Until two years ago, when someone said “zoom” I would recall the now-classic commercial, featuring a Mazda speeding over open roads. Watching the car from the side was ten - year- old Micah Kanters in shirt and tie, who turned to the camera and whispered “Zoom-zoom!” It became a media sensation and sold a ton of Mazdas.
In the Summer of 2020 during the isolation of the first wave of Covid, a high school classmate invited me to join a Zoom chat.
A what?
I hesitated to join because I didn’t have a webcam and because other fellow grads invited to join had been our high school football stars, cheerleaders, National Honor Society inductees and members of the student council, while I, well, I sang in the concert choir and survived my four years by being anonymous.
But I ordered a webcam, downloaded the Zoom app and hesitantly signed on. I stayed on mute for the first meetings, which were full of sentiments like “Oh Jeff! I remember dating you in 7th grade. You were hot!”
Hot? Seventh grade?
I was still riding my 26-inch English bike, climbing the big ash tree in our back yard and playing with my Barbie doll. I almost hit “leave meeting” as in here goes Sally trying to be invisible again.
But I’m glad I stayed. Over time, the old high school bravado ceased, and conversations became more open, honest and even poignant. Eighteen months later the Zoom is stronger than ever, and I found a lot of friends I never knew I had.
During those first months, the term “zooming” was becoming part of our national vernacular. Schools, businesses and institutions turned to online platforms for survival during the pandemic, whether for events, meetings or seminars. For many, there was a learning curve. If you haven’t seen the recording of Texas attorney Rod Ponton participating in a virtual hearing in front of Judge Roy Ferguson with a cat filter on his computer, it will give you a good laugh. https://youtu.be/KxlPGPupdd8.
I marvel at the many different ways in which technology has enabled us to go on with daily life, not the least being Zoom appointments with my nurse practitioner or with my financial advisor.
I’ve been able to enjoy concerts of the Salisbury Pops directed by Lee Knier, former teacher at Great Valley, now a professor at Salisbury University in Maryland, as well as a concert of 18th century Hessian music played by members of Tempesta di Mare at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.
Relaxing on your comfy sofa during COVID sure beats driving to Center City Philadelphia in cold weather, finding a parking garage and sitting next to someone who’s not in your safe circle.
The Chester County Historical Society has brightened many an evening with authors speaking on myths of American history; the struggle for disability rights at Pennhurst; and the dark heart of the holiday season.
A few weeks ago, I watched WHYY’s Marty Moss-Coane interview Frances Moore Lappé (Diet for a Small Planet, 1971) speak on the environmental impact of meat production and the value of plant-based eating.
The Brandywine River Conservancy presented a conversation on reducing the size of your lawn, and this week, Victoria Wyeth speaking on her grandfather, Andrew Wyeth. Coming up in February, a study on the 20th century painter, Horace Pippin.
A Pennsylvania winter doesn’t have to be dull, cold and gray. Warm it up and zoom-zoom.
About Sally Denk Hoey
Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”
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