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The state’s decision last week to have a bit of a surprise opening day of trout season may have merited some scrutiny, considering the “stay-at-home orders” we are supposed to be observing, but honestly, if you saw the grins on the people pictured in a Times Leader story by Mary Therese Biebel last week, it’s hard to think it was a bad idea.
Clearly, there was ample desire to break the cabin fever and enjoy the fresh air, cool water and sunshine.
Perhaps more importantly, the pictures showed a pretty good adherence to the rules of of social distancing. While families seemed to clump in small groups — something they presumably do at home anyway — no group was remotely close to each other as they picked spots along the lake at Nescopeck State Park.
Indeed, if you’ve recently walked the trails of state parks like Nescopeck, you may have noticed a new hiking protocol. Call it the “arc of avoidance”
It is rare to come across fellow nature lovers who don’t give each other a wide berth, either by stepping five or six feet of the trail and waiting for you to pass, or by finding enough of a trail off the beaten path to walk past without breaching the social-distance mandate.
This may not be enough for some, and that’s all right. One older couple at Nescopeck, Biebel recounts from the visit that spawned the trout fishing story, said they had come out for a stroll but were discouraged by the relative crowd. “With this disease, we don’t want to take chances,” the man told her.
That’s more than fair.
But so far, most of the science tells us the chances of transmission are very low as long as you keep that six-feet space. This is, by all accounts, a respiratory disease transmitted through droplets exhaled by an infected person. Avoid proximity, avoid touching your face while out until you can thoroughly wash hands, and you should be OK. Cloth masks protect others from you more than you from others, but add a layer. Filter masks seem to keep you pretty safe.
If you are uncomfortable despite distance, by all means, pick your outdoor excursions more carefully. And take note that state parks, while open, have signs denying access to the usual areas of congregation, even those outside.
But as has been noted here and elsewhere many times, exercise boosts immunity, and walking in the woods or on other outdoor trails can be both physically and emotionally uplifting, even in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps, especially in the age of the pandemic
So consider getting used to using the arc-of-avoidance whenever you encounter someone, and as long as you’r comfortable with it, by all means, go for a walk, bike ride or a bit of fishing.
The works and words of Henry David Thoreau speak with particular truth during this edgy time.
“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.”
Be calmed.
– Times Leader