Insight and Wisdom From My Daughter-in-Law

My daughter-in-law Dr Karen Leis was on CBC News yesterday offering some important perspectives on sending Canadian children back to school in September.  Karen is the Saskatchewan representative on the Canadian Paediatric Society Board of Directors.

Photo by Arthur Krijgsman on Pexels.com

It is still more than two months before schools will start their fall semesters and Karen reminds us two months in the COVID world is a long, long time. There is always new data coming out that may provide additional insights into how COVID-19 relates to children.

 Karen says what we have learned so far is that children around the world have not been as negatively affected by the coronavirus as adults. In Canada, they account for less than one per cent of hospitalizations and there have been no deaths. Researchers will continue to discover more about if and how children may be transmitting the virus asymptomatically as well as symptomatically. 

Dr Karen Leis is the Saskatchewan representative on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Paediatric Society

Karen says the Canadian Paediatric Society is asking governments to carefully consider the balance between the need for public health measures to combat COVID-19 with the risks that social isolation can present for children. While Karen was careful to point out that some children have thrived in isolation with their families she has also seen patients with anxiety, moodiness, behaviour problems and sleep issues related to the current crisis. She reminds us that for some at-risk children school is their safe space where they have relationships with adults they can trust.

Not all parents will feel comfortable sending their children to school in the fall, particularly children who may have chronic illnesses and families will need to make those decisions, perhaps in consultation with their health care provider. 

Karen was asked about children using masks in her radio interview and she said while they are recommended for children over two years of age for short periods in specific situations, masks may not be as effective for children as adults because children tend to touch their masks more and adjust them more frequently. Masks also hinder children from seeing other people’s facial expressions and those expressions play a key role in effective communication. 

In her radio interview, Karen emphasized that governments need to consult teachers as they plan for school re-opening and must make sure schools are provided with the resources they require to implement health guidelines. 

Karen is a fine example of how dedicated health care providers are working hard to learn all they can about COVID-19 and offer the best advice possible to the public.  I’m very proud of her.  

Other posts………….

An Important Letter

Watch Schools and Daycares for Signs of Reopening

A Scary Visit to the Doctor and Seeing My Former Editor in Print Again

I went to the doctor for the first time since the pandemic hit.  In the fall I decided to be inoculated for shingles. You need two injections not more than six months apart and my six-month deadline was up.  I called my doctor. She said despite COVID-19  it was important for me to get the second injection.

My doctor only works one day a week now. She wouldn’t be at the clinic again for seven days. She recommended I arrange for my shot with the clinic doctor who could see me at the earliest possible date. I called the receptionist. An appointment was available the very next day. 

I biked the 15 km. to the clinic. The clinic door was locked and I called to say I had arrived and was standing outside.  A receptionist in a mask came to let me into the waiting room that had always been packed with patients on my previous visits. It was now dark and empty, the chairs stacked.  

Only one patient and one doctor are in the clinic at a time. I had to sanitize my hands and would have had to put on one of their masks but I was already wearing my own.  The doctor, dressed in full PPE was efficient and pleasant.  After she had administered my shot I asked about coming in for a regular check-up and she said they wouldn’t be doing those in the near future.  

My clinic visit had me thinking about lots of things.  If only one doctor is at the clinic, out of I’m guessing the more than half a dozen who usually work there, what are all the other doctors doing? If so many people aren’t going to the doctor the way they normally do how are they getting treated for the concerns that usually bring them to the doctor?  Are things like high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, migraines, high cholesterol, and a host of other illnesses just not being detected or treated.  What are the implications of that long term? 

I checked and the cancer screening clinic where I had the routine mammogram my doctor ordered after my last check-up, has been closed since March 19th. How many possible cases of breast cancer will go undetected because of COVID-19? A look at the Cancer Care Manitoba site informs me that routine checks for cervical cancer and colon cancer have also been suspended.  That’s just plain scary. 

I’m protected against shingles now but my visit to the doctor is leaving me feeling vulnerable and worried about my own health and the health of other Manitobans. 

And speaking of frightening medical news Canadian writer Stewart Thompson had a recent article in the New York Times predicting it might take till 2036 to find a reliable vaccine for COVID-19. Just for reference the shingles vaccine I got needed to be tested for six years before it was approved. We may have to look for other solutions than a vaccine to deal with COVID-19. 

