A common question since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the national spotlight in March has been, “When will we get back to normal?”
The answer may sound grim, but is quite possibly never.
Depending on which panel of experts, doctors, scientists, etc. who are speaking the thought of returning to the “normal” life of 2019 and prior is most certainly not going to happen in 2020 and 2021 isn’t looking all too promising.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons that recent events in Highlands have seemed so positive. They haven’t been “normal,” but they have happened with only minor difference than previous years.
In August, The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts hosted its “Three Potters Symposium” and pottery sale. The event was not on the grand scale of prior editions, but it was a lovely event, outside, where art enthusiasts could purchase the offerings of local artists.
Over the past weekend, the Mountaintop Rotary Club hosted its annual Mountaintop Art and Craft Show in Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park. Again, it wasn’t the hustling and bustling event that sprawled across the entire grounds like in years past, but the show was well attended and it was nice to see strangers interacting safely.
On Sept. 12-13, Mountain Motoring will take over the park as car lovers and classic auto collectors come to Highlands for two days driving the mountain landscape of Western North Carolina. The event will conclude with a car show in the park on Sunday, Sept. 13.
As was the case with the pottery sale and the art and craft show, Mountain Motoring will feature face coverings, social distancing and copious amounts of hand sanitizer. Those precautions are almost universally supported by the medical community as ways to slow the spread of COVID-19.
While the “good ole days” of wondering through public events without a care in the world may not be coming back anytime soon, it’s a positive sign that such events are happening. Going to an event while wearing a mask is better than not getting to go at all.