A "social distancing" clarification

Yesterday I received an email from the Office of Governor Tim Walz with an update on COVID-19 preparation and response. At least part of it leaves me confused and perturbed. In part the email states:

Executive Order 20-38 allows Minnesotans to engage in a range of activities, including boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, and golfing as long as they follow new outdoor recreation guidelines. These guidelines include:

• Maintaining 6-foot social distancing
• Avoiding crowded areas, and
• Staying close to home

this Northern Minnesota trout stream is more than half a day's drive

Photo by J. Harrington

I don't know what "Staying close to home" means in this context. One of the outdoor activities I enjoy  is fly-fishing for trout. The closest trout streams I'm familiar with are in the state to the East. I have no idea what the Wisconsin COVID-19 guidelines cover. I do know that the WI streams are much closer to my home than the Minnesota streams to my South or North.

The initial stay at home order stated:

Individuals may travel to exempted activities and may travel to return to a home or place of residence. Individuals may also travel into and out of Minnesota. 

No help there on what "close to home" means. In fact, the word "close" isn't in the order at all. The Extension does include the phrase "close to home" without any further specification on what that means. I suppose I'm now faced with the question of whether a trout fishing trip can be considered essential. If we get some warm, sunny, relatively calm Spring days after our long, dreary Winter and COVID-19 trashed Spring, the answer may rapidly become yes, just as on occasion, before I retired, I needed an occasional mental health day under similar circumstances. Thanks, Governor Walz for the loophole for the  angling folks.

Speckled Trout

By Ron Rash

Water-flesh gleamed like mica: 

orange fins, red flankspots, a char 

shy as ginseng, found only 

in spring-flow gaps, the thin clear 

of faraway creeks no map 

could name. My cousin showed me 

those hidden places. I loved 

how we found them, the way we 

followed no trail, just stream-sound 

tangled in rhododendron, 

to where slow water opened 

a hole to slip a line in, 

and lift as from a well bright 

shadows of another world, 

held in my hand, their color 

already starting to fade.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.