If you haven’t already done so check out COVID and the City the 24 stories the Winnipeg Free Press published last night.  They give an amazing window into a day in the life of a city dealing with COVID.  The 7 pm. story called Play It Again Sal is about piano teacher Madeline Hildebrand. I wrote previously about attending a virtual concert Madeline gave in my post-Brew Pub in the Livingroom And Concert Hall in the Bedroom. 

The first story, in COVID and the City, the midnight one, called Pick a Seat, Any Seat is about riding public transit during COVID-19.  It was written by Grant Burr. I am a columnist for the regional newspaper The Carillon and Grant, who has won any number of national awards for his editorials, was my editor at the paper from 2013-2019. Grant is now working for the Winnipeg Free Press. I’ve always admired Grant’s writing and it was nice to see him in print again. 

Other posts…………

600 Million Moments

The Path of Life

A Century is Only a Spoke

Right Now It Is Like This

Winnipeg buses now flash a  PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING message alternately with their number and route name. 

In Central Park in New York, I knelt on the stone artwork that pays tribute to John Lennon’s song Imagine. One line in that song asks us to imagine there are no religions in the world. Something with definite religious connections went up in Central Park yesterday, field hospital tents for COVID-19 overflow patients from Mount Sinai Hospital. The tents were donated by Samaritan’s Purse, a religious charity headed by Franklin Graham. Graham has made  statements that the religion of Islam is wicked and evil and that Satan is the architect of same-sex marriage. The Samaritan Purse website makes their stand on same-sex marriage very clear.  New York City Hall is not worried about the beliefs of Samaritan’s Purse.  They say the field hospital will operate as part of Mount Sinai Hospital and will adhere to their discrimination policies. They claim what is most important is that the joint effort of Samaritan’s Purse and Mount Sinai Hospital will save New Yorkers’ lives.  New York Senator Brad Hoylman has called on Franklin Graham to publicly promise that LGBTQ patients will not be discriminated against at the Samaritan’s Purse field hospital. 

On CBS on Sunday morning Dr. Jon La Pook said it is vital to develop an antibody test that can confirm whether someone has already had COVID-19.  He says a simple blood test can be developed to determine who has had the virus and is immune.  These people could take the place of those on the front lines who still don’t have immunity and help us understand in which communities the virus may have largely run its course.  Right now we are just testing to see if people HAVE the virus not whether they HAVE HAD it. 

Rebecca Babirye, a professor at a Tokyo university, recently wrote that this may be a good time to meditate on the Buddhist phrase, “Right now it is like this.”  

I thought about those words all day yesterday. “Right now it is like this.” 

The mantra encourages us to be realistic.  We need to acknowledge that what is happening right now is something we never would have expected, something we couldn’t have planned for, and something that has an unforeseeable future.  We need to forgive ourselves if the fact that “Right now it is like this”  makes us feel sad, or anxious or directionless. 

But we must remember the phrase includes the words “right now”  which implies that it won’t be like this forever.

I think in the coming days I will spend some time when I wake up each morning thinking and breathing and meditating on ……….

“Right now it is like this.” 

Other posts……………

Communication Ground Rules

Thin Places

Half-Empty of Half- Full?

Single Use Elevators and Peeking in the Neighbours’ Windows- Self-Isolation Day 11

The elevators in our building got new signs yesterday stating only one person can use them at a time. Dave and I are together twenty-four-seven anyway, so we figure it is okay to share the elevator.  Dave takes along the cane his cousin John made for him when we ride the elevator and uses its foot to push the buttons so we don’t have to touch them.  

Dave also takes his cane on our walks and says he can use the cane to keep away anyone we meet who won’t maintain their physical distance. Of course, that never happens because when you walk between 9 and 10 pm. you meet practically no one and everyone we do meet is very careful about staying far away.

Dave walking in Steve Juba Park with the cane his cousin John made for him after he had hip surgery.

Dave used his cane last night. After one day of not walking, we knew we couldn’t sustain staying indoors around the clock.  We both need to be outdoors and breathe some fresh air to stay sane and we don’t have a yard like many other people.  Walking so late at night is interesting because now many apartment owners in the downtown leave their blinds up and so we can look inside and see their living space.  With the normally bustling streets of the Exchange practically empty people don’t feel the need to lower their blinds in the evening anymore. It makes our walks really interesting.

A photo of my father-in-law tending his greenhouse plants

We told stories to our grandsons again yesterday.  Dave told them a story about saving his father’s life when his Dad passed out while fumigating their greenhouses to get rid of aphids.

Playing dress-up with my cousins on my grandparents’ farmyard.

I told them stories about going to visit my grandparents in Gnadenthal-going to the grain elevator in Grandpa’s big truck, the slop pail under the sink whose contents we fed to the pigs, playing dress-up with my thirteen cousins and the baby fawn my grandfather once brought home and cared for in his barn after he found it beside its dead mother on the road. 

Some of the many issues of Rejoice I have contributed to in the past

Rejoice is a publication I have contributed to annually for twenty-seven years. It features meditations and reflections for each day of the week. Our editor is putting out a special issue with personal stories from the writers about their experiences during the pandemic. Each submission is supposed to be illustrated. I wrote a story about how some birdseed attracted a crow to the window ledge of our downtown apartment. Since I hadn’t managed to get a photo of the crow, I sketched one to illustrate my submission. 

Yesterday I was telling someone during our phone conversation how impressed I am with all the creative and cool lessons my teacher friends are posting online for their students.  They asked……..but what about kids who don’t have computers.  I hadn’t thought of that. What about them? How will they keep up with their lessons during the pandemic? Then I read an article in the New York Times about the thousands of children in New York City who live in homeless shelters.  Their schools gave them i-pads to take home but the homeless shelters don’t have internet connections.  Will the pandemic motivate governments to think about whether internet access should be provided as a service to everyone? 

Dave going up to place his order at the Dairy Freeze

When we visit Dave’s family in southern Ontario a stop at the local Dairy Freez is often on the agenda. Sad to read yesterday that the business opened as it always does in spring, in spite of the pandemic, but not just for appropriate physically distanced take out and delivery as the government has recommended.  Someone posted on Facebook they saw more than 60 people on the grounds enjoying icecream and not at all worried about physical distancing. I saw a similar story on Trip Advisor. I honestly hope this story is ‘fake news’. 

Is anyone else finding they are only eating two meals a day during isolation?  Since we aren’t as active as usual we just don’t seem hungry at noon. So we have a nice breakfast, our cocktails at 4:30 perhaps with a piece of cheese or fruit, and then dinner at 7 or so. 

Dave has a big book of New York Times crossword puzzles.  I have my own book of much easier crosswords.  I try to do two a day. I am systematically working my way through the book and have already completed 22 puzzles. 

I was excited to hear the birthday present I sent my granddaughter arrived at her house yesterday.  I was hoping the postal service would stay operational.  I have two more grandchildren with birthdays in spring so now I can start to get their birthday parcels ready too. 

Other posts………….

A Visit to Dairy Freez

A Puzzling Achievement

Eighteen Years in Rejoice

What A Rigmarole! Self-Isolation Day 10

• Dave and I enjoy entertaining. We normally host lots of people in our home. But if health experts are right we won’t be entertaining for a very long time. I hate doing housework but what always motivates me to embark on a cleaning spree is inviting guests and knowing they are coming over.  Now that we won’t be having company, probably for months, what is going to inspire me to vacuum rugs, dust furniture and wash my floors? 
• Kyle Penner, the son of friends of ours, and a pastor at Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach suggests adding another beatitude to the list Jesus gave us during his Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are those who flatten the curve for they shall save lives.”
• Most days a number of lengthy phone and Face Time conversations make the hours pass by pretty quickly. It is nice to have plenty of time to talk to people who are important to me. 
• A friend has been questioning whether it is ethical for Dave and me to go for evening walks outside while in self-isolation and on Tuesday’s walk I nearly fell on an icy patch of sidewalk. This motivated us to try to get our exercise inside our condo yesterday.  I walked in and out of the various rooms in our house for the length of an entire This American Life podcast, about an hour.  Dave walked for half an hour and then did 100 step-ups on a high bench we have near our front door. 
• I was happy to get an e-mail from the staff at my aunt’s personal care home in Saskatoon. Now that the residents aren’t allowed any visitors they are encouraging family members to send messages and photos via e-mail and they will share them with the residents, especially those like my aunt who can no longer use the phone.  Today I wrote a letter to my aunt with lots of family photos inserted.  I ended with this photo and these words. 

I have been going through some old photos I found while helping Dad move and I love this one of you and Mom with a chicken. Had you just killed it? You both look like you are laughing. I love remembering how often you and your Mom and your sisters used to laugh together. During the hard time we are facing now laughter will be especially good for us. Thanks for being such a good example.

