The Times They Are A 'Changin! - Time Out #268

Change is as constant as the daily sun coming up on an Oklahoma morning.

This Covid-19 pandemic, however, has certainly been over-the-top, causing changes to planet earth, on so many levels.

Today, dear readers in Our Town and far beyond, I will limit my discussion to the incredible economic alterations that have/continue to be observed as this Twilight Zone-like phenomena continues day after day after day. Covid-19's influence truly seems like a never-ending story!

My bride, Lady Debbie, and I have pretty much remained "hunkered down" in Our Town since mid-March. Over this time span, we have witnessed many economic struggles here, too. However, our little special spot of north central Oklahoma has remained slightly "insulated" because of our large, mostly-governmental main, local economic engine, Oklahoma State University. Still, we have seen restaurants, retail, corporate, and mom-and-pop businesses shutter their doors, and cease operations, due to the abrupt downturn in the various phases of the local economy. My bride and I have also witnessed similar happenings in Our State's two major metro areas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. We have driven to these locales several times, spending some time and money on various goods and services there. However, a few key businesses we have been loyal customers of for years, have been victims of the economic effect of the pandemic, and, thus, have gone out-of-business. A couple of them closing really blind-sided us as shoppers!

Now, we move on to our few adventures out-of-state in the last 8 months of the post-Covid arrival in Our Country.

Our long Labor Day weekend road trip to Wichita, Kansas, and various smaller destination stops before and after visiting Kansas' largest city, was a definite eye-opener. For a major city in America's Heartland, Wichita, has many areas that appear almost "ghost-like", without much human activity. Some of these observations also include vacant, closed-down businesses, and it appeared they had not been "shuttered" for too long.

In October, we headed our trusty motor vehicle northeast to the "Show Me" state, neighboring Missouri. First, we visited a former small, colorful community I vividly remembered from my youth as being an idyllic vacation spot. My father took us to Noel, MO, to enjoy the beautiful Elk River, and to relax in this lovely little community. Wow, this location has certainly changed, due to a couple of major factors; a large Tyson meat processing plant with its large influx of workers, and the latest negative happening, the invasion of Covid-19. The town's main street I had remembered, has almost totally vanished, and is now full of vacant businesses and falling down buildings.

Onward, my bride and I drove to many people's vacation hot spot, Branson, MO. Ms. Debbie and I took our children there many times over the years, but we had not visited this Ozark icon in almost 20 years. This latest visit, we stayed several miles west of the city, but drove famous US Highway 76 both directions. We wanted to remember "the feel" of past, when this road was absolutely full of excitement, including heavy traffic, and lots of people. The entire length of the "76" major highway, many business establishments are permanently closed, or their out-front signs read, "See you in 2021". The traffic count was a fraction of what we remembered from years past. I am sure many economic factors are responsible for their downturn, but my guess is Covid-19 is at the top of their negative business causes.

Maybe, just maybe, the world's circumstances will change soon, and this wicked virus will slowly exit from our every day reality. You know, wishes sometimes come true? Our economy certainly needs Covid-19's-caused human problems to go bye-bye!