Good writing doesn’t start with a list of caveats. But I’m more concerned with clarity than quality, so:

• I think that the Coronavirus pandemic is terrible.
• I appreciate that the pandemic has elicited a great diversity of experiences, reactions, and perspectives.

With those disclaimers out  of the way, I’ll get right to the point. COVID-19 has revealed something about people in general, fly fishers in specific. People know that humans matter more.

What do I mean by that?

To be blunt, no one is celebrating the pandemic. Obviously, you say. Hold on – I’ve seen plenty of chatter here, there, and everywhere that would leave me to believe that humanity is the bad guy in the movie. Well, if someone seriously thinks that humanity is does more harm than good, and that natural selection is a truism, then COVID-19 is simply a balancing force. It is nature righting the wrongs of mankind by thinning the herd. If  humanity is purely a different organism in kind, but not in value, then the Coronavirus is doing the environment a favor and we should rejoice in it.

The world has skidded to a halt. There have been less emissions, fewer opportunities for pollution, and a lighter overall impact on the various ecosystems people rub up against. The effect is good. So what about the cause? In stark, pragmatic terms –  red in tooth and claw, etc. – the cause must be good as well. Right?

But that isn’t the case. People care about people. The messaging on social media (even fly fishing social media) bears this out. Massive initiatives involving mining, clean water, and factory fish farming have taken a back seat due to present circumstances. Rightfully so. Is it that we’re front-runners, chasing the latest and greatest? Have our collective priorities done a 180? May it never be! We still care about wild trout and the Everglades and striped bass populations  and Pebble Mine. What’s more likely is that the dramatic change in scenery has things brought back into focus. Our frailty and mortality has us running to what matters most. It isn’t that our rivers and fish don’t matter: people matter more. People might be pollute and be ignorant, but they still matter more.

So what?

I would like to kindly ask you to consider if there is an inconsistency in your worldview. If humanity is does more harm than good, and that natural selection is a truism… but you hate what this virus is doing to humanity; you can’t accept and be fine with COVID-19 as a balancing force – how does that line up? I think it is a blessed inconsistency. I think that a lot of people believe that humans are much more than just different products of natural selection.

Big moments in history have a way of helping us take stock in how we view the world. A global pandemic is a big moment in history, and I think that everyone is examining themselves in some way, shape, or form. I’m not asking for anything but that – self examination. While you’re sitting in quarantine or standing in the river, ask those questions. Why do I care? What does it matter? And even does fly fishing factor into it? There is no danger in asking. Just be humble enough to listen to the answer.

 

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And if you want my opinion, I’m always happy to share. Just let me know.