From the East

Brethren and Families,

I sincerely hope you and your loved ones are all healthy and well during these uncertain times. The plunge into the Covid-19 Pandemic has truly been one of the strangest social experiences I believe we will ever experience (hopefully). I believe that it has truly shown us who we are as a culture as the ramifications of this hyper sterile isolation shape how we are interacting with each other and mold who we will become once the pandemic eases. I have read how pundits predict that what we do today to remain free of contagions will be the “new way of living” for our future. I, as well as many of you, am a social person, and so we suffer from this isolation while doing our part by replacing speaking to our friends, neighbors, and family in person, with speaking to them on the phone, via video conferencing, or by conversing across the street while we wear masks, gloves, and clothes that we plan on washing immediately once we walk through the garage to undress and sanitize prior to entering the safe confides of our home’s bubble of security. It is being said that restrictions will soon ease, states will reopen, travel will become normalized, and the increased expectation and need for social distancing will soon disappear from our supermarkets and our communities. I look forward to this, and to the curbing of the pandemic, in a way that might have been similar to our predecessors looking forward to the ending of the Spanish Flu or the Great Depression. Just as they did, we will overcome and we will persevere. In the meantime, your officers have been keeping up with the news of this pandemic, and have been discussing how we, as a lodge, will return to some form of normality. With this in mind, one might ask when we will see each other again in Lodge for dinners, potlucks, BBQ’s or other Masonic ceremonies and events that were scheduled in the 2020 calendar. Unfortunately, not in the month of May. Earlier this month, Eric Korbas led a calling tree to reach out to all of you and check on your needs, and from this call we further cemented the belief that you are all resilient members. I want to thank everyone who showed their brotherly love so far during this nebulous time, and assure you that the offer still stands should you need a helping hand going forward. Please feel free to call any of your officers for help. Our phone numbers and email addresses are always to be found in this Trestleboard. I pray that each of our members and their families remain healthy and safe as we weather this contagion, and I pray for our Brothers, and their families at the Masonic Home. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me via email or cell phone: hal2pro@sbcglobal.net, (510) 461-1071. Fraternally, Paul Rodriguez, Master Crow Canyon Lodge, No. 551