,” Keller says. When he recently stopped writing these essays for the Post, Keller realized, in the spirit of his original The Mountain monthly publication, he should start a small, free monthly online publication that would feature his essays and articles for our local Mountain area audience. 

If you would like to join our free electronic subscription list, please email Paul. paulroykeller@msn.com

Well, time to go downstairs and turn on the 5 o’clock fake news. Have a nice evening, my friends. SS, SH, SH (do you have it memorized yet?) Ziggyman