Kind of a boggy sleep, might have had some dreams? Might not? One of those inconsequential sleeps where you wake up ambivalent and slightly disoriented. I had set an alarm for 12:15 pm because I could…. Also I had scheduled an online meeting on Zoom with some of my fellow Humanities 101 colleagues (wonderful Lakehead University program. Click here to know more)

But I woke up today at 10:30am….. The sun was shining again. Just beaming in through the creases of my curtains.

My cat Ben must have heard me stiring, and in prototypical cat like fashion lights up his motor of a purr box and decides to sit right beside my face. I’m up I’m up I say, as I mindlessly wander into the kitchen and realize that he has food and water. Either he was just being a dick or taking the time to point out who is really the master and the slave in our relationship. I walked back into the bedroom and sighed because today is….

Another day, in self isolation……..

Covid Blog #2 – As we go deep into the Northness…. * I mentally hear Rick Sanchez with an ‘and awaaaaay we go’

Except!!! Today on my schedule, a schedule that is normally filled with an abundance of nothing. I have a virtual meeting. Sweet mother of Murphy I have a purpose today!!!

I showered, almost shaved. Almost shaved…. Came close!! Put on clothes, tossed the clothes I have worn for 3 days into the laundry. Fed the cat, did dishes. Oh wondrous and glorious purpose!!! Shower on me direction and saddle me with things to do!!!

The meeting went great, worked through some of the things we are dealing with, and shared self care and coping strategies. The biggest takeaway, and don’t get me wrong because my blogs are rife with social critique, but there are a lot of good things happening. Our city’s response has been second to none, but what impresses me right now is that I am finding groups of people are coming together more. I have said this many times, that I find this city to be cold socially, almost cliquey. But we are being forced to reach out and extend olive branches, and also admit ‘hey I can’t do this thing alone’.

The group of us spoke for roughly 2 hours, during which however we began to talk about possibly running the humanities 101 program next fall online. Now I have to be honest, my stomach dropped. Maybe I have been drinking Trump’s kool-aid, or reading too much into the great statistics Canada has for combating Covid-19, but in my mind we are walking free end of April, so maybe I am just way too optimistic?

For the present, right now. I have some tasks set forth to get Humanities 101 streamlined with the potential of online delivery which ‘thank the maker’ gets me into fresh clothes everyday. I hope? Tomorrow I believe I will be at the RFDA which is the city’s food bank distributor, and helping them get food to people who really need it. Gotta put in the work, think positive and avoid negative thoughts.

I am not a fan of the age old recovery narrative “stinking thinking’ or catastrophizing so I will keep that in mind and see how April unfolds so in the meantime…..

Stay safe everyone, and look out for one another. Check back here tomorrow for another story about life in an apartment from an old guy staring at his neighbors through a peep hole.

‘Get off my lawn’

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