My husband Dave and I with my Dad on his 90th birthday.

• My Dad isn’t allowed any visitors at his assisted living place so I try to call him twice a day. Although he doesn’t understand the nuances or details of the pandemic he has some idea that strange things are going on in the world right now and during each of our calls this week, he’s asked, “So what do you think of this rigmarole MaryLou?”
• I did not vote for Justin Trudeau’s party in the last election but as I watch his daily messages to the Canadian public on my Facebook feed, I am surprised at all the hateful comments people post about him during his press conferences.  Whether or not we agree with him politically, I think we need to acknowledge we are lucky to have someone sane and articulate at the helm of our country, someone who says his government is making decisions based on SCIENCE, and we need to remember our prime minister is single parenting three children at the same time as he is leading Canada during perhaps its most challenging hour.  I think just for now we need to set aside our differences and remind ourselves of the bunny Thumper’s line in the Disney movie Bambi. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. ” 
• I remember when we lived in Hong Kong, temperature scanning at the airport was routine. We took off any headgear we happened to be wearing and walked under an electronic bar that took our temperature. If you had a fever you were pulled aside and either sent to a medical facility or given a note that you needed to seek medical attention and should notify authorities that you had done so. Might this be helpful in all airports? 
• It was a little frightening to read this Macleans article about a woman whose surgery for breast cancer has been postponed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 crisis. How many other people will have life-saving procedures postponed until it is too late for them?  Patients with coronavirus will not be the only medical victims of this pandemic. 
• A former pastor of my church shared this story yesterday on her Facebook page.  A man was walking in a wilderness. He became lost and was unable to find his way out. Another man met him. ‘Sir, I am lost, can you show me the way out of this wilderness?’ ‘No,’ said the stranger, ‘I cannot show you the way out of the wilderness, but maybe if I walk with you, we can find it together.” by Emery Nester. 

Other posts………..

Supporting Each Other

Looking For the Positives in the Election

90 Years

My How The World Has Changed – Self-Isolation Day 9

Yesterday I thought about some of the places we’ve been in the world and did a little research on how they are being impacted by the pandemic. 

My husband Dave is picking out a pastry for his breakfast in Madrid.  Bakeries are one of the few kinds of businesses that have stayed open in Spain where the death toll from the coronavirus jumped by 514 yesterday.

In Dehli, India I am visiting a shelter for street children.  Yesterday Dehli was placed on a complete lockdown by the government. What will happen to the three million people who live on that city’s streets? 

Dave snapped this photo just after we toured the Colosseum in Rome. The Colosseum and many other tourist attractions in Rome are closed to the public now as Italy fights the coronavirus. It is predicated Italy will lose about 30 billion euros in tourist revenue because of the pandemic. Dave taking part in an elephant show in Thailand. I read in yesterday’s New York Times that many elephants used for tourism in Thailand have just been abandoned by their owners because the coronavirus has left their businesses without clients. Owners can no longer afford to feed or care for their elephants.  I am under a kiwi tree in a kiwi orchard in New Zealand.  It is harvest time for kiwi right now and orchard owners have been getting out the word that they would be happy to hire people from New Zealand’s hospitality and tourism industries who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic. Normally 25% of their harvest workers are backpackers from around the world who need part-time work. The backpackers have all gone back to their home countries so there is a shortage of labourers. Dave and I stand near the harbour in Stykkishólmur, Iceland.  Yesterday Iceland had 648 confirmed coronavirus cases the highest number per capita in the world. An article I read yesterday says the extensive testing and population screening in Iceland has revealed there are 40 mutations of the coronavirus in Iceland alone. Mutations make the virus more contagious but less dangerous to those who get it. We toured Croatia on bicycles.  But on Saturday people were warned not to go on bike rides in Croatia after the country reported 78 new coronavirus cases in one day. Buses, trams, railways, cable cars and ferries all ceased operation. People were even discouraged from taking walks.  A message from the government said only immediate family members could attend funerals and all children’s playgrounds would be closed.

On a misty morning, Dave and I stand in the rain forest in Costa Rica. A spokesperson  for  The Alliance of Peoples and Forests in Costa Rica says the destruction of the rain forest can encourage the emergence of diseases like the coronavirus.  Loss of habitat has brought wild animals into closer contact with humans allowing diseases like COVID-19 to jump the animal-human barrier and spread through human-to-human contact. 

