One of my Christmas guests has asked if all the other guests will remain masked while here, expect, of course to eat & even then, masks have go back on between bites; also, will they all do home Covid tests before arriving to make sure they aren’t ‘carriers’. Instead of candy-canes should I hand them masks & covid tests at the door & turn anyone away who isn’t negative?
Perhaps set one room aside for any eating & drinking & mask lifting – while in the other, everyone must remain masked & also avoid talking too much, laughing too much, & in general breathe as little as possible.
Should I assume that my guests have enough common sense to take their own practical measures for their personal safety & for the safety & protection of others. If my concerned guest is uncomfortable they can social distance themselves with my air purifier at their side. It is a bit noisy but such is life.
This is one the Covid symptoms that doesn’t make the list of Covid symptoms – gone are the easy days of having a few friends over for a seasonal celebration. There is now this list of protocols to deal with beside the list of snacks to have on hand. I now reach for a covid home text kit before I reach for the NeoCitron if I have the sniffles. Is that an allergy sneeze or the first sign of Covid?
All I want for Christmas is not to die in emerg.
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The first signs of the festive season is the appearance of wreaths. The old religion tradition of decorating with ivy, fir bows & holly berries has never disappeared, even before the decorating of fir trees or cluttering front yards with inflatable forty foot Santas descended upon us there was the wreath. These are all in the east end north & south of Greenwood/Danforth.
simple, almost minimal wreath but the door treatment is deluxe
More East End Toronto festive lighting – these are mostly park displays – some are daytime & nighttime shots to make the trees look even more spectacular.
Day-to-day life had developed a new routine as the severe lockdown measures loosened a little. You could meet with a friend, have coffee, walked unmasked while socially distanced & soon, it was felt, we’re even be able to go shopping without masks on. Many recovery meetings had returned to limited size, masked f2f meetings. Many were in the process of reopening then the latest variant wild fire sparked then took off.
covid Santa
Double masked recommended, additional booster shots with folks lined up for hours to get them (while being heckled by smug anti-vaxxers). Often it’s hard enough to order though a mask, through plastic cashier guards – double masked means everyone will either need an android to order ahead or carry note pad to write their order down. I’m sure rapid-tests will be next on the mandatory list to even go into Tims to order a cup of coffee.
People are weary of being vigilant for themselves & others. Being forced to discover new ways of social interaction is frustrating & at the same time a relief. Avoiding people becomes less personal when covid is the buffer. The hardest part is the roller-coaster of restrictions, hardest on small retail – making it possible to plan lest the next set of protocols cut your staff in half. Travel was never easy since the additional security measures after the Twin Towers – now you have to not only take your shoes off but prove you are covid negative going & coming back.
Once again we’re faced with a socially shut-down festive season. Even though I’m triple vaxxed, double masked I’m not taking any chances with parties, & will avoid public transit as much as possible. I’ve reduced our annual Xmas day gathering to five people (past years we’ve had up to 12). Gone are the day when two people could sit side by side in my little living room.
I’m pretty sure covid & its variants are here to stay mainly because of the economic disparity between countries that can afford protection & those that can’t afford even clean water.
Festive wishes in keeping with your belief (or lack of) system.
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Festive lighting east end Toronto. On nights when I’m not zooming I walk different blocks to enjoy what people are doing. Sadly more inflatables every year & fewer blow molds 😦 I send some as cell pics to my friends stuck in downtown high-rises who only see the lights from their electronics 🙂
My mother was a memory hoarder. My sister has been going though boxes of things stored in our family home & has unearthed things from my past. This letter to Santa was one of those treasures. It tells me so many things about myself at that time – when was that time? Probably when we first moved to Cape Breton in the mid50’s. Before my brother was born. While I was learning cursive writing in school.
The spelling mistakes & writing errors are things that I am still plagued by in my hand written notes. Even then I couldn’t write as fast as I thought & so my letters stumbled over each other resulting in scratching words out or writing over them.
