Welcome to the WILD West

Some days we feel like we have entered into a bizarre western film where the bad guys are winning. The governor of our state, Doug Ducey, has continued to open the state to business as usual even while the number of cases of COVID-19 has continued to climb, putting us at the top of the nation (or is it the world?) for number of cases per capita. He is a loyal Trumpite, and is willing to sacrifice hundreds of people to get the state back to business as usual. His current position on masks is to let each town make up its own mind about whether to require masks or not. We have heard that city officials who establish masking requirements have faced death threats.

When we venture out (rarely) to take care of necessary business here in Cottonwood, we find over half the people on the streets are not wearing masks. A neighbor mused to us that she wonders if the whole crisis is a way for “them” (whoever they are) to take away “our” guns and establish a socialist state. I see the same ideas in online posts put out by Republican operatives. That real people are dying all over the world seems to elude our neighbor’s attention. And, by the way, nearly everyone here owns a gun, even the “little old ladies” in our neighborhood. Like I said, it’s the Wild West!

The situation in Arizona is different from that of surrounding states. I recently read an article from a couple in New Mexico who had to make a road trip from their home in Santa Fe to California. They relate how most people they met in New Mexico were masked, but that changed abruptly when they reached the Arizona border. After a number of harrowing adventures, they made it to California and took care of their business, only to face the same gauntlet of risk on the way home.

Meanwhile, the hospitals, which have to deal with the realities of the situation in the state, are preparing to be overrun by new cases of the virus. They are back on a emergency footing, with all elective medical treatments canceled or postponed. Meanwhile, in true Trump fashion, our governor claims that he has the situation under control and that he expected a notable rise in cases. He says that the virus isn’t going away so we just have to get on with our lives (or deaths, as the case may be.) He is also following his leader’s example by erecting fences all around the state house to protect the property from the “leftist mobs” in the streets.

How do Elyn and I respond to all this? By continuing to shelter in place and use delivery services whenever we can. This state is one of the most beautiful that we have seen. We have the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Red Rocks of Sedona, and one of the biggest and most addictive night skies I’ve ever experienced. We can’t really get out to see the wonders all around us, but that will change when the current crisis is over (we hope).

Meanwhile, should we join the crowd and purchase our six-shooters (or AK-47s)? We could easily do so, because the gun shops have always been considered “essential businesses” in Arizona and have remained open throughout the crisis. We could protect ourselves from people who won’t practice social distancing! “Back off six feet, or yer dead, hombre.”