The sign in front of the house said, "Honk! Today is my birthday." My son saw it. He told me to turn the truck around. We went back and laid on the horn. A little boy stood at a window of the house, laughed and waved.

So goes a birthday party in the time of social distancing. Real and necessary at this point. The little part of Georgia where the house stood is being hit hard by COVID-19, considered one of the worst community-sustained outbreaks in the country. Sobering to see the CNN, Fox News, New York Times and other national coverage reporting on the area.

But it's bad in many places. In big well-known cities and in not so well-known places. According to new modeling at the highest level, it might get worse across the country. Bad enough now.

Farmers and agriculture, thankfully, march on. But so much is on hold or suspended. High school graduations ceremonies will not take place, or proms. Church congregations are not meeting publicly. Funerals postponed or handled differently.

But technology, thankfully, connects many, including connecting us to our churches and schools and to each other. The current students at Haire Academy are much smarter and typically much better behaved than their current onsite headmaster. Despite the fact now they will not be going back to a classroom this school year, their formal education continues. Thankful for that.

From our medical community to essential retail employees to truckers to farmers to many others, the very best of Americans carry us now in this crisis and will help us see the other side of it and beyond. Advanced, sophisticated technology helps, but sometimes a simple sign in a yard connects us, too.