PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

As someone who could drown in all of readily available information on the coronavirus, I have tried to stay above water by taking these steps.

1. Trying to limit my consumption of news to the morning when, in past times, I would have gotten my hands dirty reading newspapers.

The risk of drowning applies not only to social media.  It applies to news outlets, as well, because those outlets transmit e-mail updates all day long.  This includes the outlets I read – the Oregonian newspaper, the Salem Reporter, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and the Atlantic magazine.

Better to focus in the morning, then wait for the new developments the next day.

2. Trying to focus, not just on the bad news, but on stories of citizens helping others during the virus outbreak.

If you look hard enough, you can see good news on all sides, even during a pandemic that contains great threats, and, if nothing else, is changing the way we live.  The good news could be the heroic efforts of health care professionals to stay at work despite the risks.  It could be the garbage collection company here in Salem, which traveled my neighborhood yesterday.

It could be restaurants, which are trying to stay open through take-out services.  It could be the golf course where I play, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club, which, in addition to take-out food service, is trying to stay open for golf, with appropriate social distancing restrictions, to give those who can play just a bit of a respite from “staying at home.”

It could be neighbors where I live making sure that “other neighbors” who might be home alone have what they need.

Or, it could be churches, such as the one my wife and I attend here in Salem, Salem Alliance Church, going on-line for all of its services, even at this Easter time, which is hugely important for all Christians.  We will celebrate Easter from our homes with a “livestream” church service.

3. Trying to look for humorous occurrences to preserve the notion that, even in the face of a pandemic, humor could be an outlet.

One of the best examples occurred several weeks ago at the start of government action to try to control the virus.  Federal officials held a press conference to provide advice about individual actions to limit virus exposure.  The first piece of advice – no surprise – was to wash hands frequently.

Then, the officials went to another point – don’t touch your face, they advised, because doing so could transmit the virus.  Of course, guess what happened?

Yes, even as they provided this advice, they did what all of us do far too frequently, which is to touch our face.  One official even was shown on camera licking her fingers to help her turn pages on what she was reading.

Humorous?  Well, yes.  If only for a moment.  But the episode did have the effect of underlining the importance of individual action.

Frankly, it should be added that there is not much humor around these days as we watch exposure and death totals rise toward what could be a peak in the next couple weeks.

But, for me, maintaining a sense of equilibrium amidst the pandemic requires such steps as those I outline above.