Dave stands in front of a wall at the United Nations in New York with the verse from Isaiah 2:4 that speaks of a time when the world will not learn war anymore. On Monday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres urged all warring factions in the world to lay down their weapons so everyone can join the bigger more important battle against COVID-19.

I pose beside the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. This is where Jesus is said to have healed a lame man. This morning The Jerusalem Post reported over 2170 cases of the virus in Israel. I know there won’t be an instant miraculous cure for the coronavirus like the one Jesus provided to the lame man. But I do think if we act on Jesus’ teachings about what it means to be a neighbour, if we obey his injunction to care for the least of those among us, and if we follow his guideline to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” we will get through this crisis and our world will be better because of it. 

Other posts…………

Our Heads in the Clouds

The Pool of Bethesda- Personal Connections

Meeting the Street Children of Dehli

Back to Work and Betty Boop- Self-Isolation -Day 8

Here I am with a group of my student teachers and the staff members who supported them taken several years ago.

• Well, it’s back to work for me!  Yesterday I received instructions about what I need to do to make sure my university education students qualify for completion of the practicum course I supervise.  Although I can’t go out to schools to visit them they will be writing up unit plans and lesson plans for my approval and composing reflective essays about their teaching philosophies.  I get to read and grade all this material and then write a report of my own.  
• In talking to friends and family I realize there are many university students out there whose future is uncertain because of COVID -19.  There are medical students who won’t be able to write their final exams and accounting students who won’t be able to complete their certification and future veterinarians who won’t be able to do their community placements. They say the virus may not be as deadly for young people, but it is going to be very hard on them in lots of other ways. 
• Does anyone else have rough hands?  Mine are red and sore and dry from all that handwashing.  I’ve been putting Vaseline on them at night?  Any other good suggestions?
• I finally finished the puzzle I’ve been working on since the second day of our isolation. Puzzling is a bit of a family tradition and I’ve done so many puzzles with my parents, my kids, my grandkids and my sister.  Often when I was working on this one all by myself I was thinking of the fun family times we’ve had puzzling.
• I saw this sign on our evening walk.  I am not sure what it is for but it expresses my sentiments very well.  Yes I am hearing what they say on the news but my mind can hardly grasp the enormity of it.
• The Lynda Barry course I’m working through called Drawing Comics has me drawing different versions of a 1930s cartoon character named Betty Boop. By the way, Lynda Barry was interviewed recently on the CBC show q by Tom Power. Give it a listen. 

Laura Branigan

• I am a bit sad that I finished all the Mobituary Podcasts yesterday.  I just love them!  One of my favourites was about Laura Branigan a popular singer from the 80s.  Although Laura has passed away she returned to centre stage in 2019 when her hit tune Gloria became the victory song of the St. Louis Blues as they made their historic mid-season turn around and won the Stanley Cup. I just can’t get Gloria out of my head now.
  

  Lunch at a tea room with the women I work with at the MCC Thrift Store on Selkirk Avenue

• I can’t volunteer any longer at the MCC Thrift Store because it has closed its doors.  I work there with a group of women from my church.  Our fearless leader Marj sends us a weekly e-mail update but now during the crisis, we’ve all chimed in on the e-mails keeping each other informed about how we are doing in isolation and how the pandemic has changed our lives. It is so nice to keep in touch with each other.  
• We watched the Gordon Lightfoot special aired on CBC last night. The very first music concert I attended as a teenager was one Gordon Lightfoot gave at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. I used to teach his song The Ponyman to my elementary school students and then they would draw illustrations for the different lines of the song and we would make a book out of them. 
• My husband made homemade biscuits for breakfast!  They were great!  I wonder how many pounds I will have gained by the end of our isolation? 

Other posts………..

Going on a Field Trip

Mobituaries

Puzzling- A Family Tradition

You can read all my Self-Isolation Diary Entries Here

 

 

 

You Can Burp in Church- Self-Isolation – Day 7

Pastor John Braun giving his virtual sermon at our church

• Yesterday we watched the live stream version of the Sunday service at our church Bethel Mennonite on the computer.  The pastor had just started his sermon when my husband Dave let out a rather loud burp.  Dave observed that… “One of the good things about attending church in your own living room is you can burp if you need to.” 
• I have a colouring book with paintings by well- known female artists.  Self-isolation provided me with the perfect opportunity to get my colouring book out of the drawer where it’s been sitting for far too long.  I just finished a painting by Berthe Morisot’ called In the Diningroom.  I learned about Berthe when the Winnipeg Art Gallery had their French Moderns exhibit in the spring and summer of 2018.  Berthe was one of only a few women artists included in the exhibit.  I decided to completely alter her original painting and make mine as colourful as I could. 

