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Wednesday, August 11, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address, and
phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions
not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond, or ask for a
response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items
are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday.
Camp Sherman in Sisters Country
To the Editor:
Re: Bill Bartlett9s <News Nuggets=
If the definition of <Sisters Country= is
indeed <up for debate= I would encourage
you to include the Camp Sherman commu-
nity and not limit it to the Sisters School
District boundaries.
Our community, while small, is so
important to our region both cultur-
ally and ecologically. We have a pub-
lic K-8 school (Black Butte School)
that is often overlooked in the reporting
The Nugget does on <Sisters Country=
schools.
Camp Sherman kids eventually attend
Sisters High School. All Camp Sherman resi-
dents frequent Sisters business for services.
Many of us volunteer for organizations based
in Sisters. Our beautiful basin attracts both
tourists (which also use Sisters services) and
Sisters locals alike. Please include us in your
definition of <Sisters Country.= Our residents
See LETTERS on page 22
Sisters Weather Forecast
Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon
Saturday
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Thursday
Wednesday
August 11 • Mostly Sunny
August 12 • Mostly Sunny August 13 • Mostly Sunny August 14 • Mostly Sunny
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August 15 • Partly Cloudy
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August 17 • Sunny
91/59
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The Nugget Newspaper,
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Helping veterans...
Thanks to the generous participation of the Sisters community in The Nugget’s
Stars & Stripes special feature, The Nugget was able to present over $400 to Central
Oregon Veterans Ranch last month. The donation will further their mission to help
veterans find a sense of belonging and purpose through meaningful interactions,
team projects, education, growing plants, and caring for animals on the ranch.
N
The Delta blues
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Last month, my wife and
daughter and I hit the road
to Montana to join some
25,000-30,000 other people
at the Under the Big Sky
Music & Art Fest, held on a
ranch just outside Whitefish.
Three days of the best in
<Americana= or <alt-coun-
try= music on two stages, on
grounds packed with people.
None of us are much for
crowds in general 4 but
there is something primal
and exhilarating about being
part of an exuberant tribal
gathering, joyously caught
up in music. And we felt
perfectly comfortable doing
it 4 though Marilyn did
sometimes mask up when
we had to move through
dense masses of people.
Now, let me be clear: We
didn9t get vaccinated just so
we could pretend that the
music never stopped. But
feeling comfortable in a
big, music-loving crowd is,
for us, one of the most sig-
nificant perks of <vaccine
privilege.= Getting the jab
allowed us to feel comfort-
able getting back to a pro-
foundly valued aspect of our
lives that the pandemic had
pretty much shut down.
It looked like we were
well on our way <back to liv-
ing life before there isn9t any
life to get back to living,=
as Dwight Yoakam has it.
The surge of the Delta vari-
ant was not welcome news.
You might say we9ve got the
Delta blues. Bad news on the
COVID-19 front keeps fall-
ing down like hail. Makes
you feel like you9ve got a
hellhound on your trail. (Hat
tip to Robert Johnson.*)
Thing is, though, this
was bound to happen.
Coronaviruses mutate 4 a
lot; that9s why there are so
many strains of the common
cold.
What the Delta blues has
taught us 4 or reinforced,
because we really should
have known this from the
early days of the pandemic
4 is that COVID-19 is here
to stay, no matter how much
hot foot powder we sprinkle
around our door. Those who
are awaiting a time when we
can achieve zero risk with
COVID-19 are as deluded as
those who insisted that the
whole thing was a hoax or
that it would somehow mag-
ically disappear. We have to
learn to live with this hell-
hound lurking in the treeline
of our world, sometimes
lunging out to snap, snarl,
and bite.
The development of vac-
cines against COVID-19
is a triumph of science and
American can-do ingenu-
ity. You can fault the Trump
Administration for missteps
and foolish messaging on
the coronavirus pandemic
4 but give them credit for
Operation Warp Speed. The
partnership between institu-
tions Americans are often
(rightly) leery of 4 the fed-
eral government and Big
Pharma 4 in this case pro-
vided a means of mitigating
the impacts of COVID-19
and enabling us to get back
to <living life.=
They9re not a silver bul-
let that can slay the hell-
hound, but they go a long
way toward mitigating its
bite. The vaccines remain
an effective means of avoid-
ing getting sick, or avoiding
serious effects if you do get
bitten.
Way I look at it, getting
the jab is like putting on a
seatbelt when I hit the high-
way, or carrying a pistol on
the regular 4 a reasonable
and responsible measure to
protect myself and my loved
ones from the vicissitudes of
life.
At this point, mask man-
dates seem counterproduc-
tive. Nobody should be
faulted or shamed for wear-
ing one if they choose to.
They are still federally man-
dated at healthcare facilities,
and we should respect that
requirement, especially with
the stresses and strains our
local healthcare system is
under.
But pushing masks on
everyone again 4 includ-
ing the vaccinated 4 sends
mixed signals (at best) about
the efficacy of the vaccines
and needlessly stokes social
tensions (see related stories
pages 1 and 3). Those social
tensions are, in their way, as
dangerous to our future as
COVID-19.
Like poor, old Bob sang,
you <can tell the wind is
risin9, the leaves tremblin9
on the tree.=
*Hellhound On My
Trail, Robert Johnson, The
Complete Recordings
Contact information for the elected
officials that represent Sisters
residents can be found on page 10:
“Contact your representatives...”