July 23

Four months ago I started writing my daily journal. 122 days of reflections and ruminations. Our world has morphed itself into a new semblance of itself. My world has morphed into a new reality. I don’t think I would have predicted either seventeen some weeks ago. Now I sit in reflection of the time that has passed.

March 16, Big White closed in sudden reaction to the viral infection that stopped the world. Covid19 overtook everything, the media, the hospitals, and our daily lives. In my first post I wrote:

” Three months ago China was in lockdown; something only possible in a communist society. Now all the major cities in the world are on lockdown. How can this be? Is this Coronavirus as bad as the cure or worse? If it works then we will say it was an overreaction, if it doesn’t we will wonder why we waited so long.”

Four months ago we locked down.

It worked. Now people are calling it a hoax. Many forget why we did what we did, many more question if we needed to. Yet now, when things are getting back to a semblance of normal, we have a new spike in cases in the Okanagan. People have stopped social distancing themselves and let down their guard. And our government threatens to return restrictions. Did we need to close down everything? Will we again?

So many questions and so few answers. People are crying about losing their rights. What rights have we lost? Our Charter of Rights and freedoms is a large document filled with an incredible amount of information about our basic rights. Essentially we have the right to freedom of religion. Freedom to assemble, freedom of expression and freedom of association. Many who would decry our loss of freedom do so by using one of the core fundamental freedoms; freedom of expression. As long as we hold onto our core freedoms we will be fine. Is our government eroding the basic freedoms we have to protect us from ourselves? Many would argue it is. I would say that the government is trying to limit some personal freedoms to save us from future loss of more freedom.

I could be wrong.

In April we started to get into a routine, I look back at my entry from April 7. April 7 has the most hits of any entry I have done to date. I don’t know exactly what resonated with people about April 7, yet I read it now and see the foreshadowing of the times to come.

I also remember it was a simpler time. We had to stay home. We were afraid and yet were connecting with our world and ourselves in ways that we missed before. I ache for that simplicity. I am grateful for the release from restrictions and the freedom regained. The freedom in isolation was a thing to be cherished. I looked forward to more bike rides that failed to materialize. I gained the connections we hoped for, and more.

May came along and tragedy encircled our country. Tragedy knocked Coronavirus from the headlines. Sadly that is what it took in those days of fear and trepidations. It was a triple whammy of bad news. Murder in Nova Scotia, the crash of a military Helicopter. Then on May 17 the loss of Snowbird pilot Capt. Jenn Casey. Still, we carried on, living apart and looking forward to a future with no lockdown, a future we were told, that must have a vaccine.

June arrived with more rainy days and more frustrations. June also brought hope. We eased restrictions. I traveled to my brothers and left the grid. Recharged I felt a new hope. BC started to open up. We could go to a restaurant again. We could feel freer knowing that our viral nemesis was retreating. Our restrictions were working. The cost was high.

Was it too high?

It will be years before the real cost is tallied. It has been mere months knowing the benefits we have gained. Yet we are watching numbers climb again. Will we get a second wave? Will we return to a lockdown that paralyzes us once again. I hope we can learn and thrive.

I hope Big White can open up for skiing. I hope we will have another epic winter with shorter lift lines and more powder for the locals. I hope there is no second wave, that the experts are wrong. I fear and hope, all at the same time. I Look forward to more freedom and less fear.

I hope.