Where are the good bits?

Thanks R for today's window decoration

Let me be really clear: there is nothing cool about the covid 19 outbreak itself. There are, however, some cool things happening because of the situation in which we now find ourselves.  Yesterday someone posted a photo of a silly-face drawing taped up in a window.  I didn’t know anything about it, so I asked for more information. Neighbourhood window walk encourages people to post drawings on different topics in their windows so that folks who are out for a walk have something different to look at. What a great idea! The suggestion for March 23 is animals. Now when I’m walking in the neighbourhood, I’ll look for window decorations. I have never seen so many people out walking as I have in the last few days.

I’ve found myself enjoying photos from the Facebook groups Alberta Bird Photographers, Alberta Wildlife Photographers and How to Photograph Birds. Alberta Wildlife Photographers posted that they have had 85 new members join in the last week. And, the number of photos being posted seems to be increasing as well. A cousin sent me a link to Cornell Ornithology Lab and from there I discovered several real-time cameras set up at feeding stations. There was a ruffed grouse doing an elaborate display and a time lapse of an owl’s nest from eggs until the time the owlets fledged. I know that birds are not everyone’s thing, but I assume that there are groups out there for just about every interest and that they too will be ramping up their content.

The National Arts Centre and Facebook have teamed up to provide concerts online and the artists will be paid. Here are a couple of links.

·      https://nowtoronto.com/music/national-arts-centre-facebook-livestream-grant/

·      https://nac-cna.ca/en/media/newsrelease/25880

Thanks C, C, and N!

In a way the simplification of life is a refreshing gift. Many of the tasks on my long-term To-Do list are on hold and I don’t need to think about them. Get some electrical work done around the house: on hold. Get the locks fixed: on hold. Call someone to get the trees trimmed: on hold. Have a look for a replacement for the pot that is chipping: not right now. I’m grateful that most of the stuff around our house is working and that we are well.  Today we spent a few minutes sitting on the step outside the shop. It was spring-time warm and sheltered from the wind. We watched drops of water fall as the snow melted and Richard played his ukulele. It’s safe to say that I wouldn’t have even noticed the opportunity to enjoy a moment like this if not for covid 19. I’m not saying that I’m always Little Mary Sunshine about this – far from it. I’ve had days when I didn’t even want to raise my head but, at the moment, I choose not to write about those: I want to spend as little time there as possible.

A former teaching partner used to talk to the kids about looking for the ‘good bits’ in a story or poem. Not exactly the correct literary term but the kids got it. I intend to also look for the ‘good bits.’ Today in our mailbox we found an envelope that had been hand delivered. Inside were three pieces of origami done by the kids who live across the back alley from us. We are finding ways e to stay in touch and to make moments in the day just a little brighter for each other and that, to me, is worth celebrating.