 Welcome to Longmont Voices and Vision, a project of Longmont public media. In the midst of the darkest period in our lives, when we're bombarded 24 hours a day with news of the coronavirus and the human and economic carnage it's causing in our society, we're challenged to cope with our fears and anxieties, we're remaining hopeful about what lies on the other side of this crisis. This project presents an opportunity for Longmont residents to share with others how they're adjusting to new realities of social distancing and the kind of future they hope to experience on the other side of the crisis. I'm Tim Waters, host of these conversations in a Longmont public media volunteer. In this series I'll be asking Longmont residents, many of them your friends and neighbors, three questions. What are you doing to get through this crisis? Even though we cannot be together right now, how are we staying connected to friends and families? And what's the future you are hoping to see and experience on the other side of this crisis? I hope you'll stay with this series and enjoy listening to your friends and neighbors and learn from them how they're getting through and what they're looking forward to in a new reality on the other side. Emily Waldek, thank you for lending your voice and your vision to this Longmont Voices and Vision project. To get started just tell us a little bit about who you are. Great, thank you. It's a pleasure to be able to be a part of this. I am a Longmont resident of six years but a Colorado native for six generations and I'm a mother which is my full-time pursuit right now but I also consider myself to be a visionary and social activist and community builder and artist and all of those are getting re-envisioned in new ways in light of the current climate. So given the current climate, tell us how are you getting yourself and your family through the situation we find ourselves in now? Sure. I think the thing that's been required most is really simplifying and slowing down and letting all of us be recalibrated to what these times are. The energetic climate of this time is unlike anything we've ever experienced. So we've really just had to focus on the very basics of tending to life on the home front and I am a mother of a two and a half year old and my husband is considered essential workforce so he's away most of the time so it's really me one on one with a toddler most of the time and she does not get value out of connecting to loved ones via a screen. So that was a huge disappointment to realize the first couple of days because I was imagining feeling a lot of sanity and sanctuary coming from connection that way but that really hasn't proved to be as much of a resource as I'd hoped it would be. We're getting outside every day masked now of course and I've taken up running again which is not something I was expecting and really just working on taking care of our bodies as best we can. I'm not super integrated into my neighborhood so I don't know of elderly people around me that need my support. I don't have family local to this area that I'm connected to so it's really just our little microcosm of three here trying to make the best of the day to day and they're really stripped down experience of our lives together. So how are you staying connected to obviously you've described part of how you're staying connected to your husband and daughter right now but how are you staying connected to friends and family in this context of physical isolation and social distancing? Yeah, there's a bunch of pretty consistent FaceTiming with family members who are far away but prior to this I was very actively involved in running Family Village as you know which is this child care cooperative that provides community and co-working opportunities for parents and really focuses on parental health as the key to childhood wellness and the wellness of our culture as a whole and we've done our best to shift gears to creating virtual village offerings so having time with our child care director for the kids to read books and having the big kids read books to little kids and having adult coffee hours and happy hours and things like that and that has been valuable but like I said for the kids as young as they are they really rely on snuggles and smell and play in a way that just doesn't come through when people are pixelated That's been helping me stay connected some to the community that I had already developed here but I'm hungry for what we had and to go back to a new version of normal together Yeah, well let's talk about what lies on the other side of this I think safe to assume that whatever the new normal is there will be differences Life won't be quite the same on the other side of this as it was before Life in Longmont after the floods of 2013 Life wasn't the same, it was actually I think better Maybe we've moved towards some preferred future What would be your preferred future? What would you like to see on the other side of this and experience on the other side of this? Yeah, I've been thinking long and hard about this question the last few days and I could rattle off any number of changes I wish to see in policy and things like that but I think none of those really have much meaning unless we come out of this with a much better story about who we are a much better story of ourselves, a much better understanding of a contextualization of these times beyond the narrative of history as we've known it and understanding of these times in the context of histories that have been deliberately suppressed over time and expanding our understanding of time and our place in the fabric of life as a whole My hope is that these stories empower us and help us to really access hope and resiliency and an understanding that what we're seeing right now through this crisis is that we are interconnected There's no choosing of that, that is, that is fact What we're seeing is that the caliber of our connections are based on life destructive values They're based on competition and assumptions about the nature of reality that are outdated, they're based on scientific understanding that has outgrown itself that needs to be revised, it's based on spiritual understanding that is needing to evolve My point is that I think that this, we have an opportunity to see this not as a grave but as a birth canal to something new and that recognizing our interconnectedness we can choose stories that bring us back to a place of reverence for life reverence for one another and valuing of our vast differences as the source of our greatest gifts It's my view that we're actually on the precipice of a renaissance unlike anything we've ever seen that we could come out of this choosing to restructure our economic system in a way that that prioritizes cooperation and creativity and symbiosis rather than competition and not that that doesn't have its place but it needs to be in the context of working as a whole depending on one's place in that whole and