I Chuckle No More

Several years ago when I was writing one of my western North Carolina histories, Wheels and Moonshine, I uncovered a statement by my main character, Claude Minton, about the influenza epidemic of 1918. I remember giggling to myself while I was typing the paragraph where he claimed the flu didn't spread around his county because of one thing: moonshine. According to his comment, a daily dose of moonshine for everyone, children included, kept the flu away. At the time I was writing the book, I just recorded facts. I had no emotions about an epidemic beyond a historical view. I was close to being disrespectful, flippant maybe, as I chuckled about using moonshine to stem an epidemic.

I chuckle no more.

This Coronavirus has upgraded our thinking from epidemic to pandemic, world wide. Like in 1918, it is an unwelcome killer. It plows through a population without regard to wealth, status in the community, or educational level. We are all in this together.

And what the moonshiners, who by now are manufacturing legally, have discovered is that the world needs their moonshine more now than ever before.

Go figure.

Only this time, rather than slipping a swig or two from a jug, we are squeezing a glob or two from a plastic bottle. Seems that the ingredients in moonshine, when combined in a slightly different recipe, are killers equal to this 2020 virus, and distilleries around the world have repurposed their equipment to come up with a much needed product. Hand Sanitizer. They have stepped up to the plate for the goodness of mankind. Cheers for them!

Click HERE to check out this list I found of distilleries in the United States who have begun producing hand sanitizer. I recognized several names on the North Carolina list, don't ask me how.

Before this upside down world, I never thought I would be thankful for a distillery. But I am. Pandemics make strange bedfellows.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen