Like we have no idea where we're all going and we march on. Or stumble. Or fumble. There is no light at the end of this particular tunnel. At least not yet. And I hope fervently that we will not repeat The Great Flu of 1918 where millions upon millions died and it appears that many do not learn from the protocols they put in place even then, over 100 years ago. Contagion is contagion is contagion.
The toll on fire and emergency services on the western seaboard of the US to counteract this cataclysmic burning must take a huge toll along with the risk of Covid to all concerned. Bravery indeed.
I'm avoiding the US news as if it were another form of plague on the landscape but sometimes it is unavoidable. A horror of a genocide with nearly 250,000 citizens now dead. My friends who live there and also hold Canadian citizenship have made arrangements to move back to Canada in November. Constant sunshine for them has a high price. And then the fires. Flames and pestilence at the same time. It crushes the brain. This was yesterday's Covid statistics for the top countries cases on the planet. With the US staggeringly ahead.
Here we are catching (in isolation) each case as it lands and thus preventing community spread. The 4 Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland & Labrador) are in the same bubble, with provincial border checks for those coming in from outside these provinces.
St. Pierre and Miquelon, tiny islands off the coast of Newfoundland which is French territory, is not faring so well. 11 cases in their tiny population of 6,000.
The rest of Canada isn't faring so well at the moment.
We're all tapping into our depleting stockpiles of bravery these days. Even if it's just shutting our eyes and going wah-wah and not contemplating a future that has no shape whatsoever.
I have friends and family living on the west coast. Some of them are considering moving to the northeast. Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut sound mighty good right now.
ReplyDeleteI read something about mass migration to the east coast Gigi, but it might be unsustainable for many reasons.
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Living in SE Washington near the Columbia. Some fires near the Cascades but all our smoke is just blowing up the river from Oregon into our Columbia Basin. I have not been out since Friday and I am one who has no lung problems but this still gets to me - sore throat, headache. I am 78. Sunday the Air Quality Index was over 500 giving us the status as having the worst AQI in the world! But I am thankful - a house, a companion, food. I know we are all feeling heartache for those without and also the future of our planet.
ReplyDeleteIt is terrifying Mary, I can hardly bear reading about it. As so many with compromised health systems are in trouble with the air. Another blogger way up in Saskatchewan wrote of the quality of air near her and another in NS observed the weird sky.
DeleteOur planet is tiny, we are all affected on many levels with this, not least of which is concern and compassion.
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I once drove through a forest fire, in convoy, after most of the forest was burned out. It was like a scene from hell, absolutely heartbreaking. Killing off ourselves is one thing, but doing it to countless beings that live in the forest is another.
ReplyDeleteI saw the shots of those birds, Annie, millions of them migrating, dying. It broke my heart. Animals and birds are helpless in this. We've had so many, many warnings but the endless consumption on a finite planet is killing us all.
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Sadly yes.
ReplyDeleteI watch in fear and in horror.
And my heart breaks for the wildlife and their habitat. At least as much as it does for the people.
Odd that, how we feel for the helpless animals and birds so deeply, a massive guilt as to what we have done, perhaps. I watch the orcas butthead the boats and think: they know, the really do know.
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Forest fires, Covid 19 ... you paint a bleak picture of our surroundings. But courage and remembering the countermeasures are the only antidotes, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteLike ElzabethAnn I have driven through a forest fire and lived to tell about it. I hope to see you on the other side of the Pandemia as well.
Yes, me too Charlotte, I hope we see us all at the other side. I hope there's another side.
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I have almost run out of bravery. I want to leave but does running away solve anything? And then I just read the Federal Reserve is keeping the interest rate at near zero...watch the stock market soar! What a con game it all is. And then the "president" has this to say about climate change..."it will cool down...just watch"! Good lord....what to do?
ReplyDeleteWhere would you run to Ain't? A friend and I were talking about his very same thing tonight. There is nowhere, we're all getting older and health care is paramount.
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You are right about the health care. But I can't live just for today when I have little grands to think of.
