Safety on the Roads

As we continue to live with Covid, it is worth remembering that there are other dangers in life. As close readers of the Commentary know, last week, Dr. Barney Hawkins and I made a journey to Durham, NC (which, I am pleased to report, went very well). We traveled separately. I was coming from Alexandria, VA, and Dr. Hawkins was coming from South Carolina. When Dr. Hawkins started his journey for our cultivation events, he discovered as he was making his way down a steep hill that his car breaks had been destroyed by some squirrels.  It was a scary moment. Fortunately, he did manage to get safely to a car repair shop, which then provide a car rental. And then on the journey back on Friday, he was filling up the car with gas when the gas station was a victim of an armed robbery. While others fled, Barney finished filling up his gas. And once he was confident that the armed robber had gone out the back, he made his way in to be with the attendant as she waited for the police.

Every day, in the United States, we are sadly losing approximately 960 lives to Covid; every day, in the United States, we lose 3,700 lives to car accidents. Every life lost is felt. The ripples of such loss are extensive. As we continue to strive for safety in this pandemic, let us not forget to strive to be equally safe on the roads.

The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham,