September 23 2020

Six months have passed in the shadow of a new viral infection that slowed the world. A pandemic that sounded like panic and to some more like plandemic. The panic seems to have eased even though the number of cases is far higher than when we went into lockdown in the middle of March. The number of cases is greater but the number of deaths has dropped. Testing is more widespread than it was in March so it is no surprise that cases are up. Even the opposition leaders in parliament have been diagnosed with Covid19. But when I saw the new Conservative leader today he looked healthy. Strange days we have been in for the last six months. Will the next six be stranger still?

I looked back at the last six months of entries. I read the ones from the 23rd every month. March 23rd was my first entry in my story. My first post to Facebook, I didn’t think that six months later we would still be in the middle of a pandemic. I thought that love would see us through. I spoke of new world order, a new normal. Little did I know that a conspiracy warning of new world order would take over the internet.

April 23rd I reflected on that first month. We knew then that things were going to last longer. That a new world order was beginning, “new world order” was an innocent observation. Now it is a warning, a siren song of fear.

May 23rd was two months since I began my path to self-discovery. I knew then that I wanted to pursue my dream of being a writer; I know that now more than ever. One thing I didn’t know was if we could travel if we would go to Pinkpop in 2021. We have let go of the idea of going to Europe next summer. I hope to travel again, but it may be a couple of years before we can venture as far as The Netherlands. In May we were walking every day, we were gardening and I was writing. Now we walk rarely and the garden is overrun by weeds.

June 23rd we were enjoying the slower pace of life. We were enjoying sunsets and connections with neighbors. My wife and I also enjoyed a lack of internet, the challenge in the coronaverse was Covid had become an excuse for less customer service. Due to covid I still wait for the main computer to arrive and get put in my boat so Serendipity can ply our Okanagan Lake again. Now, as fall is settling on our valley it is almost too late…

July 23rd life was getting hectic again. Our garden was being over-run with weeds, our lives were being overrun by fear. Fear of a loss of freedom more than the virus. Even though there was a spike in cases in Kelowna some people worried more about the loss of freedoms than the loss of life. Now the government warns that we are at the beginning of a second wave. The lockdown worked the first time around. Will they invoke it again? Will people stand for it… and do we need to. I think we have learned enough, I hope people can be careful enough.

Aug 23rd, one month ago, my daughter had a covid test. It was weird seeing the barren testing centre. It was empty; it felt surreal taking my daughter to get tested. She had a cold and in the coronaverse I didn’t want to take any chances. It’s a relief knowing that she tested negative. I was watching the news tonight and in Ontario and Quebec, the lines for the test last for hours. Ours was minutes. We are lucky in our bubble in BC, we have remained relatively unscathed by our viral foe. Yet in Calgary they had three people die in an outbreak at the hospital. It shows how quickly the pandemic can spread if left unchecked.

We are six months into the so-called new normal of the pandemic. I call it the coronaverse. I hope that we can grow and learn from this trying time in our history. I hope that is doesn’t tear us apart. I will embrace the main theme in my posts from the last six months: Hope. It is the best thing we can hold on to.