Opening Statement



Wednesday 8 April 2020

My COVID-19 Diary 2: Toronto Daze!



Fuck! Sometimes I wake up. Open my eyes. Hope this has all just been a bad dream. But no! 

2020 has crashed and burned. Our old world now seemingly long gone, another  lifetime ago. The virtual debris scattered around us, in dribs and drabs of breaking news alerts, online and from the TV set. Rife with COVID-19 horror stories. The insidious virus dirtying the air. Tainting anything we might touch, outside our tightly dead bolted door. Every aspect of our once safe life here in Toronto Canada.

Janet and I have been in isolation for a month, since returning home from our travels. After the first 14 daze of self isolation, we were listless but in good humour. Feeling fine. Since then everyone's been advised to just stay indoors. So here we still are.

Except for our weekly shopping trip to load up on groceries and household supplies. Costco in Vaughan has a good, safe and orderly system in place. With well trained staff. Social distancing strictly enforced. Line jumpers are quickly put in their place, by staff, rather than the angry shoppers. So far, there's been no pushing, shoving or fights either.

We tried home delivery from Pizza Pizza and Shoppers Drug Mart. What a nightmare! Reassured by their long list of safety procedures, we placed our order over the phone. Only, in both cases, to have a poor, bedraggled delivery man show up.

No masks or gloves. Leaning right up against our door. Wanting more money. 

Tips? Fees? Sure! We ask in advance for them to be put on plastic. Don't want to handle any money. No way! Then this. 

How awkward and unpleasant! My heart goes out to these guys. Probably just left to their own devices, or lack thereof. Working for minimum wage or less. But we aren't interested in taking any more sloppy risks. No way! 

Amazon's delivery service is good. A quick drop off. Just a knock on the door. Then they disappear unseen, back into Toronto and the deep, dark COVID-19 night.

Other than that? So far only the weed man has got it right! Proper PPE's. Social distancing. A quick, friendly, safe delivery and he's gone.

Get this -he's "unregulated". Doing it illegally. But right. And so it goes.

Anyway, our grocery bill this week, along with some basic household supplies, added up to over $650. That's just for the 2 of us! We're light eaters, so that seems pretty excessive. Leaves me thinking that lots of folk must be feeling the pinch pretty bad. Probably a lot worse than us!



As for pandemic essentials: Well, toilet paper is back in stock .... But not gloves, wipes or masks. So we improvise. Scrounge. Will be okay for a bit. 

But the clock is always clicking. Time marches on. The echoing seconds, minutes, hours and days, all too ready, willing and able to fill us with dread. 

We mostly ignore time now. Are not very tired because we don't do much. The lines between morning, noon and night blurring endlessly, amongst the new normal of uncertainty, while stuck inside, twiddling our thumbs at home. Our lives on endless hold. Measured in-between the latest public service announcement on the TV set.

It's very here and now though. Perhaps it's good in a way. We just live life day by day. There's not very much else we can do. Except be here now.

I realize how lucky I am to be stuck here at home with Janet. We look out for each other. Are comfortable with just being together, doing nothing. I was kind of worried when she retired last fall. Knew that she'd be at home full time now with me. Never quite realizing just how much time together that would actually turn out to be. 

But our love is very sound and reassuring. And we work great together as a team, both on the road and off. 

It's a last vestige of any real human contact, of being directly in touch with anyone. Hand in hand. Our two hearts still beating as one.

I don't know what I would do without her now. So rather than think about it, I just count my blessings, as we cuddle together. Doing our part to save the world, by just staying at home. Trying real hard not to do anything but anything to screw up, as we watch the world outside our door seemingly fall apart. As more and more folk all around the world and in Canada die from the virus.

Rather melodramatic? Well, the new normal really is a existential crisis. Very hard to figure out. Let alone explain.

COVID-19 is too widespread to be fake news. But it's certainly an opportunity many of our so called "leaders" will try to exploit.

As for us? Everything remains so uncertain on the homefront. I know we made a mistake going out to the stores, to restock our empty shelves with food and household supplies, when we first got back. But just a short month ago, there wasn't much clear info on what was happening. Or what we must do. Not even at the airport, when we got off the plane.

Fortunately, it seems that we are clean of the virus. Then again, who really knows?



