Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

Pandemic diary/update:  February was Month #23 going on #24 -- i.e., almost two full years -- of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

By the end of January/beginning of February, the Omicron variant-fuelled surge that began in mid-December (and brought some of the highest numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths of the entire pandemic) was beginning to subside. On Feb. 1st, Ontario's science table said that wastewater testing suggested that as many as 4 million people came down with an Omicron-related case of covid in December and January, with the virus peak around Jan 4, and peak cases around Jan. 11. (To put that figure in perspective, Ontario's population is not quite 15 million people. In other words, up to one-quarter of Ontarians got sick with covid over a two-month period. That's a LOT.)  

Happily, the numbers continued to decline during February. UNhappily, they still remain too high for comfort. And recent wastewater analysis has shown early signs of a resurgence of the viral load. (I've used numbers from both CBC News's pandemic tracker for Ontario and The Toronto Star, which may differ slightly, albeit not substantially. Feb. 28th was a Monday, and not all hospitals report data to the province early in the week.)

• There were 2,622 new cases reported in Ontario on Feb. 1st, and 1,315 on Feb. 28th. The seven-day average on Feb. 28th was 1,884.6. PCR testing has been dramatically restricted since January, and so these numbers cannot be considered an accurate assessment of how widespread COVID-19 is right now.
• Positivity rates declined over the course of the month, from 16.2% on Feb. 1st to 8.9% on Feb. 28th. The 7-day average on Feb. 28th was 9.4% (down 1.5%).  
• During February, hospitalizations declined from 3,091 on Feb. 1st to 849 on Feb. 28th, down 24.5% from the previous week. 
• There were 568 ICU beds filled on Feb. 1st, and 279 on Feb. 28th, down 12.8% from the previous week.  
• There were 60 deaths reported on Feb. 1st and a peak of 75 on Feb. 3rd. There were 3 on Feb. 28th, with a seven-day average of 22. 

As of Feb. 28th, nearing the two-year mark of the pandemic (as officially declared by the WHO on March 11th, 2020), Ontario has logged 1,102,011 cases of covid and more than 12,433 deaths. For Canada as a whole, those numbers are 3,269,546 and 36,377, respectively. 

As of yesterday, 89.7% of Ontarians have had at least one shot and 85.7% are fully vaccinated (including those aged 5 & under, who are not yet eligible). Canada-wide, 81.2% of people are fully vaccinated. ("Fully vaccinated" = two doses, although some are lobbying to change that definition to include boosters/third doses.) 

Indoor public venues (including dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theatres) -- which closed (again) in early January, as Omicron surged -- reopened on Jan. 31st at 50% capacity.  At that time, it was announced that further capacity increases were planned for Feb. 21st, that all capacity limits on indoor spaces would be lifted on March 14th (assuming things continued to go well) -- but also that proof of vaccination and masking requirements would remain in place for the foreseeable future. 

On Feb. 14th (Valentine's Day), the premier announced that Ontario would begin easing capacity restrictions a few days later, on Feb. 17th.  Following in the footsteps of several other provinces, ALL capacity restrictions AND vaccine passport requirements were lifted as of TODAY (March 1st, two weeks earlier than planned). Mask mandates remain, for now, but will also likely be lifted very soon -- possibly as soon as March 14th -- just in time for Ontario schools' spring break. (Do you think it's a coincidence that we have a provincial election coming up on June 2nd?)  

Quite frankly, I am not optimistic. Every other time the government has moved to rapidly reduce restrictions in the past, it's come back (rapidly) to bite us all in the you-know-where -- and even then, the numbers, when restrictions were loosened, were generally far lower than they are right now. Ontario is one of the few places that has *never* removed its mask mandate since it was implemented in the summer of 2020. That we have done as well as we have is, I think, at least partly because of that. 

(Yes, vaccination rates are higher now, and the risk of severe illness subsequently lower -- but I still don't want to get sick. There's still too much we don't know about covid and its long-term effects.  As I saw someone post on Twitter, who knew, when our moms were taking us to chicken pox parties back in the 1950s & 60s, that so many of us would wind up with shingles 40-50 years later??)  

(For the record, my mom did NOT take us to a chicken pox party. But I had the chicken pox, as most kids did back then, before chicken pox vaccines -- and I came down with shingles shortly after my 40th birthday. Fortunately, a mild case that was caught early.  I wrote about that incident here some years after the fact, here and here.) 

(Anyway -- I digress.)   

As Ryan Imgrund, a biostatistician I follow on Twitter, pointed out in a Feb. 25th tweet, "One year ago, with 66000 tests conducted, Ontario announced just 1007 cases. Today, we are seeing 2400+ cases off a pathetic 21000 tests. Only those completely ignorant of data would contemplate removing masking at this time."  

But, hey, here we are... 

Needless to say, dh & I don't plan on changing our personal pandemic practices anytime soon, not until the numbers improve a whole lot more -- and then remain stable for quite a while. I am pretty sure that, at the very least, we will keep wearing our masks in public indoor settings, long after the government says they are no longer required. I was thinking that once the weather got warmer and patios reopened we MIGHT venture out to dine on one. We haven't been to a restaurant (indoors or out), other than to pick up takeout, since early March 2020. No way am I doing that if vaccine passports and masks are no longer required and there are no capacity limits -- not unless and until the numbers improve substantially. 

In last month's "Right now" post, I wrote about the protests/occupation in Ottawa. To make a very long, complicated story short, the federal government (briefly) implemented the Emergencies Act -- after almost four weeks of inaction from both the local police and the province, during which the locals endured overwhelming noise, loss of business and threats to their personal safety. Over the weekend of Feb. 19th, police officers brought in from all over Ontario and Quebec gradually cleared the protesters out of the downtown core, arresting almost 200 of them, including several of the most prominent leaders, and towing scores of trucks and cars away. Vehicle windows were smashed to gain access to them. pepper spray was used, and one woman was injured and hospitalized after a too-close encounter with a police horse -- but generally speaking, the consensus has been that the police used admirable restraint. (See this Twitter thread by reporter Justin Ling.) Other protests/blockades at various points along the U.S./Canada border (including one in the small town on the Manitoba/Minnesota/North Dakota border where I was born) have mostly been cleared as well.  There are still protesters camped out in small communities around Ottawa, plotting their next moves... 

One reason why the police proceeded with such extreme caution:  an estimated 20-25% of the trucks and other vehicles clogging the streets of downtown Ottawa contained CHILDREN. (I am willing to bet that at least some of the parents who had kids camping out with them for more than three weeks -- in bitterly cold winter weather -- were the same ones complaining that their children needed to be in school during peak covid periods.) These children were effectively -- and sometimes quite literally -- being used as human shields. In some cases, parents actually put their children between themselves and the lines of advancing police officers.  As dh remarked, "And THESE are the people who get to have kids?!"   

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On the personal pandemic front:  On top of dh's weekly trips to the supermarket for groceries and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners (fewer than usual recently, because of my gallstone issues): 

• We spent time with Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's (4 visits). 
• We returned to the local mega-bookstore on Feb. 10th (for the first time since before Christmas) to pick up some Valentines for LGN & the Little Princesses. 
• I had a visit with my family doctor on Feb. 16th to discuss changing where I get my mammograms done (I'm due for another one  -- the last one was two years ago, just before covid hit...!).  I also wound up with referrals for a colonoscopy and will be getting one for a surgeon re: my gallbladder as well. (Yikes!)   
• Dh went over to Younger Nephew's townhouse nearby on Feb. 19th to help him, his father-in-law and BIL move some appliances. He/we hadn't seen BIL since Jan. 2nd, when he picked us up from the airport and dropped us off at our condo, after visiting my parents, and it had been longer than that since we'd seen either of the nephews &/or their wives. :(  Partly being covid-cautious, partly crappy winter weather/hibernation!  
• We drove with BIL & SIL last Saturday (Feb. 26th) to Older Nephew's house for dinner, where we got to spend more time with Little Great-Nephew -- AND the dog, whom we hadn't seen since LGN's birthday party, back in mid-November!  (I miss him!) 
• And dh took BIL to a local hospital for a diagnostic procedure yesterday morning (Feb. 28th).   