A sketch I did of our family at the Forks two years ago. My two grandsons are in the front.

• Our son is a teacher. After schools closed he became the primary caregiver and homeschool coordinator for his children while his wife a physician carries on with her important work during the pandemic. Our son asked if Dave and I would be willing to tell stories to our two grandsons during this time of self-isolation.  He suggested stories from our past, or from our family history.  Yesterday Dave and I shared our first stories via Face Time. Dave talked about an incident when he was five years old and accidentally cut himself with an axe. I told a story about a time I ran away from home because I was mad at my mother. We were surprised how carefully the boys listened and when we were done they each offered to share a story of their own with us.
  

  With my friend Wendy

• I had a long talk with my good friend Wendy yesterday. She was out walking her dogs and mentioned how glad she is that pets can’t contract or transmit COvid- 19. Wendy’s mother has been hospitalized after a major stroke and because of the virus, her family can’t visit her. I realize how many families must be in exactly the same difficult situation.
  

  Visiting with my cousin Al at a family party

• I have been praying regularly for my cousin Al who is undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma during these trying times and for my sister-in-law’s sister who is beginning radiation for breast cancer.  It is never easy to deal with a cancer diagnosis but right now it must particularly tough. 

This picture was taken at a family celebration. Cousin Cindy is furthest to the right

• My American cousin Cindy who recently retired after a nearly forty-year career in the nursing profession posted an impassioned plea on Facebook for people to stay home during the pandemic. She reminds everyone that if they do not socially distance and self-quarantine they are responsible for putting the lives of health care providers at risk. Cindy has many family members and good friends in the medical profession and ends her statement begging us to help these hardworking men and women she loves so dearly by staying home.
• I am amazed as I look at people’s posted photos on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. So many are simply ignoring the self-isolation recommendations.  They are having outings with senior family members, going to the beach, having their grandchildren over, hosting dinner parties and hanging out in public places seemingly not at all worried about staying the recommended number of meters apart. 
• An author I heard speak at a Saskatchewan conference last year has come up with the perfect tool for Canadians to use to self-distance when they are out and about.  Arthur Slade has made a video suggesting we carry a hockey stick and swing it around when we are in public. If it hits someone we are too close to them. 
• I am lucky to be married to my own personal barista who loves experimenting with different ways of making coffee.  Yesterday morning I believe he was trying the inverted aero-press method.  Whatever way he makes my coffee it’s delicious!
  
• We had a lovely walk last night but…….. Dave was visiting with friends who are also in self-isolation after a trip and their doctor told them walks weren’t allowed.  They needed to stay inside.  I hope we are doing the right thing. 

Other posts…………..

French Moderns

Cousins

Colouring- Not Just For Kids

Vision and Voice

You can read all my self-isolation posts here.

It’s A Bird! Self-Isolation – Day 6

Winter skating on the riverwalk several years ago

• My friend Maryann lives on the river and writes in her recent thoughtful blog post how she has observed many families taking advantage of Winnipeg’s icy river paths to get some exercise during this time of social distancing. Dave and I have been going for nightly walks for our exercise. Dr Deena Hinshaw the Chief Medical Officer of Alberta says that’s a good idea. She is encouraging Albertans, even those in self-isolation, to get outside and be active.  She does warn us, however, to stay two meters apart from others, and not to go outside if we are sick. 

Mom and Dad with the world map we gave them for Christmas one year. It is now covered with colourful pins that show the myriad of places in the world my parents’ travelled.

• The seniors’ residence where my Dad lives requests we not visit except for emergencies.  My siblings and I have set up a schedule so one of us calls Dad every couple of hours to check on him. The dining room in his assisted living facility has closed so workers bring meals to his room.  He told me yesterday he showed the staff member who brought his lunch his map of the world with colourful pins in all the places across the globe my parents visited. He said she was really interested in his travels. I am so grateful to the caregivers in Dad’s building for the way they are keeping a physical distance but still taking the time for little chats with the seniors they serve. So many people Dad’s age are now are in almost complete isolation in their rooms and apartments.

