July 10,11

Summertime in the city, it means life is getting busy. Busy with fun and work. Busy with Luxury Lake Tours and busy with my family. In our Okanagan bubble, we are teeming with tourists and the lazy days of the Coronaverse has become a fond memory. Is fond really the right word? In some ways it is. Yet for most, it would be something we would not like to return to. In other places in the world, it is a harsh reality. In the Okanagan, we can be grateful that we were only barely touched by the viral infection that has devastated many parts of the world.

Then came the news; news of cases in downtown Kelowna. Eight people tested positive that were at parties and pubs in the heart of our wonderful paradise. Eight people, the tip of a hidden iceberg, or merely a blip on our recovery? How many of these eight people are in the hospital? How many are sick? Questions and uncertainty arises from these reports. In the back of my mind, I wonder. I fear that I may have met someone who met someone…

I have done my best to maintain a physical distance from my guests on the boat. I have also been wary and aware when out in public. We have sanitizer on the boat, I have sanitizer in my vehicle and I am careful not to get close to people. I am doing what I can, but I will continue to live. I am optimistic that we will be OK and the threat in our part of the world is extremely low. Even with the eight new cases.

In the United States, eight cases would be an amazing number. Numbers in America that are controversial and unreliable. My friend the conspiracy theorist that works at a supplier of mine calls it a political virus. I disagree silently and smile at him. Politics does not belong in discussions around health. Yet it has overtaken the conversation around prevention and become a topic for those that would instill division and fear. I am grateful every day for my life in this wonderful place called Canada.

Now my biggest problem is how to help my daughter survive the teenage Coronaverse. Summer is here for her as well and she has her friends, and her angst of how to get along. I hated my teenage years, the anxiety, the fear of rejection and the desire to fit in. In my daughter I do my best not to project my fears onto her, not to allow the memories of teenage angst to override her needs. It is hard.

We had the cold war, Reagan, acid rain, and a hole in the ozone layer. My daughter has Coronavirus, and the overwhelming use and addiction to cell phones and to the apps they are part of. I think we had it easier. We could go and play; we could escape the daily fear and worry. We could go ride our bikes. We weren’t inundated by the technological connection that is constantly there. We had a way out, a shutdown.

We watched the movie “Stand By Me” as a family and it brought back memories of those simple times. My daughter seemed to enjoy the movie about teenage coming of age and adventure, based sixty years ago. The movie was timeless and had a theme that transcends generations. It is a movie of hope and of tragedy. Things our world still is full of. We have hope and tragedy. I hope we can thrive past the tragedy that many in our world face.

I am busier than I have been in months and I strive to stay connected. I strive to sit and write, to continue my daily musing on life in our new normal. A new normal that in many ways reflects the old normal. I will continue to connect and enlighten myself and others. I may not be here every day, but I will stay connected and continue writing. I have come too far to stop now.