Posted on March 19, 2020 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Patiently waiting for the ice to leave

 

“Let me be a little meeker, with the brother that is weaker,
Let me think more of my neighbor, and a little less of me.”

Less of Me. Glen Campbell

I am one of the lucky ones.

I am healthy. I am working in retirement because I choose to and not out of necessity. My children and grandchildren are safe. Surprisingly after all these years, I still have a lot of friends (?), and continue to make new ones up north. My hair line continues to recede while my waistline expands.

Others are not nearly so fortunate. While we try and make sense of this global crisis, it might be the perfect time to look outward rather than inward.

There are so many people affected in so many ways. Every segment of the economy is getting hammered. Small businesses, many of them that have been living on the edge for years, are imperiled, not to mention their employees who live from pay cheque to pay cheque.

The elderly, the sick, those with mental health issues and the infirmed now have something else to worry about.

The list is endless.

The front-line workers in this crisis are health care providers. Even before this outbreak, they were already stretched beyond capacity trying to run hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities. Now they are working with added pressure, putting their own lives in danger. Please think of them often and thank them whenever you get the chance.

“Let me be when I am weary, just a little bit more cheery,
Think a little more of others and a little less of me.”

In times like this, I look to my late mother for inspiration. She was Irish. She spoke her mind and didn’t put up with bullshit. She was the ultimate doer and when things went sideways, that was when she was at her best. I know that if she were alive today, that she would be using every ounce of her enormous energy to help those most in need. She wouldn’t be worrying a damn about herself.

Many of you have every right to be worried. Your livelihoods and your health are at stake. I’m not suggesting that you go out of your way to be your brother’s keeper while you are doing your best not to capitulate under the pressure.

I am encouraging those who have the time and the means, and the health, to do something constructive. Be unselfish. Help those who can’t help themselves.

“Think a little more of others, and a little less of me.”

Stay safe and be kind.

Posted on March 16, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Dallas, Texas.The exact spot where JFK was assassinated.

(Peter MacDonald photograph)

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness, it was the Spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Dickens

Oh, what a difference 30 days makes.

A month ago, the world was spinning merrily on its axis. Stock markets were at record highs. We were nicely making our way through winter.

The days were starting to get longer and many of us were licking our chops thinking about a vacation somewhere warm.

Not many of us had heard of Wuhan, China, population 12 million.

A seminal event is defined as some discovery or event that strongly influences what comes after.

In my lifetime, I can easily identify three events that fit this description: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963); Man landing on the moon (July 20, 1969; The September 11th. attacks in the United States (September 11, 2001).

I can now add the outbreak of coronavirus to my list.

Those of you my age don’t need a lot of schooling on JFK’s death or the lunar landing. These events defined our era in many ways. The September 11th attacks will undoubtably be a seminal event for our children.

Future generations might describe the events of the past four weeks as an “epoch of incredulity”. It is hard to believe that the planet has almost ground to a halt as Covid-19 continues its rampage. The wheels of capitalism seemed to fall off in a matter of days providing some of the largest single day losses in the history of the stock market. Professional sports teams put their seasons on hold and the number of major events being cancelled skyrocketed. Never in recent history have we witnessed this unparalleled effort to curtail the spread of a virus.
Historians will point out that this is really nothing new. Plagues and pestilence have rained down on mankind for centuries. The big difference is that now, just about everyone on the planet has access to instant information.

Our school is closed today and will remain this way at least for a few weeks. I am relieved in a way as there is already a fairly nasty flu and cold going on in the school. It’s hard to shake when all you students are hacking and sneezing in a confined space. This hiatus will give us all a chance to get well.

It seems to me that Mother Nature has decided unilaterally to hit the reset button. While no one wants a pandemic, maybe this is an opportunity for people to reconnect without the benefit (?) of Facebook , Twitter or Instagram. Maybe isolation and staying home from work will give us more real face time with friends and family. Maybe we’ll rediscover family meals, books and board games. I think Mother Nature is sending a powerful message.

Make no mistake. This too shall pass, and the wheels of business and industry will gear up again. I expect that if we are truly in a recession, the clarion call of commercialism and consumerism will rise from the ashes.

Be good to yourself and those around you. A lot of people are going to need a lot of help. Be kind.

Have a great week.

P.S. Last Friday, I walked up to the airport after school to see if any of my grocery boxes from the south had arrived. A colleague, who had one of the school trucks, was at the airport. She messaged me to say that my boxes had not arrived. I was already halfway to the airport and decided to keep going. When I got there, the terminal was empty as the evening flight to Salluit had just left. I hung around and chatted with the workers as I often do. Just as I was about to leave, one of them came over and said that one of my boxes indeed had arrived. I didn’t have transport but realized that one of the community transit buses was outside. I asked the driver if she could take me home with my box. When I picked it up, I nearly got a hernia. It felt like it weighed 100 kilograms. I instantly knew its contents. I struggled to carry it outside. I was dropped off at my apartment.

I will be calling the Vatican when it reopens to report a miracle. I will tell them that one of three grocery boxes arrived from down south. The one that showed up contained a two- week supply of milk and red wine!

P.P.S. Speaking of the “epoch (age) of incredulity, I saw a picture of a lineup at our local Shopper’s Drug Mart back home – the great unwashed mass lining up for toilet paper. I mistakenly thought that this was a respiratory illness. I guess I better get with it so that people won’t accuse me of being an arsehole!

Posted on March 15, 2020 under Storytelling with no comments yet

 

Isolation is a double-edged sword.

During this pandemic, several people have commented that it must be comforting to be in such an isolated part of the country, as if we were somehow immune to Covid-19.

Quite frankly, I can’t think of anywhere that is 100% safe these days.

Many people in our village travel to Montreal on a regular basis and some people vacation in other parts of the world.

Living in the North requires many things including great faith in the system, especially the airline industry. Particularly in the winter, we rely entirely on airlines to provide us with goods and services. Our food is flown in as well as cargo that is essential to keep the communities in the north running smoothly. They are particularly crucial when it comes to health care. While many northern villages have well run medical clinics, they are not equipped to handle more serious medical matters.

I walk to the airport in Kangiqsujuaq nearly every Saturday and Sunday. I know most of the workers and they know me. They either call me MacDonald or Len. These are great people. They work for Air Inuit.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the folks at Air Inuit for providing a vital service 12 months of the year. During a serious situation like the outbreak of coronavirus, one is more conscious of just how important these people are.

This morning I dropped by the airport to thank them.

One other thing. There are still skeptics out there who think that this pandemic is overblown and exaggerated. I thought this comment by a Superintendent of schools in Halifax, Nova Scotia spoke volumes:

“In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be QUITE apparent if we under reacted or did too little.”