Today I received an email from our veterinarian. The email came to my email address but it was actually directed to my little dog, Kat. Apparently her birthday is today – who knew! I always think of her birthday as being the day in June, seven years ago, when she came to live with us.
I am not into witchcraft but I do follow a witch on Instagram. She is the sweetest person, shares my love of nature – especially trees, and she uses her witchcraft to help and heal.
Today, Ashley was doing an all day, full moon, spell for everyone who has been struggling to deal with Covid-19. As a prayer of healing for all, she was burning candles from 9 am to 9 pm.
Ashley invited anyone who was so inclined to join in with her at any time. I decided that, witch or not, I would join hands and hearts with Ashley tonight.
I generally avoid watching televised news, particularly our local televised news. The quality is less than impressive, the content is questionable, and on a slow day, which is most days, they repeat it to fill time.
For the past few days, our local news providers have been on a new kick. I do not know if this is only here, but lately our local news seems obligated to include a ‘news’ clip of some parent who hosted a drive by birthday party for their poor child, who has been forced to sit out their birthday alone – in their +/- million dollar home.
Rather than calling reporters to take in this spectacular effort to convince your darling child that, even in the midst of a global crisis, they are the centre of the universe, I thought I might throw out a few alternate suggestions – for a birthday celebration or any other day during this difficult time.
1. Teach your child that over seventy thousand people have lost their lives to the corona virus and that by staying home, and forgoing a birthday party, they are doing their part to protect themselves and others from a deadly disease.
2. Teach your child that any parades should be reserved for heroes – ie doctors, nurses, medical support staff, truck drivers, supermarket and pharmacy staff, those serving free meals to those in need – all who are out there risking their own lives, to serve others
3. Teach your child to be grateful that their isolation is being spent in a beautiful home, with food on their table and family to care for them – unlike those who are in crowded makeshift medical facilities, sick and alone except for busy and exhausted care givers.
4. Teach them to do something for someone else – make a meal for the family, call a grandparent, help entertain and care for younger siblings. Even very young children can be taught to contribute in their own age appropriate way.
5. Teach them to become politically active by writing a note to a politician asking them to save lives by closing down non-essential business like non-emergency construction projects and factories and plants that are not producing essential products. Teach them to stand up to those who put money and power before lives.
There is no reason, why families cannot celebrate a birthday – even during a pandemic. They can still have presents and cake, phone calls or face time from extended families and friends, special family time together. However, I do not think anyone needs a birthday parade, I think that in our current situation it is in poor taste, and I for one definitely do not need to see it on a newscast – local or otherwise.
It wasn’t our typical Friday ‘Date Night’ so we had to get a bit creative last night.
Dan and I picked up KFC and a case of Molson’s Canadian, the we went home to watch a movie. We watched ‘The Kitchen”. It looked promising. It was about three women taking over the Bowery when their husbands went to prison. The first hour was ok but it pretty much unraveled after that. I managed not to fall asleep but I was bored to brain fog by the time it finished.
Considering the state of the world right now, we are blessed to be able to have a nice evening together. I don’t drink beer but I love KFC and spending time with Dan so it was all good. As date night’s go, I will take this one as a win.
Take care out there!
I am either ready to retire or ready to return to work. It could go either way at this point. Today I am making chicken broth from a stewing hen.
Thoughts and prayers to you and yours. Stay safe out there🥀
Our weather has reverted to winter misery so I am in the house trying to keep occupied. I went through the photos on my husband’s phone to see how he views the world. (with his permission of course – I do not make a point of rifling through his phone😲). Enjoy!
That is it for today. Have a great day and stay safe!
My husband is working a couple of nights now. When I am home, nights are rather frustrating as I try to avoid doing anything that will make sleep any harder for him than it already is. Finding ways to be quietly productive can be a little challenging but I found a few tasks to fill my day.
Of course, I got up to speed on all of the local Covid – 19 news.
We now have 176 confirmed cases in Saskatchewan. We keep our numbers down by a. Testing people we are sure will test negative. B. Not testing people we are sure will test positive. And C. Not processing tests for people in Regina
Of 176 people who have tested positive, 142 are between the ages of 20 to 64. Keeping non-essential factories/plants and construction sites running is not a problem. 🙄
Of the 176 confirmed cases in Saskatchewan, 55% are male and 65% are female. New math?
The federal government introduced a plan to pay 75% of wages for companies whose revenues are down 30% or more due to Covid-19 . Unfortunately, for companies that must stay open, revenue is not necessarily the problem. There is considerable expense involved in meeting regulations that are currently in place for any business that is still operating. For contract work, you don’t get to charge extra because your costs increase, which could be a problem for many businessed. However, our federal government has come up with a lot of financial programs to help people and companies weather this storm, so we should be grateful for the effort and hope that anyone who legitimately needs help will get it.
