Something wicked
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
By Richard Anderson
Usually it doesn’t happen until later in the summer – late July or early August – but a weird, anxious energy seemed to hang over the valley this weekend. The sky filled with clouds but could produce only a few half-hearted drops for “Old Wet Days.” Lots of folks came out for Friday’s Wine Fest and Saturday’s festivities on the Town Square, but to me they seemed distracted, unable to pay full attention to the nuances of the wine, unable to fully enjoy the live music playing throughout the afternoon.
Maybe it was just me, but I don’t think so. At work on Monday, coworkers talked vaguely about dark, disturbing dreams that haunted them over the weekend, and I suddenly remembered that I, too, had had a freaky one, an occasionally recurring dream I call “My Rotting Toe.” I won’t go into the gory details, but will just mention that I associate it with unspecified fears and misgivings roiling and rumbling in the shadows of my subconscience.
The likely culprit for these heebie-jeebies was the as-yet unexplained death of one of our own, 24-year-old Jonathan Koberna, whose body was found in Flat Creek on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities initially suspected foul play, which led to a host of wild theories and rumors: a contract killing, a gang fight, a mugging gone wrong.
Authorities then tried to quell the rumors with a somewhat cryptic press release headlined “Jackson Hole is a Safe Community Say Sheriff and Chief.” Sent out on Friday but postdated May 29, the release alluded to “recent events in the area and unfounded rumors that … may cause citizens and visitors to feel less secure.”
Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer and Jackson Police Chief Dan Zivkovich both assured residents and visitors that Jackson Hole is “still a very safe place.” But for some reason, having to be reminded of that just heightened the feeling of unease.
Rationally, we know Jackson Hole is still a safe place to live. I don’t see anyone packing their bags or hustling their families off to someplace “more secure.” But when I stop to note how I feel, stop to scratch just a little beneath the surface of my consciousness, I sense tension, a gnawing concern that things are out of balance and are in danger of spinning out of control, and an urge, strong though difficult to drag into the realm of the explicit, to make some sort of major correction.
Maybe it’s Jonathan Koberna’s death. Or maybe it’s something bigger. Maybe it’s a fear that the whole world is in danger of spinning out of control, that threats to our health and wellbeing abound all around the globe and even right here, in this country, where we’re supposed to be safest and most secure.
It’s almost like that constant, low-level anxiety of the Cold War, like it’s all out of our hands, and in the hands of people we can’t be sure we trust.
Or maybe it’s just Koberna’s death. In either case, take care, be safe, and watch out for each other.
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Something wicked | Planet JH News Article: Editorial
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