Nowhere You Know
A lot of people are talking about what they learned from the pandemic. That's what you do, I guess, after a historical nightmare and collapse of just about every institution and truism you counted on: you start telling yourself you learned stuff from it all. It's the way you get through, figuring out how meaning can be made from a situation that really is pretty upfront and conventionally horrifying. I mean we've lived through Stephen King's biggest book, right? And here we all are still standing. Hopefully washing our hands more. What I learned from the pandemic: how to love where I live. Which is Forest Park, Ohio. Population 18,583, according to the 2019 census, a decline of .07% from 2010. There are a lot of "used-to-be's" here in the FP. A huge vacant mall, a recently shuttered Aldi's, an about-to-close Walmart on Smiley Avenue, a Walgreens transmorgrified into a dialysis center. A giant vacant Supe...