April Fools’ Day

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This coronavirus isn’t something to joke about but it’s best to keep your sense of humour.

Being nasty or grouchy about staying healthy, keeping others well and spending time at home, is just dumb. You have to do what you have to do to keep yourself and your family safe. It won’t last forever but it must last as long as it needs to. Staying away from others is the best way to deal with something we know very little about.

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April Fools’ Day Back to video

I’ve been hunkered down for three weeks now but considering all that’s going on I will continue for a while longer. Now, to be clear, I am protecting me from you. I don’t usually get all worked up about this stuff but the coronavirus is new and no one knows what damage it might cause in the long run. For some of us that run isn’t so long anymore so I am not taking any chances.

All those who have not been staying away from other people have no way of knowing whether they are being infected or are infecting someone else. Travelers arriving home, even though they feel great, don’t know what they brought back with them while driving through places with many sick folks or flying on planes, a hot bed of God knows what? I will give all of them lots of time and space to make sure they didn’t bring Covid-19 home with them. I don’t want to be in the grocery store or anywhere else with any of them.

Keeping busy is the key. The most wonderful thing we all have acquired during this crisis is something we all complain about not having enough of – time. We now have lots of time to rest, to play, to think, to write a letter, to spend time with your spouse and kids, to meditate, to make plans, to learn a new craft, to reminisce, to take stock, to do all those things you want to do but just can’t find the time, to just be. I talk on the phone with friends more these days and we have such good conversations because we have time.

It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you have cancelled all activities. I am not quite as ambitious as some who have cleaned windows and shampooed furniture but each day I do something constructive like cleaning out a closet, chests and/or dressers, try a new recipe, work on a painting, pick up sticks in the yard, decide on what throw out, give away or sell as I purge. I also am doing some spring cleaning, a little bit at a time, a room at a time. We have had some perfect weather to throw open the windows, wipe down walls, wash and hang out curtains, beat rugs. Come spring I am replacing the last two windows in this old house so window washing will wait.

Since all the sports have been cancelled I’ve had to open my mind to some new ways to fill in my TV watching time. The CTV News Channel and CNN are not something I can watch for any length of time so I have included old movies and some new programs in my viewing schedule.

I saw Kyle Petty win the Richmond 400 in 1986, re-watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, saw Moonstruck for the first time as well as All The President’s Men. I don’t ever remember that much intrigue at The Tillsonburg News when I worked there. I watched the original 1930 Moby Dick with John Barrymore and saw News Hounds with the Bowery Boys. My grandmother loved the Bowery Boys, especially Sach. When I was a kid and stayed with her in Norwich, we would walk to the theatre whenever the Bowery Boys were on. Watching them now brought back some wonderful memories of times long gone.

I have always felt, yet rarely acknowledged, a great appreciation for family, friends and neighbours especially those who are checking on me, calling to make sure I am OK and if I need anything. It’s so reassuring to know that even if you are on your own you are never alone.

twocentsworth40@hotmail.com