On the Great Wall of China

• My parents travelled the world extensively and so have my husband Dave and I.  I think a lot about whether globe-trotting will be encouraged after this pandemic is over.  Will it be necessary for us to keep more to our own countries in order to prevent the spread of future diseases? Will my grandchildren have the chance to see the world as I have been privileged to? 

A family garden near Merida I photographed last year during our two month stay in Mexico

• I have an interesting conversation with my brother Ken who just got back from spending several months in Mexico including some time in very rural places.  He wonders if the people of Mexico won’t fare better than we will during the pandemic.  He says for the most part they are much more self-sufficient and don’t count on their government to provide them with clean water, police protection, electricity, internet service or a steady supply of food to purchase. They have had to learn to take care of themselves. 
• Although during the week we read the Winnipeg Free Press electronically we get a paper version delivered to our door on Saturdays. We wonder if it could have coronavirus germs on it.  Dave gingerly removes the outer section and puts it in the recycling bin and then we read the rest of the paper and wash our hands after doing so.  Are we getting too paranoid?
  

  Some members of our small group helping us celebrate our anniversary in August

• My friend Marie and her husband Bill are social-distancing at their cottage.  I have heard of other people who are doing that.  These last few days Marie has been writing encouraging messages in the comments section of my blog posts.  She and Bill are part of a small group of five couples formed many years ago when we were all attending Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach. Even after some of us moved to other places, or stopped attending Grace Church, we kept our group together and we still meet regularly throughout the year to socialize and support one another just the way Marie is supporting me now with her kind words. I think it will be important to electronically maintain these circles of social support we had in our lives before the pandemic.
  

  The RaY building at 125 Sherbrook

• I have a long talk with my cousin. Her daughter is on staff at RaY (Resource Assistance For Youth) an organization supporting at-risk kids under age thirty, most without permanent housing. Unfortunately, coronavirus means RaY has had to adapt the kind of help they can give kids, but I notice on their website they are coordinating with other Winnipeg social agencies to find the best way to lend a hand to our city’s vulnerable homeless population during these uncertain times. One of the things I hope we are learning during this pandemic is that the welfare of everyone in our society is intertwined with ours and when we ensure even the most vulnerable have help we are really helping ourselves.  You can go to the RaY website and make a donation.  Even if we are in self-isolation there are still ways to help others. 
• I am reminded of the evening our family was talking with the pastor who was preparing to speak at my mother’s funeral and my brother told a story about a time in his life when things weren’t going well and he was feeling sorry for himself. My Mom asked him gently and wisely, “Son do you think you are doing enough to help other people?”  Mom knew when we help others we feel better about ourselves. I think that will be something to remember as we deal with the inevitable depression and sadness that will accompany our current situation.
  

  Erik’s latest artwork on display outside his home

• My former teaching colleague Erik is an artist self-isolating with his family in Saudia Arabia. Every day he puts a different artwork he’s created outside their house for passersby to enjoy.  My great-niece Izzy had her eleventh birthday yesterday and although she couldn’t have a party, friends came and left presents outside her door. Our friend Ed just recorded five classical guitar pieces for us to enjoy on Facebook.  Listeners are posting appreciative feedback. I have read that while we need to be physically distancing at this time we need not be socially distancing. There is an important difference!
• Dave found some birdseed we got in a gift exchange at Christmas and he put it on our window ledge. We are on the fifth floor of a hundred unit condo building right in the heart of Winnipeg. I was sceptical about birds finding the seed there.  But……….. it wasn’t long before a crow arrived.  “Come and see,” Dave called. “It’s a bird!”  I tried to take a photo but the crow flew away when I got too close.  I am thinking bird feeders might actually provide some great entertainment for folks who are self-isolating. 

Other posts………..

Cocktails in A Stable

A Walk to Breakfast in Merida Mexico

Finding the Elusive Quetzal in Costa Rica

I Laughed- I Cried- Self-Isolation- Day 5

•  Are we smart or what? Shortly before we left on our trip to Arizona a professional handyman from our church helped us install new, more eco-friendly toilets in our condo.  And…….we decided to add a bidet hose to one after I read about the damaging environmental effects of using too much toilet paper. During this time of coronavirus when toilet paper can be hard to find it appears that installing our bidet was a stroke of genius!

