What “normal” will be next for us?

A New Normal?

There’s been a lot of talk by the “experts” about how the “new normal” will look and how we will segue into it after the worst of the current pandemic wave is over.  Although we who are sheltered here at the beach all seem to be doing the “one day at a time” thing, I’m sure the future is much on everyone’s mind.  It surely is on mine and Nyel’s.

But conclusions are hard to come by.  Instead, we spend a lot of time talking about what has happened in past generations — hoping, I guess, to find some answers we can apply to ourselves.   We always start with some of the hard facts about current times: our population is made up largely of retirees; most of our economy is based on tourism; 49% of residences here are second homes — many for the sole purpose of providing income as vacation rentals; “traditional” industries — logging, fishing, shellfish — are gone or are struggling.

Early ‘Oyster Boys’ Abe Wing and Jimmy Johnson

As I look backwards, I count my great-grandfather as part of the Peninsula’s first generation.  He came in 1854, helped develop the oyster industry and, one way or another members of his family stayed on.  But hundreds, maybe thousands, of his contemporaries came, either made their “fortunes” or not, and moved on.  This wasn’t where they settled for good.  Only a few stayed.

In his turn, my grandfather stayed in the village where he had grown up, became a dairy farmer and a mover and shaker in the community. He watched the oysters “decline” and the county seat move to South Bend.  He saw the tourist communities of Seaview, Long Beach, and Ocean Park begin and thrive.  And he watched the young people move elsewhere to find jobs. Of his seven children, none “stayed” but three came back when they retired.

Heckes House with Annex (r.) circa 1930

During my mother’s growing up years here she watched as abandoned houses “fell in and gave way to the elements.”  She worked summers at the Heckes Boarding House, developing life-long friendships with the “summer people” who vacationed here.  Some of her  childhood friends stayed on but she and her brothers and sisters went elsewhere.  There was no work for them here.

Mom saw to it that, when the time came, I spent my summers here as well.  I remember the influx of residents who came after the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.  Some stayed, found their niche here and their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren are now stalwarts of the greater community.  But many others left to find jobs and to build their lives elsewhere.

In my lifetime, I’ve watched as transportation improvements have made the Peninsula easily accessible to the point that the tourism industry calls the beach “a year-round destination.”  I’ve seen downtown Long Beach businesses outpace Ilwaco’s (the only “real town”  on the Peninsula in my childhood) and I am watching as Ocean Park become a commercial center in its own right.

Will our focus continue to be on festivals and tourism?

So… what will be next?  Will tourism come back full force or will future waves of pandemics cause some fundamental changes here?  What will our new normal be?  Will there soon be more second homes here or will they be abandoned and fall in as beach homes have done from the beginning?  Will we continue to be focussed on tourism or will we keep the beaches closed to driving and concentrate letting our natural environment heal and renew itself?  And what part will our County governmentplay in all of this?  Will their policies and regulations keep pace with the needs of now and the future?  Will they find ways to honor our past?

I hope I’m around to see the next chapter.  The possibilities seem limitless.

 

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