RANTS: MY CARONA! AND SO IT BEGINS!

MARCH 21—You can spend all day glued to the tube or the internet parsing this or that news item about the pandemic, seeing which turns and twists are leading us ever closer to the looming Apocalypse. Then again, this may not be the most helpful of habits. Of course, we should be very concerned—people are dying, economies are crashing, countries are scrambling to ramp up their defenses against Covid-19. Here in this land of chapped lips and frozen nips, I could be wrong, but Canadians—thus far—seem to be taking all this in their stride. When I listen to news broadcasts from federal, provincial and local authorities, I get the impression that I'm listening to adults.* I hear serious discussions, plans and proposals for inter-governmental cooperation and coordination, along with generally consistent health warnings. And as a citizen, such diligence gives me confidence in my country’s ability to weather this storm. So, not all news-surfing leads you into the realms of pandemonium.

We will see in the coming weeks and months whether the authorities have correctly gauged the level of impact the coronavirus will have on Canadian society, and whether they (and we) have responded to it appropriately. Either way, those of us emerging from our shelters after the storm surge from this viral tsunami departs will probably ever after think of our lives divided into pre-and post-Covid-19 chapters. It’s not the most pleasant of markers with which to gauge our lives, but perhaps it’s one that will force us to more fully appreciate our relationships with others and with the world we inhabit (including those pesky microbes who, by the way, are just trying to make a living like the rest of us!)

But before I get too “big picture” and start to blather—I need to get out for a walk along the lake shore—for now, by myself. Stay healthy!

Cheers, Jake.

*Unlike the shudders I get when I watch the Incompetent-In-Chief, President Trump, hold his press conferences. Gosh! If I was in the US, I’d be buying beans and bullets by the bushel! He doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence, and he’s only recently and reluctantly begun to take this thing seriously. We’ll see if he can rise to the occasion or flop about like a hooked fish.