The sap is rising. Against all apparent odds, given the year we have just plowed through, the light is lengthening, the sky is bluing and even on cloudy days there is a certain shimmer behind the overcast veil. Now the tappers are out tending maple syrup lines, starting to fill their buckets and vats.
Dark rings have cleared around tree trunks, rose bushes and shrubs where the remaining snow is receding in obeisance to the renewed vigor of the roots below resuming their hydraulic function. This weekend we were astonished to see the first sprouts of daffodil and tulip bulbs showing red and green, just a half inch above the still-cold soil.
Last week we were lucky to get our first COVID shots. It took a family effort to obtain appointments, but once there at UMass the process was smooth even with the long line. It was thrilling to see so many people waiting patiently and hopefully in the slow march to recovery.
It’s worrisome to know how many people still have no access, whether due to the phasing of groups, lack of technology or ragged information and delivery systems set up by our state and others. Finally, teachers have been moved up the list, adding the missing link to accomplish a full-hearted safe return to schools, a key to re-opening the economy more safely.
Nationally the vaccine supply flow is ramping up. The new administration is getting its sea legs after the rocky start of finding the previous administration put little in place to deliver approved vaccines. As President Biden put it, his administration opened the refrigerator to find it empty. Now, the cupboards are getting stocked, outreach is widening and more helpers are being enlisted, including getting rival pharmaceutical companies to work together to speed up vaccine production.
This weekend the COVID Relief Bill was passed by the Senate, paving the way for final passage by the House and getting the bill to the president’s desk before current support disappears in mid-March for millions of Americans left jobless by the pandemic.
On the Democratic side the process might have seemed messy but actually it was a look at how democracy really works. People with shared goals (help the country) and different approaches (how much help and how to deliver it) debated and discussed and compromised (oh my goodness!) to reach the goal at hand.
Our new president had a personal hand in getting the compromise agreed to, then praised everyone involved, a gesture as warming as the brighter sun. Sadly, not a single Republican voted to send relief to the people of America. Although up to 83% of Americans (CBS poll) approve passage of more COVID relief, and key economists urge it, Republicans stonewalled any effort to help their own constituents while complaining that it wasn’t a bi-partisan approach. Sixty percent of Americans approve of Biden’s leadership overall; seventy percent on COVID (AP poll); optimism about the direction our country is heading has increased by ten points since Biden took office six weeks ago. The sap is rising.
What’s next? The path to restoring our economy, building in sorely needed equity and more widespread prosperity, is to do three things at once: address climate change, create new jobs and expressly include all Americans at all levels in all locations. We need an enormous targeted infrastructure push to halt climate destruction.
We need investment in sustainable systems for energy generation (not wood burning or nuclear), energy and goods distribution, transportation, regenerative farming and essential manufacturing. We need to rebuild our health system, and retrofit our schools and municipal buildings to safely withstand the next pandemic.
Full-strength programs like these will create jobs that pay well; the cost will be recovered with a stronger, resurgent economy that is less dependent on resource depletion or human exploitation. Put workers who have lost jobs in outmoded sectors (coal, gas, oil) at the head of the line for skill-building for the new era. All our voices will be needed to push Congress and corporations to do this work. Compromises are needed; some old systems (filibuster) may need to go. Put some of the easiest things first (think insulation) to build momentum while we get more complex projects underway.
We have some heavy lifting ahead, miles of line to walk, many buckets to fill and tote. It takes at least 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. But the sap is rising and the product will be sweet.
Judith Wagner is a resident of Northfield.