It's very hard to even just plan ahead. We're a lot more cautious. Hoping for the best. Keeping safe from the frightening grip of an invisible enemy, lurking under a cloud of darkness, just outside our door.

And it's not just the coronavirus. To wit:

In Canada, we've got Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's morning Q+A to watch before lunch everyday. Not ostensibly a fan, I still find his "we are all in this together" messaging very reassuring. Bang on. But actions speak louder than words. Let's wait and see.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford seems to have had a big change of heart. I still don't trust him, but at least now he's listening to the medical experts, rather than his political cronies, unlike his buddy President Donald Trump. But as we know, he often says one thing. Does something else.

Due south, only Lake Ontario divides Toronto from the new epicentre of the world coronavirus pandemic, as the USA senselessly spins out of control. A very sad, scary spectacle. Reminds me of of why I am so glad we live here in Canada. At least we've got a good head start in flattening the COVID-19 curve.

Oddly enough, socialism seems to have finally arrived on our North American shores. Or rather corporate socialism, in the form of huge, business, financial bail outs, that's for sure. And just watch -soon Justin will also toss his greedy pipeline and oil industry bosses a huge cash surprise. Der Donald too!

But in Canada, including Ontario, the political corner for we lowly plebs; the everyday citizen, has also been finally turned, for now at least. Healthcare spending is being hastily restored. There's now a guaranteed income plan, more or less. Plus there's suddenly emergency aid for our shelters and other social nets. Our most needy, fellow citizens, are hopefully being thrown a lifeline too. Then there's assistance with mortgages, if not your rent.

Of course, we've still got a long way to go, to make Canada a real social democracy. But now hopefully, there's no going back, to the bad old ways.

As for the States? Some promising signs, but good luck!

And so, the endless daze and nights tick by. Apparently, the COVID-19 pandemic here in Ontario will peak this month. Though it's projections to return in waves, for another year and a half or two. Then again, maybe not. 

Who knows? Rather than worry endlessly and get stressed out, Janet and I are trying our best to relax. How?

With books! So far I've read Baba Ram Dess' "Be Here Now". A whole whack of William Burroughs novels. I've also broken down and bought a Kindle. Am now reading Albert Camus' "The Plague". Some cheap zombie thrillers. Both very fitting. And Janet's got a stack of old Danielle Steel romancers to take her mind off of things.

There's Netflix and Crave on the TV set. Plus a huge backlog of shows on the PVR, from while we were away. We're even finally finishing off the last of the Homeland and The American's series. Good old Nancy Drew has been good for some laughs and intrigue too. She's really grown up from the daze of yore.

Our newscasts include Trudeau before lunch. Ford after. Der Donald around dinner time. Chris Coumo at 9pm or 1 am. On and on it goes!

I've been on a British blues rock binge in my man cave this week, when I need some time out. Pulled out my Animals, Cream, and Humble Pie box sets for yet another spin on the stereo. And I've taken a liking to Billie Eilish too.



Then there's the tokes! Janet and I like a nice pot of Mary's Tea to try to fall asleep at night -60 mg THC. 6 mg CBD. Then there's a 250 mg THC Euphoria Extract's "Shatter Bar" that I've been nibbling away at. Plus the two 1000 mg packs of Herbal Angel's "Rick Simpson Oil" that I'm still working on. Some Spectrum oils. And lots of various CBD's, which we both really love a lot! Very healthy!

Let's face it -Smoking pot isn't as bad as smoking tobacco. But neither is great for your health. Especially when you consider that any respiratory problems can make us more susceptible to the coronavirus. So I've cut back on my toking quite a bit. 

I still occasionally enjoy a hit or two of Bruce Banner or Catatonic in my Shatterizer. Got a little leftover Pine Tar Kush and Purple God bud from the ME Community Exchange, to leisurely toke in my good ol' Pax vaporizer. Then there's my favourite fall back, some tasty caps of God Bud and Kosher Kush weed, that I enjoy in my trusty  Storz and Bickel. 

At times like this, a bud vaporizer seems the way to go. Easier on the lungs. Though nowadays, the edibles definitely account for most of my highs.

Thank God for cannabis! It certainly keeps us smiling, no matter what!

Be Well!

A Su Salud/
To Your Health!

David C

PS: I'll continue to update my Oh Cannabis and Teacher Free Speech News and Views blogs. Am active on Twitter. More to follow. Stay high! Please tune in! Share my link!

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