Out in the garden at her personal care home with my aunt on one of my visits last year

• I know many people have been sending me comments about how they like the positive tone of my daily self-isolation updates but full disclosure……… I wept yesterday after talking to the residence coordinator at the seniors care home in Saskatoon where my 97-year-old Aunt Viola lives. I have been looking after her and taking care of all her affairs for a number of years now. I was told I need to stop all the outside services I have put in place for her- the foot care to keep her comfortable- the physiotherapy to prevent her from having another fall- the twice a week visits from a nursing service to help her stay alert. Those visiting nurses read Aunt Vi the letters I send her because her hearing makes communication by phone difficult. Those nurses provide me with weekly updates on how she is doing.  All the activities at the care home she enjoyed- bible studies, concerts, cooking experiences and crafts are cancelled. Now she will stay in her room and be looked after by the skeleton staff who will give her the best care they can.  I asked the residence coordinator how her employees are doing. She said they are stressed, overworked and worried about what their contact with such a vulnerable population could mean for their own families. It was enough to make me start crying and I had to hang up the phone.

John and Dave engaging in a mock fight on the site of the historic Plains of Abraham battle in Quebec City 

• My husband’s cousin John calls to see how we are doing.  John and Dave are both blessed with a wicked sense of humour I think they may have inherited from their Oma.  Listening to the two of them make clever jokes about the current dismal situation on our planet had me laughing out loud. 
• We are finding it is important to have certain rituals to mark our long days in isolation. One we have instituted is that just before 4:30 Dave makes us each a cocktail, usually a Ceasar or a gin and tonic and then we watch Jeopardy together.  It’s our version of a coronavirus happy hour.
  

  In my housecoat with my older son as a newborn

• Another rule I have instituted is that I must get dressed before noon.  Since the first time I leave the condo each day is for our nine o’clock evening walk in our deserted neighbourhood there is really no reason to get dressed till then, but I have found my day is better if I  put on some clothes, comb my hair, even use a little lipstick before noon. I remember how when I was home with my first baby and overwhelmed by all the things I needed to do to take care of him that I had the same rule.  My goal was to have both of us clean and dressed by noon. 
• A Facebook post from an international school teacher in isolation in Wuhan notes that for the first time in many years she can see the sun, smell the spring blossoms breaking out on all the trees, and hear the loud chorus of birds. She is now allowed morning runs and can actually do them because breathing in the air of Wuhan is no longer hard on her lungs. My brother says satellite images from before and after the coronavirus outbreak in China illustrate how the ensuing shut down of factories and all kinds of travel has made a remarkable difference in the air quality over the country.
  

  Last year one of my stories was in a Chicken Soup anthology called My Amazing Mom.

• I have written a new story to submit to Chicken Soup.  It is a publication my writing style seems to suit. I have had quite a few stories published in their anthologies and you actually get paid decently- something that is becoming rarer in the writing world. There are lots of other writing projects I should be working on but somehow crafting an uplifting, inspirational kind of story seems to be what I need to do right now. 
• I had an absolutely marvellous long conversation with our nearly eight-year-old grandson in Saskatoon via Facetime.  He told me about all the things he had learned earlier in the day while watching a Magic School Bus episode about the brain. He explained the plot of a kids’ version of Oscar Wilde’s The Ghost of Canterbury he is reading.  My grandson goes to an all-French school so he is quite proud about reading this chapter book in English. He confided in very grown-up tones that the story might be too “intense” and not “appropriate” for his nearly four-year-old brother. His Dad was reading his little brother Charlotte’s Web instead. He also showed me some drawings he is working on inspired by a set of French graphic novels he is reading about a young girl who finds a magic amulet in her great grandparents’ house. 
• I make myself go the Fox website each day to see how folks who trust that media outlet’s perspective on the news are having the current pandemic explained to them.  I note they are doing regular interviews with television personality Dr Oz who is giving viewers the notion that there are viable and effective treatments for coronavirus. I contrast that with yesterday’s article in the New York Times by one of my favourite columnists Nicholas Kristof who writes in a very balanced way about both the worst and best-case scenarios after interviewing the leading epidemiologists and pandemic experts in the world.
• My younger son drops off his father’s medications which he has picked up at the pharmacy as well as some groceries he has purchased for us. We exchange I love you’s through the closed door.  I start to cry again when I think about how long it may be before I get to hug my son. 

Two Squares of Toilet Paper

Happy 95th Birthday Aunt Vi

I’m In Chicken Soup