Blog Archives - trish hermanson

An Old West Lesson in Covid Times

4/28/2020

When I read about the threat of deportation faced by some medical workers fighting corona virus I thought about a visit I made to Bent’s Old Fort. This Nineteenth Century Colorado fort thrived as it welcomed the contributions of Mexicans, Native American, blacks, French, and whites. In contrast, about 29,000 skilled health care professionals could be forced out if the U.S. Supreme Court rules with the Trump Administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
     These “Dreamers,” as they are called, were brought to the U.S. from other countries as minors and haven’t been granted citizenship. They grew up and became trained professionals.
     Their absence could have “devastating effects” on our health care system that already faces professional shortages, according to more than 30 organizations that filed a brief with the court.
     The Trump Administration seeks to deport all 643,000 registered in the DACA program. This could be devastating in our reeling economy. In 2017, DACA individuals earned $23 billion in total household income and contributed $4 billion to taxes, according to New American Economy, a bipartisan group studying immigration reforms.
     In a shared statement, more than 50 Chambers of Commerce said, “These immigrants are driving economic growth in our communities.” They quoted Cato Institute estimates that deporting DACA individuals would cost our economy $280 billion over the next decade.
  Perhaps we ought to pay attention to an Old West lesson from Fort Bent; it’s not only humanitarian to continue to welcome these Dreamers, it’s economically smart.

Give a SHOUTOUT for the Introverts!

4/21/2020

With sheltering these days, the trash goes out more often than we do. But give a shoutout to us introverts who are modeling what comes naturally: living in contented solitude.
     Our calm ways are often underrated in this noisy world, yet author Susan Cain says introverts make this culture blossom. “Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions - from the theory of evolution to Van Gogh’s sunflowers to the personal computer - came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune into their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there.”
     We introverts have felt like odd ducks because we live in one of the most extroverted nations in the world. Yet statistics reveal there are slightly more introverts than extroverts in the U.S. But pop culture has led us to believe (falsely) that flamboyancy is the gold standard for making it socially and at work.
     That hasn’t always been the case, says Cain, author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking.” There was a time when character, not flashiness, defined a person, she says. Not anymore. Society demands that everything must be marketed, even our personalities. Think about the trend to rebrand oneself to project the “right” image. What pressure!
     So for those of you who prefer deep conversation over small talk, relish your strength. And for those of you who are extroverts. Well, you have something to offer, too.
  But not everything.

What Are You Planting in the Age of Corona?

4/15/2020

Is coronavirus a convenient “boomer doomer?” That’s what I heard some students call it. Others claim it’s the “boomer remover.”    I’m in that category of the more than a third of American adults who are most vulnerable. We’re the group that experienced our springtime long ago. Then in the summer of our days, we planted careers and families. We harvested the yield from that work in our sun-drenched autumn. But now, are we nothing but frozen fields in winter, waiting to be plowed under by plague?
     Not me.
     I’m a farmer bravely casting forth seeds of encouragement. Of challenge. Of kindness. Whatever good I can spread in my winter season, I release into the wind, trusting it’ll produce a crop eventually.
     My brain and brawn aren’t what they used to be. But experience has rubbed away much of the unnecessary chaff in life. I’m wiser now. My heart beats steadier for what matters - truth, justice, and mercy. I’m not jostled as easily by the arrhythmia of fame and fortune.
     I’m following Robert Lewis Stevenson’s advice to “Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.”
     I’m scattering winter wheat.
  What are you planting?

Sheltering with Newborn Eve

4/11/2020

With masks in place, Duane and I worked our way through airports that were like ghost towns and wiped down every surface we touched in planes. And despite some cancelled flights, we made it from Denver to Mobile, Alabama. Our quest: to meet Eve Juniper, our new granddaughter. Eve’s name means “life,” and juniper is a tree that flourishes in hard places while providing shelter for others.
     We’re finding life and shelter here while staying with Eve’s parents along with her brother Oak. The family lives in a forest on an island off the coast. But even though we’re isolated from the mainland, stores are shut and social distancing is practiced. Even beaches are closed, and that is a great loss.
     In the home here, it’s like the jambalaya that’s popular around here - that crazy mix of ingredients with the quiet of a newborn and the exuberance of a two-year-old. I just gave Eve a bottle, and Duane is outside with Oak listening to birds that struggled in their migration across the Gulf of Mexico to land here. We’ve migrated to this spot for awhile, too.
     Wherever you are during this coronavirus madness, I hope you can establish a shelter from your hard times and a flourishing of life. It’s a time of restoration for the Earth and its inhabitants. And it’s Easter, after all.

Capture Photos for Posterity Now!

4/7/2020

Someday, the American Girl company may create a doll that is outfitted for this pandemic. But until then, our granddaughter Louise equipped her doll with a face mask and a laptop to complete her schoolwork at home.
     It’s a great idea to capture photos of our kids and grandkids in masks and doing homework online, because someday they’ll be telling their kids and grandkids what it was like to survive this plague. Our descendants won’t understand how it was patriotic to social distance by keeping six feet apart, to "earn" stimulus dollars by staying home, and to wash your hands while singing through the alphabet.
They’ll scratch their heads in disbelief that this ever happened.…just as we’re scratching our heads in disbelief now.
   So capture those moments now!