Monday December 7

Lockdown, our nice Bonnie Henry refused to use the word, but it sure felt like a lockdown. Restrictions brought in two weeks ago were extended today. Today was another Monday in our pandemic inflicted country. This time the non-lockdown measures were extended until January 8, these restrictions limited social connections of any kind.

Today Christmas was essentially canceled.

Two weeks ago the BC government announced health orders telling everyone to restrict all interaction outside of their own homes. Monday, December 7, these orders were extended and the reality of a lost holiday season started to sink in. It felt surreal to hear the health officials announce the continuation of the restrictions. It sounded hypocritical when they refused to call it a lockdown.

People were asking questions, questions without good answers, why can we shop in Walmart and Costco but not go to church. Many have been asking why we can’t have five family members in our home for Christmas but you can stand in a line at a store…

Strange days indeed.

At the same time as restrictions were announced vaccine delivery dates were being forecast for as early as next week for British Columbia. 125000 Canadians should be vaccinated by Christmas, a small percentage of our population but it’s a start. That same small percentage of Canadians will be able to truly wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Or in the new PC world, Happy Holidays.

So here we sit at home in the coronaverse. Many people sit alone, lonely. How many people have tuned out the noise, and start to ignore the health officials? How many have disregarded the restrictions and continued on with life, many people have become numb to the warnings. I hope we will survive, I understand why people have tuned out the health orders. It is almost as if the health authorities are making stuff up in order to protect us.

At least we can still go skiing. I can still keep on swimming. As the waves crash upon our society we need to keep on living, keep our head above water, and our eyes on the prize.

Next year maybe we can come together… If we all take the vaccine?

The world keeps spinning and my head spins too. Numbers of cases have risen to levels never seen before and stories have emerged in Alberta about hospitals being overwhelmed. The nightmare is coming true. And people march in the streets of Calgary to protest the restrictions.

We are living in dangerous times. Now we need to find if the danger is viral or societal.

I will keep swimming as much as I can, I will keep skiing as often as possible. I hope every day we can move forward and come together in the real world.

That day will come again when we can celebrate our world together without fear. Without hate…