Pulse - June 2021 - 56

FROM THE SCVMA OFFICE PETER WEINSTEIN, DVM, MBA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PWEINSTEIN@SCVMA.ORG
COULD THE PANDEMIC BE A FRESH
START FOR ALL OF US?
A
s the past year plus moves further and further into our rear-view mirror, albeit not completely gone, we have
to start to ask what we have learned about ourselves, our families, friends and businesses.
With the fears, pains, uncertainty, isolation, challenges, victories
and plethora of losses, are we stronger for what we
went through? Smarter? More determined? Or are we more
fearful? Anxious? Uncertain? Distrustful?
The pandemic reintroduced me to my bicycle. With gyms
closed and a desire to avoid adding the COVID-19 (pounds),
I started working out in the house but really needed to interact
with nature and to just see (not interact) with others on
the bike paths. It was rejuvenating to watch the baby ducklings
grow up and become ducks, the baby geese grow up
and become mother goose, as well as the herons and egrets
that dotted the waterways near where I rode. I just couldn't
get that on my wife's Peloton or even at the gym. I have now
started to intermingle the bike rides with gym visits.
Home cooking returned to our kitchen. With restaurants
being so impacted and take out being the norm rather than
the exception, eating at our house had to be re-evaluated. As
the number of mistakes made by Grubhub and DoorDash
magnified, the need to find alternate sources developed. So,
we dusted off our stove and oven, replaced a broken microwave
and started to stock the pantry and refrigerator.
From two to three catered meals per week, we went to six
meals home cooked per week. Sharon found healthy, vegetarian
recipes and we added an Instant Pot and an air fryer to
the tool shed. Not only did we save money, but we ate better,
healthier home-cooked meals.
For me, probably the biggest change was not travelling two,
three or sometimes four times per month. With all speaking
moving to virtual and visiting Austin (Brianna) and Corvallis
(Brooke) just moving from one shut down location to
another, I became a homebody. The couch now has my butt
indentation built into it to join the dogs and Sharon.
I do miss travelling and I am ramping up to spend some
time with TSA in the near future (tomorrow as I write this).
But spending time in your own bed, at your own desk and
watching your own TV does come with perks. Like having
your wife there for face-to-face conversation at the end of
the day. And having a stocked pantry versus a mini bar and
water that you don't have to pay for by the bottle. I miss
travelling and look forward to getting back to normal on
that front. But I have gotten used to our homebody routine
as well.
From the SCVMA standpoint, the plague was definitely a
fresh start. Our normal modus operandi was completely disrupted
by the fears of infection and the possibilities of really
awful outcomes as broadcast daily on the news. We learned
how much we can get done virtually from home rather than
at the office. We learned how to conduct educational programs
with great speakers and great sponsors and great turnouts
without leaving our desks. We learned how much our
membership likes to hear from us and how just staying in
touch and providing knowledge also provides peace of mind.
56
JUNE 2021
PULSE
As much as live communication is still an imperative at
our chapter meetings, CE meetings, and other live events, we
now have new tools to keep everybody informed. We will
be heading back to live events when it is safe but we will
also continue much of what we have been doing for the past
15 months. We are going to be a labradoodle association: a
hybrid of two great associations-what we were before and
what we became during the recent past.
Think about the forced and voluntary changes that you
made for your business-curbside, PPE, telemedicine, online
stores, etc., and think about which of those modifications will
become a normal part of your ongoing routine. Think about
the forced and voluntary changes that you made in your personal
lives-which did you like? Which do you NEVER,
EVER want to deal with again? (Masks, social distancing,
no handshakes, no hugs?) Think about the forced and voluntary
changes that the world has made and continues to make.
Which of those will be the status quo ad infinitum?
Originally written by Pete Seger in the late 1950s and
recorded in 1959, (with the help of Ecclesiastes chapter 3):
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under
the heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap
that which is planted;
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time
to build up;
A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to
dance;
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain that which is to get and a time to lose; a time to keep
and a time to cast away;
A time to rend and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time
to speak;
A time of love and a time of hate; a time of war and a time of peace.
With all of the times, it is what you do with knowledge
that determines your happiness and your future. Work to take
the challenges of the past year and turn, turn, turn them into
the rebirth of your future.
Until next time,

Pulse - June 2021

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