It’s like living a Margaret Atwood novel, or one by Stephen King or Dan Brown, where the author weaves a tale of a dystopic world based on sobering predictions that not enough people chose to listen to before it was too late.
And here we are living through history that will mark a paradigm shift in the history of the planet that will change, hopefully for the better, the way we all and generations to come, live out our lives on planet Earth.
The shocking impact is unbelievably horrific: lives and livelihoods lost, essential service and necessities of life shortages, ways of life altered forever.
We are heartened and inspired by the stories of heroism from our front line workers and first responders to businesses and volunteers pitching in to produce protective equipment and deliver groceries, to scientists racing for a treatment or vaccine. We cheer on these remarkable people from our front lawns, balconies and our lap top computers while others like me stay home to do our part.
These are my observations of doing my part, actual our part: it’s just Dave me and Millie. My son is 10 minutes away but we are physically distancing:
Every day is Ground Hog Day because days of the week have lost their meaning. We opened a bottle of wine to celebrate Friday night only to realize too late, it was Thursday. So went without Saturday to make-up for the misstep.
Routine and schedules are good we are told so here we go:
Sleep in to 9-ish unless there is a Zoom meeting before.
Breakfast, read the paper or what’s left of it, taking care to sanitize since something bad could remain on the newsprint. I know. We are transitioning to the online version but it’s just not the same.
Take the dog for a run/walk
Come home
Think about what’s for dinner One of the hardest parts but I am not complaining really!
Computer work…real work which for me is some on-line teaching, then connecting with friends, family.
Check Walmart online to see if any pick-up spots have opened yet.
Visit freezer to retrieve tonight’s dinner
Mid-day snack
Take the dog for another walk/run because she is loving all this
Make dinner while watching the latest news hungering for some good news as much as dinner
Netflix
Bed, read something distracting, sleep, dream about the past, wake up, and remember that this is the present.
Repeat.
While still waiting for a grocery pick-up slot to open, we resolve that a venture out into the quiet jungle is imminent. We also resolve to wear masks (our neighbour made us two) not to protect us but to protect others, since no one knows if we are carriers of the virus. How we long for the days of mundane trips to the store, meeting my sisters at the mall for tea or walking through a crowd..
My friend Karen Cumming explains that we are experiencing the stages of grief.: sadness, anger, fear, acceptance. How true. I see acceptance in our communal adherence to safety protocols but also conversations beginning at a distance as the weather warms. A driveway visit with my son, neighbours raising a glass from opposite sides of the street, waving to people we once just kept walking past, calling friends we haven’t talked to in a while, re-connecting with former classmates on our high school Facebook pages.
Someone posed the question on Facebook, how will you remember this pivotal chapter in world history?
Generations before us who lived through world wars have their stories. While I thought nothing could ever top 9-11 when it come to catastrophic global events, we can now add the Covid19 pandemic. This will this generation’s chapter to remember. Someone else asserted on social media, our grandparents went away to war. While our health care professionals and essential service providers are fighting this new war, the rest of us can certainly sit on the couch. We feel for those fighting in these trenches and try to find a way to help, play our part, even just staying home…
So we sit, and listen and learn and commit to a re-evaluation of the meaning of our lives and the role we can play when and how this year and likely the next, play out.
An editorial cartoon recently showed a giant finger pushing a re-set button on planet Earth.
Perhaps that’s how I will remember this chapter. After all it is 2020, hopefully the year when humanity could finally see more clearly and re-focused its vision on creating a better world.