Once 2021 began, there seemed to be a sense that we were headed back to normal. I think we were all desperately looking for things to be the way they used to be. Three months into the new year and I think we are all still looking.

Somewhere out there, there is a new normal. I think we just need to find it. 

Our meetings are virtual, but we have more people attending than before. We hear from members that cannot travel at night anymore, that do not want to drive far, and they are there at the meetings. It was great when we could meet our presenters in person, and though we cannot, we have been able to reach speakers we could not before since they are presenting virtually. Though our efforts to invite the public to our meetings has had minimal impact, we are now able to invite the public online. We can share our meetings beyond the Rio Grande Valley.

We kicked off a new TMN class of students and we were the only region where chapters are jointly conducting virtual training. We even have a student from Schertz, Texas, because our class could better fit her schedule. Though her San Antonio region is as unique as ours, can you imagine the impact of having fellow TMNs throughout Texas knowledgeable of the Rio Grande Valley? How many of us would enjoy learning from TMN chapters across the state? Though our mission has been to explore our regional ecosystem, we may be redefining what the TMN program can do once we have eliminated our physical walls. 

There is still a void created by our inability to meet physically, but that gap has lessened. We have had several beach cleanups with small groups. We helped clear sediment at the SPI Birding Nature Center. Small groups meet to go birding, to help band birds, to tend gardens at Ramsey, to help the SPI Birding Center replace plants lost to the cold snap. Our members volunteer across the valley including the unprecedented rescue of cold-stunned turtles. We attended the Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium in person and virtually. We had our first outreach table in a long time at the Costa Cleanup event. 

I am no longer waiting for 2021 to bring about a sense of normalcy, instead I am looking at what the new year has brought to define the new normal. The virtual environment will not go away. A hybrid will continue for much of what we do. A new normal has been released from the bottle and we shouldn’t try to put it back.