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 6 books in February (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books"). All really good (4 & 5 star reads), too.  Not bad, especially for a short month!:  

• "Misfits" by Michaela Coel (February pick for the Gateway Women/NoMo book club) (my review) 
• "Chasing History" by Carl Bernstein (my review) 
• "Mothering Sunday" by Graham Swift (my review) 
• "Forever Young" by Hayley Mills. (my review) 
• "The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family" by Ron Howard and Clint Howard (my review) 
• "Sisters Behaving Badly" by Maddie Please (my review) 

This brings me to 11 books read so far in 2022 -- 24% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books.  I am (for the moment, anyway) 4 books ahead of schedule. :)

Current read(s): 

• "Recipe for a Perfect Wife" by Karma Brown  (an upcoming pick for my "Clever Name" book club, which I might have picked up even without that prompt). 
• "Charlotte Fairlie" (also known as "The Fair Isle" and "Blow the Wind Southerly") by D.E. Stevenson (group read with my DES online fan group, which will wrap up in mid-March).
• "The Story Girl" by L.M. Montgomery (group read with my LMM Readathon group on Facebook, scheduled to run through mid-April).   
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 

Coming up: 

(Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and this is a great place for me to keep track of what I should read next, lol.) 

• My "Clever Name" book club went on hiatus until after Christmas, and still hasn't started up again. Upcoming books (that I haven't read yet, in scheduled order) include: 
• "Donna Has Left the Building" by Susan Jane Gilman  
• "Equal Justice: My Journey as a Woman, A Soldier, And a Muslim" by Rabia Siddique  
• "The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner 
• "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb 
• For the Gateway Women/NoMo book club: 
• "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt (March/April selection) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson fan group (no set timeframes, but these are the next ones we've agreed to read after we finish the current book, in order):  
• "House of the Deer" 
• "Anna and her Daughters" 
• "Sarah Morris Remembers" 

Also: within the private online Gateway Women community, we've formed a group to discuss Jody Day's book, "Living the Life Unexpected," one chapter per month, in a live Zoom call. (There are actually two groups -- one that's more conducive to UK/European/Australasian time zones, and one for North Americans.) Our second call was Sunday afternoon. Completing all 12 chapters will take us a full year.  If/when we complete the full 12 chapters, I'll count it as another re-read. :)  

A few recently purchased titles (in digital format, mostly discounted or purchased with points):   

• "Wayward" by Dana Spiotta 
• "Plunder" by Menachem Kaiser 
• "Vanderbilt" by Anderson Cooper 
• "Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life" by Sutton Foster 
• "You Can't Be Serious" by Kal Penn 
• "I Left My Homework in the Hamptons" by Blythe Grossberg 

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Watching:  Season 8 of "Finding Your Roots" on PBS.  Always fascinating!  

The Winter Olympics from Beijing, and the figure skating in particular -- which involved staying up well past my bedtime on some days (12:30 a.m.-ish), and/or getting up at the crack of dawn (5-6 a.m.) on others. 

"LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy," an interesting four-part series about U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, on CNN over the long weekend (President's Day in the U.S.). 

Listening: To the most recent episode of "The Full Stop" podcast. 

Eating/Drinking:  Bearpaws, soft cookies that come in a variety of flavours. SIL buys them as treats for Little Great-Nephew, which is how we first tasted them.  ;)  A nice snack to have with my tea in the afternoon, and while they're not without calories/sugar/fat, they're not as bad as the cookies I was getting from the supermarket bakery. 

Smelling:  The skunky aroma of cannabis (again)(eyeroll), wafting through the cracks in the door of our unit yesterday morning at 7:30 a.m., as I sat in the armchair, WITH the diffuser going!  (An interesting combination of scents...!)  Dh had taken BIL to the hospital for a diagnostic test (as mentioned above), and when I texted him about it, he responded that he smelled it in the hallway (through his mask) when he left our unit around 6 a.m. too. I mean, seriously??  Partying on Saturday night is one thing, but 6 and 7:30 a.m.??! 

Buying (besides books, lol):  Not a lot. We haven't been in any stores other than the supermarket this month, other than one visit to the drugstore and one to the bookstore. (Since covid began, we've been to a mall exactly twice -- and that's just within the past 7 months, and only for about an hour each time. Masks were required.) 

I bought some more sterling silver jewelry online (earrings from a flash sale on Instagram Stories... you can never have too many pairs of earrings, right?).  

