KENNEBEC JOURNAL • MARCH 26, 2020
Almost as soon as the coronavirus pandemic reached these shores, people started predicting what would happen after it was over. Humans are social creatures, who thrive on contact, on touch, on presence. Even Thoreau regularly had Sunday dinner at the Emersons while limning the natural world at Walden Pond, and when he went to the wilds of Maine, he always had a guide. Perhaps — none too soon — we will begin assessing the extreme alienation that results from having contact only through “virtual reality.” ~ Douglas Rooks