PANDEMIC ALTERING TERM DELTA?

Just asking…

Has the pandemic altered the meaning of ‘delta’?

Don’t know about you, but the term “delta” has been redefined to be the demonic variant of the coronavirus pandemic.

Not too long ago, betcha most folks linked Delta solely to the name of the airline. Employees there must now cringe whenever “delta variant” is uttered daily on TV or part the newspaper’s coverage of the health crisis.

Linguists know, thanks to the Greeks, that delta is the fourth letter of the alphabet. Military folks regularly utter the term, defining companies: alpha, beta, charley, delta.

Personally, when I heard the delta term in current times, I linked it to the late Helen Reddy’s monster hit from the past “Delta Dawn.”

I still can envision her voice, delivering the number.

Remember?

“Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on?
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say he was a-meetin’ you here today
To take you to his mansion in the sky.”

This tune was written by Alex Harvey and Larry Collins, not Reddy. Its meaning deals with a complicated memory the writer Harvey had of his mother.

Indeed, delta has dawned with new relevance and power in life, and no one’s singing about it.

Can I ask someone in radioland to periodically play “Delta Dawn,” so we can reflect and remember simpler and safer times devoid of the pandemic?

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