The box of 5 rapid tests I ordered back on Jan. 3rd FINALLY arrived on Feb. 23rd!!  (Dh happened to be in the right place at the right time on Feb. 10th, when boxes of free tests were being handed out at the drugstore where he was picking up a prescription, and got another box of 5 then. SIL has also promised to give us a box of 5 when her own order comes in, to pay us back after we took our only box of tests over to her in early January, when she wasn't feeling well -- she tested negative.) 

Wearing: A cardigan on top of my long-sleeved T-shirts, most days, as well as both socks and slippers on my feet. It's been cold! and our floors are FREEZING!   

Trying:  Last month, I wrote "To keep busy and upbeat despite the depressing news and the cold."  I guess I could write the same this month too -- the news has been even more depressing and the weather hasn't been much better...!   

Wanting: I can't think of anything I really want, at least, anything that would be realistic. I've often answered this prompt "an end to this pandemic" and while it's not original, it's probably the one thing that would make any other "wants" easier...!    

Enjoying: Seeing the numbers on the scale going down. I try not to weigh myself too often (so that I don't obsess over what I see there) -- generally once a month at the beginning or end of the month. I am almost 15 (!) pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest (early last fall). I lost most of that weight before Christmas, when I was having so many issues with my gallstones -- but I'm down about three pounds since the new year too. 

It was a bit of a shock to realize I'd lost that much -- but I felt better when I realized it's happened over several months -- it didn't happen overnight. (I guess I'm so used to watching the numbers go up and up in recent years that to see them go down -- and keep going down -- is kind of unsettling in a way...!) My diet has been somewhat less restricted than it was before Christmas, but I haven't completely deprived myself either. I've just been trying to use less sugar and fat, eat smaller portions (trying to remind myself that -- despite my mother's admonishments to me when I was a kid -- it's okay NOT to clean my plate!) and drink lots of water. Less greasy takeout on Saturday nights too. My face looks slightly thinner, my jeans fit a little better and my ankles are not as puffy as they can be sometimes. My gallstones generally behaved themselves this month, too. Woohoo!!  

Noticing:  One of our neighbours in the townhouse development behind our building hung a banner in the colours of the Ukrainian flag outside, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. See my #MicroblogMondays post!  

Wondering:  What's going in Little Great-Nephew's head sometimes...??  He's a bright little guy (I know, I'm obviously biased...!), and it's fun to see the wheels turning, as he tries to figure things out for himself. His vocabulary is expanding -- he's starting to form simple sentences -- and his speech is getting clearer. (It would be clearer still if he didn't have a soother in his mouth constantly, lol.  But it's all part of the cuteness...!)   

Prioritizing: Getting to bed at a decent hour again, now that the Olympics are over...! (And trying to get there a little bit before I want to turn out the lights, so I can read for a while too... I find that reading at bedtime is a great way to help get through some more pages/chapters/books!) 

Waiting: To see what happens, now that most public health measures re: covid are being lifted...! 

Hoping:  That the prep for my colonoscopy (later this month) is less fraught than it was 10+ years ago...!  (And that being post-menopausal now will help  that regard...!) 

Appreciating: My country. Despite its shortcomings (and I know there are some), I know how very, VERY fortunate I am to live here! and I would not want to live anywhere else. 

Loving: The new sweaters I bought from Cleo (online, on sale) -- this one -- with square necklines, in rich jewel tones that look great on me. :)  I don't really NEED any new sweaters -- heaven knows we haven't been going anywhere that would require getting out of our yoga/PJ pants & T-shirts -- but it was a boost to my spirits to be able to buy something new & pretty. :) (And I did wear one of the sweaters to Older Nephew's house on Saturday.)  

Feeling: Apprehensive about the situation in Ukraine. :(  About those remaining protesters, lurking on private properties outside of Ottawa. And about covid restrictions being lifted. 

Also: Restless & envious. I see photos of friends & family in the U.S. (and not even in California or Florida -- okay, maybe not the ones in Minnesota, lol...!) in shorts &/or shirtsleeves, talking about their tulips poking up and saying, "Spring is (almost) here!!"  etc.  Ummm, no. Not here. Not yet. We're nowhere near being able to do any of that (with or without covid restrictions...!).  You all know I am not fond of November (lol), but February is actually my least favourite month, even if it is the shortest (the one point in its favour...!).  Grey, cold, snowy, after several months of the same already. Between the weather & covid, it feels like the best years of my retirement are swiftly passing me by. Bah humbug.    :(  

On to March!