#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

• Canadians are heartbroken today after the worst mass shooting in our country's history yesterday in Nova Scotia:  at least 16 people dead, with the numbers still rising (I've heard possibly as many as 22). I have a longtime online friend in Truro, which was right in the middle of all the action, who says she knows many of the victims, or has friends who know them. The gunman had apparently been obsessed with police culture since he was a teenager:  he was a denturist, but was dressed as an RCMP officer, driving a car he'd fixed up to look like a police car (indicating there was at least some element of planning involved).  The victims are still being identified, but I have read some Twitter posts indicating that the gunman's ex-wife and her current partner were among them (are you surprised?). :(   
• I have been to Nova Scotia twice (and hope to return soon!), and would recommend it to anyone. It is stunningly beautiful, and the people's reputation for friendliness and hospitality is totally deserved. Things like this simply do not happen there. 
• Of course, because of COVID-19 restrictions, funerals will be kept very small. People will not be able to come together to mourn and comfort each other, as they usually would. This will add to the pain & grief they are feeling. :(  
• (And on that note....) 
• SIL's father died early last Tuesday morning. :(  He was 90, diagnosed with dementia a few months ago and went into a care home in mid-March, just as the pandemic began unfolding. Of course, visits were restricted, and he went downhill quite rapidly.  His death was unrelated to COVID, but because of the COVID restrictions, his funeral was limited to just the immediate family for interment at the cemetery (10 people max). No mass, but a priest was there to say prayers. I'm so sad that I can't even give SIL a hug. :(  Her mother died five years ago, and a lot of people weren't able to attend HER visitation or funeral either because of bad weather (a blizzard). COVID, you suck. :( 
• My sister & I are both pissed off at our own parents right now (ages 79 & 80, both with some underlying health issues):  they live in a small rural community, which I suppose makes them feel more insulated from what's going on -- but there ARE COVID cases in the vicinity. And while they've been doing some of the right things, every now & then, they do stuff (or want to do stuff) that makes me want to pull my hair out. (Previous example here.) 
• Most recent case in point: my mother actually had her cleaning lady come over this past week to do her regular dusting & vacuuming!! Both my sister & I called to say "WTF??!"  (not in so many words, lol -- maybe we should have...!) She said, "Oh, I trust her, she's been coming here 16 years!"  The cleaning lady is a very nice woman (I've met her)... BUT... nice does not mean she's not carrying the virus. How many other people's homes has she visited lately (& shouldn't she have suspended her business right now anyway?)??  
• Mom also told me, "If my hairdresser said she would do my hair right now, I'd be over there in five minutes."  (Heaven grant me patience...) 
• And then she & dad wonder why my sister hasn't come out from the city to visit them (and help out with various projects around the house & yard) since this all began??  My sister is still going downtown to work every day -- her job cannot be done remotely -- and while she is now driving instead of taking public transit as she usually does, and while she is not in a customer-facing job, she is still exposed to people every day, and does not want to pass anything on -- to or from Mom & Dad. ARGH. 
• Little Great-Nephew turned 5 months last week. He took his first selfie with his mom's phone too, lol -- she found a surprise on her camera roll!  (Quote from dh while looking at it on Instagram: "I hate this f***ing virus so much....") 
• Two more video chats this week, both on Zoom. (One started on Messenger, but it only accommodates 8 people at once, so we switched over to Zoom.)  One was organized by my cousin's wife as a surprise for his birthday, and included my aunt (his mom), his brother & several of our other cousins, as well as a few of his friends. The other included 12 other loss moms from a private Facebook group I've been part of for several years. (Most if not all of them are former bloggers.)  I find video chats kind of exhausting to follow sometimes -- my eyes darting as different people talk, not to mention feeling self-conscious about how I look onscreen...! -- but still fun!  
• If you're a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books, and also on Facebook, this might interest you:  a few days ago, I stumbled onto a Facebook group yesterday that's doing a chapter-by-chapter readathon of "Rilla of Ingleside," which is one of my very favourite LMM books (about Anne of Green Gables's youngest daughter, Rilla, whose teenage years coincide with the First World War). It's being led by Benjamin Lefebvre & Andrea Mackenzie, who produced a new, unabridged, fully restored version of the book a few years back. Tons of posts providing rich context about Montgomery's life & work, the war, literary allusions, social customs of the time, etc. After my group membership was approved, I spent an entire morning & afternoon reading through ALL the posts & comments. They started with Chapter 1 on March 30th & are currently on Chapter 9, so if you're a fan of "Rilla," it's not too late to catch up & enjoy the rest of the discussion to come!  
• Three cheers for "COVID & Childfree Does Not Mean Stress-Free," a guest post by Brit McGinnis on LauraCarroll.com. Both Laura & Brit are childFREE vs childless-not-by-choice, but I daresay there is much there that you will relate to, if you don't have kids for whatever reason. 

(I guess this wasn't much of a "micro" post... but it's what I've got!) 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.