When time loses all meaning, it’s up to us to mark beginnings and middles and ends.

When time loses all meaning, it’s up to us to mark beginnings and middles and ends.

Happy Friday, from staff writer Marielle Argueza. 

There’s a very 2020 meme that goes something like this: “Physically I am in [enter current month here]. Emotionally/mentally, I’m still trying to process March.” What a mood.

During the pandemic, it’s easy to lose track of time. The markers of beginnings and endings that we normally hang on to all blur together in this weird, hazy soup, a waiting game where time feels irrelevant. (I just realized I hadn’t turned the pages on my physical calendar since August.) 

Reality is, time is marching on and there are plenty of deadlines and groundbreaking moments of history-in-the-making. We’re approaching Election Day, Nov. 3. Labs are working at record-breaking speeds to find a vaccine to prevent Covid-19.

That’s the big picture, and it’s a lot to take in. As individuals, we don’t have to feel like we’re just stewing in the inevitable. If you’ve attended a virtual class or poetry reading, you’re part of history. If you registered to vote, you’re part of a historic wave (over 21 million strong) of registered voters—the highest number of voters since the 1940s.

It’s easy to let all these moments and changes slip by in the timeless soup. That’s where we have a chance to document some things with beginnings and endings, and make events out of nothing.

I’m reminded of Frank Wright, a good friend of famed marine biologist Ed Ricketts (and an acquaintance of author John Steinbeck). I wrote about Wright in 2016, after I interviewed him from inside Ricketts’ old Pacific Biological Laboratories on Cannery Row. When Wright spoke about his friend, he spoke about what felt at the time like rather ordinary gatherings—sneaking off of the military base to drink beers, his take on Ricketts’ lady friends, how he wasn’t much of a fan of the jazz records James L. “Jimmy” Lyons brought over.

But decades later, those dudes just shooting the breeze and drinking some brewskis made history. Ricketts is credited with laying the foundation for modern-day marine biology. Steinbeck famously illuminated the lives of the working class. Wright, Lyons and a few others went on to found the Monterey Jazz Festival, which just celebrated its 63rd year, virtually.

It’s funny how history works; Wright passed away peacefully at 98, about a year after our interview. Now none of those famous men who hung out together with Ricketts and Steinbeck are here to tell their stories themselves. But tourists, local high school students and fans of jazz from all over the world are still processing their legacy today.

So lean into the waiting game. You may be making history. For a few ideas on how to do it, check out this week’s Hot Picks section. 

-Marielle Argueza, staff writer, marielle@mcweekly.com