Transitions

 

blue warp ready to thread - my job for today

It is the end of October and we are into transition season - from autumn into winter.  Last night we got about 4" (10cm) of wet snow, but it's not certain it will stick.  According to the weather forecast I saw a couple of days ago, it could warm up and the precipitation could turn to rain, which would then melt the snow.

And driving conditions will be ugly.

It's a good day to stay home.

OTOH, during a pandemic, every day is a good day to stay home, if you can.

Canada is officially in the 'second wave' of Covid-19.  Almost every province is showing leaps of numbers of cases.  Some speculate that the recent Thanksgiving holiday (Canada has it in October) may possibly be the cause.  Too many people meeting in too large a group, not wearing masks.  Talking moistly.  (Thank you Justin Trudeau for the phrase!)

Or it's just the growing numbers of people gathering (pandemic fatigue) or refusing to wear a mask.  Gathering in larger numbers, in enclosed spaces, with little ventilation.  Because it's almost winter and the weather has been colder, sooner, than we anticipate.

Tomorrow we will get our flu shot.  The local pharmacies are administering them, by appointment.  Masks required.  I will also pick up my prescriptions for the next 3 months so that neither of us has to make another trip in a week - when I actually run out.  My meds are 'standard' and after a short conversation with my doctor on the phone, he did the routine refill of what I need.  

We are going ahead with the guild sale, until we hear that the building the guild room is in is under lock down again.  

Mr. Trudeau urged Canadians to stay home for Thanksgiving so that we could have Christmas.  Seems not enough people listened.

And here we are.  As of this morning, Canada has had 217,763 cases, 9962 deaths.  Cases per million population:  5754.  Deaths per million population:  263.

Doug and I are well supplied with masks, both cloth and disposable, thanks for Doug shopping early for the disposables, and to family/friends for the cloth.  Our needs are few.  I have a big bag of books from the library - and literally dozens of my own.  I could even re-read some of them - would like to, if I had more mental acuity.  I admit that the pandemic fatigue is also affecting me.

I am getting very tired of the conspiracy theorists who say the pandemic is a hoax.  43 plus million people around the world would like to disagree with them.  Masks do not take away a person's freedom, but gives them the freedom to move around doing what is necessary while reducing their risk of catching Covid-19.  

'Naturally acquired herd immunity' isn't recommended.  The unintended consequence of approaching the pandemic that way is killing off a whole lot of people.  One only has to look at the Black Plague (or Death) and the something like 7 million people who died to know how well that works.

Everything is uncertain right now.  But the simple action of putting a mask on, covering both nose AND mouth will go a long way towards knocking the virus out.  As bored and tired as we are of it, the virus is not tired.  All it is doing is looking for a host.  Any host.  Doesn't matter age, gender, race.  Political views.

As mentioned previously (here or on Facebook) I follow worldometer.com for Covid numbers.  They list pretty much every country in the world.  It is sobering to see the numbers increase, daily, and how out of control some countries are with their case growth.

Right now during this time of seasonal transition, there are two reasons to stay home if you can.  The road conditions.  And the Pandemic.

Stay home if you can.  Wear a mask if you need to go out.  Maintain physical distance.  Meet in small groups in well ventilated spaces.  Wash your hands.