April is the cruelest month

I'm feeling groggy this morning. I should be out with Hapi but I am still trying to wake up. The rain has stopped and now it is windy and cold, after a really lovely weather day yesterday.

I am trying not to dwell on recent events but it's hard. Right now people are angry that the RCMP used Twitter to warn folks about what was happening, but only a few people around rural Nova Scotia use Twitter. Some people died because the more widespread national Alert Ready system was not used, or even Facebook. This province has the lowest rate of internet access in the country; most of the inaccessibility is rural and in particular the area where the murders took place. So why Twitter?

Some local people took it upon themselves to go on the phone and call as many people as possible, but they did not know the crucial piece of information that the killer was dressed as a Mountie, so they said things like "don't open your door to anyone except a cop." How frustrating!

In other news, the crows are completely absent now. Busy elsewhere raising families. The two blue jays that were scarfing down half the birdseed at the feeder have relaxed a bit, now they just take seeds for themselves. I hope that means their hungry offspring are now grown up and not that they are gone for other more unfortunate reasons.

A local grey squirrel has been coming by, but whenever I see it I chase it off with a broomstick. It's not that I object to grey squirrels, but that it tips the feeder over and dumps half the seed on the ground. I kinda do object to grey squirrels—they are crowding out the native red squirrels—but it's not really their fault, they just do what they have to do to survive.

A friend sent me a link to a Roy Zimmerman parody of The Lion Sleeps Tonight called The Liar Tweets Tonight, a bit of humour in a bitter time. From there I ended up watching a video of Bonnie Raitt and John Prine singing Angel From Montgomery last November. Unrelated, but bittersweet.

Easter Sunday

The traditional greeting is Happy Easter but I am going to refrain. Some of us are happy, some are not, and both are appropriate. But Easter is about hope being fulfilled, there will be a good future ahead of us, so I will add my voice to that sentiment even though not all of us feel that way.

On the plus side, we have a temporary reprieve from environmental degradation, air and water pollution are temporarily on hold allowing for nature to regroup. On the minus side, it is temporary, virtually unopposed climate change marches on.

On the plus side, we have governments worldwide reconsidering political and social values, and how we might go forward honouring those values. On the minus side, many political entities are flailing around making things far worse.

On the plus side, people are really working together to be helpful and supportive and there are many amazing acts of kindness going on. On the minus side, some folks still haven't gotten the message and they are depressing and outraging the rest of us. Not to mention some supreme acts of selfishness.

On the plus side, it is Spring in the northern hemisphere and we can feel it. On the minus side, covid-19 restrictions prevent many Springtime traditions and activities from being carried out.

On the plus side, if you're reading this you're still here! On the minus side, … [fill in the blanks]

A lot of jokes and funny comments on life with covid-19 are making the rounds, and I appreciate it. A book club friend emails dark jokes on a regular basis, a psychotherapist friend has been collecting and emailing psychotherapist jokes around the topics of grumpiness and frustration.

I'll leave you with a sample:

My Self-Isolation Quarantine Diary 

Day 1 – I Can Do This!!  Got enough food and wine to last a month!

Day 2 – Opening my 8th bottle of Wine.  I fear wine supplies might not last!

Day 3 – Strawberries:  Some have 210 seeds, some have 235 seeds.  Who Knew??

Day 4 – 8:00 pm.  Removed my Day Pajamas and put on my Night Pajamas.

Day 5 – Today, I tried to make Hand Sanitizer.  It came out as Jello Shots!!

Day 6 – I get to take the Garbage out.  I'm So excited, I can't decide what to wear.

Day 7 – Laughing way too much at my own jokes!!

Day 8 – Went to a new restaurant called "The Kitchen".  You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal.  I have No clue how this place is still in business.

Day 9 – I put liquor bottles in every room.  Tonight, I'm getting all dressed up and going Bar hopping

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Day 10 – Struck up a conversation with a Spider today.  Seems nice.  He's a Web Designer.

Day 11 – Isolation is hard.  I swear my fridge just said, "What the hell do you want now?"

Day 12 – I realized why dogs get so excited about something moving outside, going for walks or car rides.  I think I just barked at a squirrel.

Day 13 – If you keep a glass of wine in each hand, you can't accidentally touch your face.

Day 14 – Watched the birds fight over a worm.  The Cardinals lead the Blue Jays 3–1.

Day 15 – Anybody else feel like they've cooked dinner about 395 times this month?

P.S. - The garbage was collected on my street at 2.00 pm yesterday, seven hours late. It wasn't really anyone's fault, the change was mandated back in 2019 and who knew that an extra week of garbage would be so huge? Most students left town in March after the last garbage collection, and landlords had to clear out the garbage they left behind. Usually there is a "Dump and Run" event at the university in late April or early May where a lot of that stuff is disposed of by the students themselves in a more orderly manner.