Cisco Sonar

Disillusionment

By Bryce Nielson

I am having a difficult time composing this column.  I have been writing Cisco’s Sonar for over 17 years.  I have written about a myriad of things about Bear Lake and enjoyed every piece I have written.  Now I was at a loss as to what to write about.  As I looked inside myself it became apparent that I was having issues.

Please understand that am going to talk about changes in Bear Lake.  None of my comments should be construed as negative towards all of our new visitors.  They are just as welcome here as the original pioneers were when the settled-on top of the Shoshone tribe who had this inhabited this land for 1000’s of years before.  It is population expansion.

That said, I feel overwhelmed, unsure of the future, surprised with the number of people that are still here and wondering if it will ever return to what the locals consider normal.  I have had it with the media, the pundits, the political BS, the lack of true scientific data, and Covid this and Covid that.  I guess I feel that Bear Lake as been invaded with folks that love it as much as we do.  I was really hoping for a typical snowstorm and frigid temperatures which used to be typical this time of year.  They would have discouraged UTV’s, boating and cycling. No such luck. The poorly understood and media confused “climate change” may be responsible for the beautiful weather but I do enjoy it.

This has resulted in a major culture shock for the locals.  For as long as I can remember as soon as Labor Day passed, visitors went home allowing Garden City to slip back into the small town atmosphere and locals could relax, enjoy the fall colors and prepare for winter.  That hasn’t happened in 2020.  With Covid, everyone is responding personally, listening to the media rhetoric, and upending schools and churches and battling the mask issue.  I am personally distraught wearing a mask and not being able to see people’s faces. 

Where does this leave people who were born or lived here for more than 40 years?  With a changing environment we need to adapt.  Things will never be the way they were before.  We will have to share Bear Lake.  Get used to standing in line for everything, sharing our hunting areas with Razors, dealing with traffic and hundreds of people parking along the highway wandering into roadway, struggling to find a campground, and just functioning normally.  My biggest problem is that I hate to follow rules, mandates, or someone telling me what I should do.  The future will be a challenge for me…….