working to create harmony and balance within that whole and my take on how we've gotten to this place is that we, that our economic system is based on education and slavery and the individual at the expense of the whole and that's a set of, that's a worldview that we've agreed to and we've built all these institutions and way of life around and we've maxed out what that can do for us, we've seen what that can do for us and all it does is create a culture of deprivation and poverty and isolation and disconnectedness I think that we are on the cusp of experiencing ourselves in a whole new way and realizing that what we can create when we come together and when we focus on empowering one another and valuing one another and working together what we can see resulting from that will blow the lid off what we ever thought was possible before so for me on a more tangible level this comes down to making reparations with cultures that were exploited to build the economy that we currently have it looks like making sure that our government is representative of the diversity that we actually have in this culture in the states in particular it looks like making reparations with, we've simply outsourced slavery we've banned it here but it exists now, it keeps perpetuating the economy that we've had further afield and I think that there are, I think there are so many solutions and technologies and innovations and ideas that already exist that we haven't put into play because they don't have economic value and I think that it's time to really reassess that because I think that that's just, they don't have economic value to those who want to keep the status quo intact but that there's enormous prosperity to be found in taking industries that need to die industries that, you know, technologies like coal and nuclear power, those are on their way out and I don't actually believe that wind power and solar power are the solutions for us either I think that there are technologies we know about that source energy locally using gravity and energy in a way that we haven't understood and so I'd really like to come out of this with policies that promote collaboration and cooperation and don't penalize people and put, that allow for our consciousness to expand, to open ourselves to healing modalities that, to have our healthcare system be inclusive of everybody and not privatized to have that include the use of herbs and sound and forms of healing that we don't even consider alternative, they're still so far removed from what has been accepted by the mainstream in terms of being a healing tool. I could go on and on but I'm not sure that that would be, what's useful if there's, yeah I'm learning how to articulate what it is that I really value but if there's more that it would help to expand on I can share that otherwise I can wrap it up. I'll keep thinking about the future and what those aspirations are and thank you so much for your willingness to participate in this project. Take care of yourself and your family. You too, stay well. So, Rick and Cindy Hogue, welcome to Longmont Voices and Visions. Tell us just a little bit about who you are, how long you've lived in Longmont and then I've got it just three quick questions for you. Okay, go ahead. I'm Cindy Hogue and I have, I grew up in Longmont. Since I was five years old, then I left to teach high school in Denver, Jefferson County for a few years came back and have lived here since 1977, since we got married. So 43 years. That's correct. I moved here shortly before our marriage to get settled and then of course we've lived here as married couple since June of 77. Well, and viewers of this series may remember Rick as former council member. So possibly that was back in the late 90s. Thanks for your service. I have three questions for you. Obviously, in a, in a period of time that is unprecedented for anybody on the planet, none of us have experienced that just seems like it would be good to learn from one another. What you're doing first to get you to yourselves and your family through what we're experiencing. Well, for me, the first thing is as a sole practitioner in the practice of law. I haven't noticed a great deal of change from my individual practice because I only see people one on one. I have encountered some difficulties with the court, doing a lot of probate work. The court is actually shut down from the standpoint of probate matters. So that is affecting various estates, but beyond that, it hasn't been a total hardship on me because I bicycle to work. And I'm a one man sole practitioner. So Cindy. And what am I doing to get through the crisis, I guess. I'm trying to keep healthy and positive. And I'm now working from I work a couple days a week at Gold Key travel, which we've closed our doors of course to customers now we are trying to do everything we possibly can from home. And then maybe we'll go down and, you know, work on our system, sometimes at night or weekend to do details. Other than that, I do a lot of, I'm enjoying walking and biking, group and gardening. And which which is kind of nice and then also some reading. And I've, I've decided for me to limit my newswatching to one hour of PBS news hour from six to seven each evening and that that does it for me. Because I found it was, it was, it was overload and I didn't need to hear that over and over again. 24 seven news cycles. Right. So in this era of social distancing and and quarantines. How are you staying connected to your family and friends. Well, that the phone calls, texts, and then of course these zoom meetings. We've been doing with the family. And we have some rather technical children. So they're able to tech savvy. We have tiny beans, Instagram or Google chat. So few other things like that allow us to continue in contact with the family, even though our daughter who lives locally, we're not able to see very much at all with their, their six year old and a four year old. So you have your own help desk. Yes. And can others in Longmont access that help desk. My last, my last question is in a, in a time when it is easy to just focus just on the 24 hour news cycle. It's also fair to assume that life will be different on the other side of this crisis. So as we anticipate getting on the other side of it. What are you hoping to see in the future what's your preferred future what would you like to see an experience when we come out of this crisis. The number one thing I would like to see is to assure that Mr. Trump does not continue on as our president, based on all that he has said and done and what has transpired, not just in connection with this pandemic, but I think for the good of our country, it will be important for him to be voted out. And that's, I think that's something that will hopefully come out of this, although evidently he has received a boot bump in the ratings as most leaders do in the time of crisis, because people aren't thinking very much about what actually is happening. So that's one thing. The second thing that I would hope would come out of this is to address universal healthcare on a much more meaningful basis. Being the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have a basic form of universal healthcare. It seems that it might be time. And I think this episode is illustrating some shortcomings with our current system. So those are two hopeful things and that we will have a little more compassion, more understanding tolerance between people in our country and with the foreign countries. My number one, I was, we didn't talk about each other's answers, we decided to just do them separate. So I put universal healthcare as my, that I'm hoping also, and that we are more of a United States. I'm feeling I'm really bothered by this states being on their own. And when there's a problem in New York, it's sort of like, I liken it to our local education foundation. And we help every person in our entire district, whether you go to this school or that school, it doesn't matter, we, we're one district unified. And I look at this United States that we should be rushing to support whoever needs the need at that time and then I'm sure that when if we get into that same situation, it would come our way. Also, I've really enjoyed watching families turn more toward home. And I think appreciation being even more engaged. I mean, we live in Old Town and it's been so much fun to watch bicycling and walking and much more so than normal. And even when I go out to I've never seen the Greenway parking lot full before if you go at certain times of the day and of course we do the social distancing but I think that's exciting as we turn toward nature and maybe reevaluate what's what's even more important in life and sometimes it is so simple. I mean, for me, I just don't think you can be nature and and I love taking baths. So that's a nice thing. It's pretty easy to And I just think the community spirit is is there, you know, we're checking in on people that are alone. And I feel our communities really good at that and always keeping in mind those that can use hand up and hand to help. And really, I, I'm ready for this less of the us versus them. It just didn't seem to ever be like that before and I and I'm thinking that at this time to get we are in this together the world is in this together and I applaud Bill Gates for his donation toward the vaccine he's been he you know his podcast from five years ago is right and he predicted this he would have been prepared you know I think we've had people that would prepare you know it's easy to look back but I also like to look forward and I think we will be stronger and more cohesive the future. All right. Rick and Cindy hope. Thank you for lending your voices in your vision for long month. You bet. Thank you for all you do. You appreciate it. It's our pleasure. Okay. Sergio Angeles. Thank you for lending your voice and your vision to this project that long month voices and vision project. As you know, we're asking participants to share a little bit about themselves and then we've got three quick questions so. What's about you. Yeah, well first thank you to him for doing this is awesome. So I'm Sergio Angeles. I've been in long months since 2016. I grew up in Boulder County in gun barrel actually moved there when I was five. So I've been around the area. I'm pretty well connected to the business community here in Longmont with public media and innovate long startups and all kinds of stuff. So that's me. I'm nine years old. I like the outdoors. I like drinking beer, getting up the breweries. You can get food, you know, friends, hiking. All the same stuff. But Sergio, tell us how you getting through this what this unprecedented moment in all of our lives. Yeah, so I live with my girlfriend, which I think has been amazing just having someone there. So that, you know, I'm not by myself constantly. I think that would be a little bit more challenging. But we've been going on lots more walks. We've been going more hiking whenever possible. I'm sitting here into the safety guidelines. We've been trying online kind of board games and segments and meetings with friends and doing digital board games, which have been interesting to figure out. We've done lots of virtual hangouts with friends catching up just calling family and let's see what else cooking a lot, learning new recipes, baking and just trying new things. If, you know, we can find the ingredients. And yeah, I guess what else just reading kind of more self improvement time, you know, trying to kind of stay away from, from the news media at times, just kind of distracting ourselves with, with other things. On some ways, you've already answered the second question and that is, in a time of physical separation and social distancing, how are you staying connected to family and friends. Yeah. So, my, my parents still live in Longmont. So we've done, you know, obviously phone calls and zoom calls. You know, these virtual hangout sessions. So just talking with people we've tried. I know the long, the long month Y was doing virtual resume workout sessions. So we gave those a shot. And that was, that was interesting to try and be a part of. So it's, it's been fun seeing kind of how businesses are trying to be innovative and trying new ways to do that. I'm assuming that whatever the new normal is on the other side of this is going to be different than what normal was on, on the other side before we got into this. The life will be different even, even as we settle into a new routine. What do you, what do you want to see? What's your aspiration? What's your preferred future on the other side of this crisis? That's a, that's a great question. I think for one, I definitely noticed that I took for granted the physical connection that you have with people, even giving them a handshake or a hug. You know, we're kind of taking that for granted or at least I have. So it'd be nice to kind of start doing that again. And just realizing, I guess, how, how fragile, you know, we are and how, you know, being healthy and, you know, keeping things clean is, is important. Also, you know, kind of how potentially fragile our economy is from, you know, shut down for an extended period of time. How does that impact, you know, our local economy? And how can we kind of push through that? So I, I would like to see better potentially ways of addressing future pandemics. I think now that we've kind of gone through our first one, I think there'll be a lot of lessons learned on what to do and what not to do. And I think, you know, this will be a good opportunity for, for people to figure out kind of what that is and make it easier for the next one. If that happens. Well, let's pray that it doesn't. Yeah, but, but, but a lot of people are thinking about it. Sergio, thanks for participating in this project. Take care of yourself and your girlfriend and to the degree that you can do it at distance your family. Yeah, thank you. You're welcome.