No idea what I will do tomorrow to keep busy. Whatever it is, I will be sure to do it quietly. 🤫
My thoughts and prayers are going out to anyone who needs them tonight. There are so many whose lives have been lost or shattered and we have so far to go. Take care out there🥀
Another day with Dan off to work for twelve hours. For the most part I would rather have him here, mostly because he would not be out at that virus infested plant right now, but also because I miss his company.
The one thing that I do not particularly miss when Dan is off to work is the noise. Dan is one of those people who gets up in the morning and turns on the television. He comes in from work and he turns on the television. In the summer, he has a television in the house and one in the garage. From morning to night, when he is home, we have noise in stereo.
I love silence, although pure silence is virtually impossible to achieve. As I sit here, Kat is snoring, the refrigerator is humming, the clock is ticking, the wind is blowing, the birds are chirping, and occasionally I hear a vehicle drive by. I can handle all that as it is just muffled background noise.
Television, is just noise – some shows worse than others. Mostly Dan watches the worst ones. In the evening, he will watch law enforcement shows like “Live PD”, “Ultimate Wrestling”, “Dragon’s Den”, or “Forged in Fire” (to name a few). Generally he flips from one to another. Eventually, he falls asleep on the couch with a death grip on the remote. 🙄
The thing with silence is, if you get tired of it, you can fill it with sound. The thing with noise is, you cannot fill it with anything. It is just there, destroying the silence. I miss Dan when he is working, his television – not so much. 🥺
From the beginning of this pandemic, I have appreciated how fortunate I am.
I have a good husband. We have a healthy relationship. My husband and I are relatively financially secure – not wealthy by any means, but secure. We have food in our fridge, pantry and freezer. We have a supply of paper products, on hand from well before Covid-19 was a ‘situation’ in Canada. My children are all managing. Our grandchildren are secure. We have concerns over this pandemic, but we are okay.
At other times in my life this would not have been the case at all. I have been through an abusive dysfunctional marriage, I have lived paycheque to paycheque, my cupboards have been all but bare. I have been alone – with only people who depended on me. I have had major health issues. My father spent four months in hospital before dying of a cancer that ate at him for four years. My mother spent five years in a nursing home – frail, lonely and at times confused.
I have no idea how I would have had the strength to deal with this pandemic in the days when my life was more than I could deal with. I don’t know how I would have fed my family. I don’t know how or if I would have kept a roof over our heads. I don’t know how I would have dealt with the stress of a serious health risk on top of serious health issues. I don’t know how I would have dealt with knowing my parents were fragile, and helpless and alone. I just do not know.
My heart goes out to those who are going through personal challenges on top of dealing with this current pandemic. They are in my thoughts and prayers because I cannot imagine. I know how challenging life can be – because I have been there.🥀
There is always one common denominator in a global crisis, be it financial, enviornmental, or pandemic. The rich and the powerful are above doing their, or any, part.
These days, our news is full of warnings to isolate, quarantine and use social distancing to stop the spread of the potentially fatal COVID 19. We are told to wash our hands at every opportunity and to clean all surfaces and clothing regularly . We are told how to cough and how to sneeze. We are told to close all non-essential businesses – restaurants, bars, clothing stores, hairdressers and the like. We are told to keep this virus from spreading beyond the capabilities of our health system. It is in our best interests and those of our families, friends and neighbours to control the spread of this virus as it has already proven capable of devastating results if it is not controlled.
The problem is not with what is being done. It is with what is not being done. For every list of non-essential services that are to be closed down, there is a list of essential services. That list should be a no brainer. Medical facilities, grocery stores, veterinarian services, gasoline stations, utility companies, the trucking industry, railroads and the like. Essential services.
However, there are businesses and services that get carte blanche because they straddle the line of essential and non essensial service – like manufacturing plants. If they are producing essential items – food, medicine and the like, then yes, they must be allowed to operate under strict regulations. They must do everything in their power to protect their employees – and in turn, their employees’ families and communities. What about construction? If it is an emergency repair or securing a jobsite, yes do it, responsibly – otherwise SHUT IT DOWN. Oilfields, potash mines and the like. There are stockpiles of their products around the globe right now. SHUT THEM DOWN.
The thing is – if we shut down all non-essential work in Canada for a month, this virus would be contained and we would all be able to get back to a virtually normal life within weeks.
The problem is, that will not happen. The rich and the powerful will not allow it. Therefore, our politicians will not allow it – until it is too late. There is an old saying “Doing the same thing, in the same way, and expecting different results, is insanity.” We watched this virus, get out of control in one country after another while politicians dragged their feet. Let’s try that Canada! (Because that’s not the definition of insanity.)
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 