Stew’s Views: There’s a dragon with matches that’s loose in the town

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The current crisis is not the first time I have been tested in my life, nor will it be the last. For all of us, the human experience is a roller coaster ride with ups and downs, and the measure of our lives is not made with a yardstick that quantifies the highs and lows but, rather, with the residual feelings we have in our hearts when things smooth out again. Right now, in this moment, as we face one of the most formidable challenges of our lifetimes, it is imperative that we act in a way that will leave us feeling that we did our utmost to meet the adversity we are facing — individually and collectively — with strength, with compassion, with wisdom and with courage. Each of us needs a place to turn for guidance and inspiration at a moment such as this. In my life, I have always been able to find the answers in two places: music and movement. Luckily, even as Boulder County has ordered all county residents (with few exceptions) to stay at home, effective 8 a.m. on March 26, these two sources of clarity are still available to all of us.

For almost as long as I can remember, the Grateful Dead and cycling have been my primary soundtrack and activity, and, indeed, I am on the verge of launching a new website: DeadheadCyclist.com. You can consider this column to be a preview of the weekly posts that will be made under that moniker, beginning around the middle of next month.

As I was riding up Lefthand Canyon this past weekend, I was struck by a deeply metaphoric lyric in the Grateful Dead tune, “Fire on the Mountain.”

There’s a dragon with matches that’s loose on the town.

Takes a whole pail of water just to cool him down.

Clearly, we are facing a “dragon with matches” in a novel virus that is spreading like wildfire (keeping with the same metaphor). And we, as a community of individuals, are being called to “cool him down.” The question at hand is this: What “pail of water” can you contribute to the cause?

At a minimum, you can observe the stayat-home order through April 17. But what else is in your pail of water? In the wake of this pandemic, many people are stepping forward with heartwarming acts of kindness and good will. Health care workers are risking their lives to provide medical care; delivery people are making sacrifices to get supplies to stores, which have stepped up efforts to ensure their hygiene and are allowing senior citizens to shop early to minimize their exposure; restaurants are donating food, and delivery services are paying their employees out of pocket to make deliveries; people are connecting on the internet to run errands for higher-risk individuals who are afraid to leave their homes. The list goes on and on, and I would encourage you to add what you can. At the Weekly, we are focused on continuing to provide you with valuable information and our unique A dragon with matches is a metaphor, but this new virus is real. Your personal pail of water is needed right now, so please give some thought to what you can contribute.

see STEW’S VIEWS Page 9