I can remember learning cursive in grade school. We had to have a special scribbler with lines to train us how to keep uniform sizes for small & capital letters. I have vague memories of the actual exercises but, much liking tying my shoes, there is no specific moment. I do see the influence of my Dad’s writing in the shape of some of the letters.
I was very keen on that cowboy suit. It was not the first one I had – it was a hat, vest, chaps & a two-gun holster. A cowhide print but probably not on cowhide. I recall getting fire engines a few times. Red plastic with ladders that could be swivelled & cranked up with a gear. I love me asking for ‘any old toys you don’t want’ Even then there was no such thing as enough but willingness to accept the mystery ‘any.’
I suspect the ‘thank you’ was suggested by my mother though, that’s not the sort of thing I would have added. An early lesson in trying to curry favour though gratitude. The ‘good at school’ sounds like me. I can’t say if that ‘good’ means if my marks or my behaviour had improved 😉
Envy
if I want what I want
& want it now
does that make me
motivated
decisive
or obsessive
<>
is it better to be goal driven
or to live in the moment
is what happening now
as an end itself
rather than a step
to something better
something so much better in fact
that is happening now
loses flavour
makes me impatient for this to be over
so I can get on to the next best thing to do
<>
if i don’t what i have now
how did i end up with it
should i have had better plans
did i miss the turn
take the wrong page
out of the wrong book
& end up with the last thing i wanted
or is this what i want
but don’t recognize it
have i been blindsided
by some urge
that spun me so far off reality
that i no longer know
what i like anymore
do i want what what i have
<>
if i have what i want
is it important to reach fulfillment
is contentment settling for less
or accepting things as they are
because things aren’t that bad
pretty good in fact
though it took some time
to sort through wants needs
haves
& don’t needs
<>
i always thought i wanted
to be adored
worshipped in fact
because being loved
wasn’t fulfilling
then it dawned on me
that what i really wanted was envy
i wanted people
to wish they had what i have
not that i know
what i really do have
<>
it took awhile to sort that out
to filter it through
the expropriations of cultures
to a point where i had
a hard kernel of fact
that then escaped me[
because there are so many
bubbling hesitations to distract
direct my attention
that i forget what i discovered
so maybe that isn’t
the hard truth either
though i’m better off now
than i was once upon a time
when the world was young
and i was a mere boy
on his way to the old fishing hole
dangling a can of worms
on the end of his line
hot sunny day barefoot on the path
he walks down to the stream bank
warm rocks to sit on
not evening thinking of writing a word
or getting laid
just being
just being
without want
<>
now that is something to envy
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Over the years the decking of my house has become more elaborate. Every room had its share of holiday decor – figurines, snow globes, even action figures. Of course there was also the tree, the lights, the porch ‘treatment’ & of course festive towels & linens. Friends would add ornaments to the magic. Much of it was done for our Christmas feast guests or friends who would drop by. Thanks to covid19 restrictions that isn’t going to happen to the same extent this year.
Perhaps that’s just as well so that I could give some of those things a rest. Let’s leave the snow globe collection in the box for change, what’s the point of that kitch crèche? As a result things remain in their bins & boxes. In fact as I sorted what to put out this year I tossed things. Thanks for the memories but bye bye.
Opting for simplicity meant less staple gun noise 🙂 The lights went up, the tree went up, the linens got washed & will be used but the bulk of the treasure remain in their bins & boxes. You know not having all that hanging tinsel is fine. Next year maybe they’ll get hung in the trees on the front lawn.
The festive lights remained a must though because they aren’t just for me, they are for everyone & anyone who sees them. This year, in out neighbourhood, they seem to have gone up sooner & gotten fancier. I’ve going out some nights after supper to do a walk around different blocks to enjoy them. I stopped to talk to one woman about her lights & she said, what I figured most people are thinking, ‘we need lights in this dark covid climate.’
TOpoet 