Columnists
Medicinal Purposes
It’s half past January. Imagine that! I’m always surprised by how quickly time passes. I find it hard to believe about four years ago I had an appointment at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston with an Endocrinologist. Upon entering the hospital, that day, we were asked all kinds of questions about our current health. Did we have a cough or a fever? Had we been out of the country in the last three months? Had we been in contact with anyone who had symptoms of influenza? Had anyone we’d been in contact with in the last three months been out of the country? I found it all very curious but was sure the only problem was a new strain of influenza must be going around and Hotel Dieu wanted to protect their visitors, staff and patients. And the rest is history, at least I think it’ll be written up as such.
You and I, we’ve navigated through lockdowns, bubbles, nasal swabs, vaccinations, line-ups, distancing, losses, working from home, home-schooling and toilet paper shortages! And, here we are. It’s quite possible we’ll be facing a winter of a renewed swat of COVID 19 infections, masking and whoknows- what. Another friend has just tested positive for the virus which means their household is on edge about “who’s next”. Is it time to stockpile bumpf? Asking for a friend. Last week I caught myself looking at the possibility of bulk buying shelf-stable foods and am thinking about having a chat with someone about going offgrid. Well, not really but it does seem like a good move if it were the direction in which I wished to move – off grid. Believe it or not, we have a chest freezer in our dining room. A chest freezer which was purchased near the end of first year into the pandemic. A pandemic purchase. We were sure it would come in handy (it has) but had no idea where it would reside in a house without a basement. It seems to be happy in the dining room. It certainly is convenient to the kitchen which is just around that corner by LOML’s desk which also resides in the dining room. I suppose we’re a bit unconventional in our approach to living, I mean dining. Anyone who has visited has been polite enough to keep their opinions of our choice of dining room decor to themselves.
So here we all are, heading into a week of real winter weather, or so the meteorologists promise. I don’t know about you but I’m feeling a bit vulnerable. I’m not looking forward to the inevitable face plant on a slippery sidewalk but I know it’s likely to happen. I had an appointment with the Oncologist which had to be rescheduled because of the weather. The weather has me a bit skittish and the number of masked people in public spaces has got my “spidey senses” twitching. I’ve chatted with several of people who have tested positive for COVID19. Most of them are surprised to find they’re testing “positive” all of the months after the big lockdowns and spokespeople —both news and medical types—saying the pandemic is over. Is it really over? Maybe we shouldn’t be too hasty in letting our guard down? Maybe it’s time to launch a pre-emptive strike against the virus that turned us into homebodies and urban survivalists in 2020? Our vaccinations are up-to-up-to-up-to-date. We’ve had seven jabs. Is that enough to keep us safe? Should I move the freezer to the spare bedroom? Maybe I could put it in my studio. How would I get the darn thing upstairs and navigate that turn near the top of the staircase? Should I inventory the pantry? Should I buy more hand sanitizer? I’ve got it! I’ll stir up a batch of sourdough starter! That seemed to be the ticket during the early days of lockdown.
This much I know about January 2024, it’s cold, it feels isolating, it could be promising and I’ve got enough coffee to get me to March. Should I go to the liquor store? You know, for medicinal purposes.
Comments (0)