DeleteHealth care keeps us rooted to our own location. But that will probably change too. Who knows. It is unmapped.
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My husband and I are having these leave-or-not conversations, too, but I'm torn between leaving what I can no longer tolerate and staying to add my voice of protest in whatever small ways I can.
DeleteIt must be so difficult Linda. November will see more of an exodus perhaps.
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Yes, take today and live it to the fullest for tomorrow is not guaranteed. Today is the future for now. A look ahead can only be dreams.
ReplyDeleteYes carpe diem is the only path, isn't it. If there is a path. We just have the footsteps we're in. An old adage is perfect: May we stay where our hands are.
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I guess QC is Quebec. As a proportion of infections, it has such a high death toll. Maybe more old people live in the province. While India's figures could be dubious, it seems to be doing significantly better than the US with rates of death.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would never ever want to visit the US, but that is how I feel now.
Quebec's old people's homes were a scandal Andrew. They were left to die by the care workers. Horrible. A terrible stain.
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No, there is no shape or form to the future.I don't hear much about Trudeau of late. No question the two golden haired boys are in the boat together.
ReplyDeleteThere was a brief win for Trudeau and Canada when he rattled the chains at 45 about the aluminum tariffs and 45 backed down. I think yesterday.
ReplyDeleteExtension on border closing to October 21st.
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The horrifying statistics make me glad my country is so far away, but in spite of that we do have our own cases and deaths. My own state is faring pretty well, but I am still reluctant to leave the house unnecessarily and have even scheduled a phone appointment with my doctor to fax prescriptions to my local chemist. Very brave of me since I HATE talking on the phone.
ReplyDeleteKeep your chin up, cross your fingers and wear a mask when going out, hopefully the end (of the virus) is closer than we think.
I doubt it River, but I admire your faith. We live far too close to the lunatic asylum on our border where it's completely out of control and even the smoke is hitting us in the lungs. So dystopian I think but does anybody else see it that way.
ReplyDeleteI'm adverse to phone too so I hear you.
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I've observed through the multiple blogs and comments I read that it seems that folks who broadcast their lack of faith (often with pride) also seem to be the most frightened and are the top gloom and doomers. No, life isn't rosey right now but I will say it's not awful everywhere in the US right now either. Rural life in an obscure area of PA seems to have its perks these days. Live where there are many new and old order Amish - I'm a mask wearer and avoider but the Amish don't wear masks and no outbreak in their communities - surprising and interesting to me. Very little makes sense to me anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree we can't make sense of too much these days. What do you mean by faith? The religious kind or the belief in humanity's goodness? I do have the latter but observe that belief is countered by the billionaires that rule the world and scavenge it to the last grain of sand.
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Religious kind. I think self interest is the name of the game for humanity.
DeleteI don't feel brave. I feel like I live in a place where virus control is good so I don't have to worry about it. As for climate change and apocalyptic fires, I'm not at all brave about that, humanity has sealed it's fate, I think. I'll most likely be gone before the real horror starts but I'm not happy about the expectations for my children's future
ReplyDeleteNeither am I hopeful for the future of my children and grandchildren either Kylie, but I do believe a brave and different new world will be created but it's going to take a massive amount of pain.
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The virus situation in the UK is getting out of control again, and the authorities are imposing new restrictions and lockdowns in several areas of England and Wales. I get the impression a lot of people are now so confused by the ever-changing rules and laws that they've given up trying to follow them and are just behaving exactly as they feel like doing.
ReplyDeleteDublin is a complete mess too Nick, I see on the IT today they're thinking of quarantining the whole city!
DeleteYes, it's massively confusing but more importantly inconsistent.
We have the same situation here with schools, different protocols for schools and grades within schools.
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I have family as well as friends in California and so far they have been very brave and have handled the crisis well. One blogger friend had to evacuate her home as the whole town was under threat of spreading fire and was most grateful when she returned to see their home intact but, some homes in the town had indeed burned down.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what it must be like Ramana, leaving belongings and memories in ashes behind. Traumatizing forever.
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