Could there actually truly be normalcy?

To say the last few weeks have been hectic would be an understatement.

I could take up this entire page outlining what has been happening over the past few weeks but, hopefully, you know about a lot of the issues.

It was interesting to me the other day when I was talking to someone just about general stuff when that person made an interesting observation: “You sure don’t have a lack of news.”

That may be the understatement of the year. I shudder to think what we are not covering, which I suspect is a lot. But we’ll get there.

The point here is there sure seems to be a lot happening in Mariposa County.

Some of that, for sure, is because we have Yosemite National Park. That place in itself generates enough news to fill a paper. But it should be noted that in the past few months, I couldn’t fill a thimble because the National Park Service, who we fund, has decided it is not going to talk to anyone.

Nevertheless, even when they don’t talk, news happens and we find other ways. It would just be so much better if the politicians we elected would actually live up to their promise of openness and transparency. That certainly hasn’t been the case and I don’t see it changing.

Of course, some of the news we cover, naturally, just seems to happen. Who would have guessed that a bitter hospital board member would act like a babbling child after a meeting and then decide to resign.

“I’m taking my toys and leaving.”

Brilliant, huh? I just don’t like quitters.

And then there are the fires. Who would have thought there would be storm clouds forming around here in late August and early September. Not only did they form, the lightning has started fires all across the Sierra Nevada.

We all know how small fires can turn into major fires, which has been happening following these lightning strikes. The devastation at Chinese Camp is just that; words can hardly describe what took place.

Interestingly, I was just in Chinese Camp a few weeks ago. It was the first time we had ever stopped there to see the historic place named after the many Chinese immigrants who came there during the Gold Rush.

Just about a decade ago, I didn’t have a clue about wildfires. Now, unfortunately, I seem to be pretty well schooled in them and it’s not been something that I wanted to happen. Fires not only destroy communities, they also destroy lives that will never be the same.

Sometimes, I feel like we are just “on a roll” at this newspaper as all of these issues come at us like a freight train. That is partly true, but it’s also true it takes boots on the ground to make these stories happen and that would be all of us.

All of this has been coming at us right in the middle of fair time in Mariposa County, which is now gone and people can get back to being normal. (You know who you are.)

But normal is a word I don’t use a lot anymore. I always wonder what might happen next and then, well, something happens next. Something completely unpredictable like the DA issue we dealt with and even the fires.

Yes, fires are a normal part of life around here but that doesn’t make it any less devastating or easier on people who are directly impacted.

There are times when I go home and just sit outside on my patio and try to think about anything but issue dealing with this newspaper. I cherish my down time but sometimes, you do take it home with you, like it or not.

I think that’s part of the nature of this beast; informing the public is a big responsibility and it can be all consuming if you let it happen. Even after all of these years, there are times when I still let it happen.

When I saved this story into the folder on my computer, I realized this edition of the paper is on Sept. 11. Hard to not know about one of the most devastating dates in the history of our country.

It also, however, got me thinking about then and now. What is different? What is the same? Did we have some sort of sanity back then that has now slipped away?

The answer is probably a mixed bag. On Sept. 11, 2001, the world was turned upside down. It is still recovering and, in some says, may never recover, at least in a way we typically think something should happen.

One of the most devastating events in the history of America is a good example of simply not knowing what is going to happen next. One of the ultimate examples, in fact.

One day news reporters were talking about the stock market and the next they were wondering if this was the beginning of the end. That’s how this world I live in works.

Now, 24 years later, the world looks back and reflects on those who were lost when terrorists won the battle that day. Sure, memories fade and younger people don’t really grasp what it was like when that day unfolded.

In fact, the world is still in chaos because of that day. The “world order,” as some call it, hasn’t been the same since. I would say it is even worse than it was back then. Chaos rules supreme and reasoning is, well, not up to snuff.

There are probably better words to describe it, but I will just leave it there.

In all of this, though, there have been some rays of light. For one, someone who deserves everything he gets is now getting it and it is not pretty. That might sound mean; it is not. There are just some people who deserve their fate because they are liars, tax cheats, fake Christians and just about anything else you can come up with.

If nothing else, the one thing I do have is my integrity. I know some might scoff at thinking I have integrity, but they would be too afraid to seek out the truth. Why? The truth can be quite painful.

No pain, no gain, right?

Yet in all of this, it’s not the pain I seek for others; in fact, I would rather see some positives come along.

Can you imagine this headline: “Supervisors have intelligent discussion, help the citizens.”

I’m not saying that never happens, but the track record over there at the county building is questionable, at best.

How about this: “Hospital board conducts normal meeting.”

I can always dream.

I was going to end this with “the point of all this is,” but I guess I’m not sure what that point might be, to be honest. Maybe I’m just tired and worn out from the past month.

Or maybe I still hold out hope that somehow, sometime there might be some normalcy.

Greg Little is editor of the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at greg@mariposagazette.com