A year of living... not living a certain way or for a certain thing or doing anything special, right now a year of living is the only thing many people have to hold on to. About a year ago, we "locked down" and changed the way we lived. So, having the privilege of still being alive, here are some memories from the last year.
The uncertainty of what was to come upended several supply chains including that of toilet paper. It was so notable that Boy Canerican seemed concerned that we might run out. To quell his concerns we did mathematical estimations on usage and supply to show that we didn't think we would have a TP problem.
The beach changed some lives in a flash when our close friend went ass over tea kettle under a wave while boogie boarding. The event took place the day before my 40th birthday. A very near miss of both paralysis and death, his recovery was slow at first, and still ongoing. We're thankful he's mostly recovered, and I think the event helps remind us to love what and who we have.
Every news outlet everywhere started using the word amid in one form or another. It was almost like the word had never existed before and suddenly was all the rage. I took a lot of screenshots of these because I was fascinated. Here's a handful of them:
- The water in Venice, Italy's canals is running clear amid the COVID-19 lockdown
- NYC to being releasing inmates amid coronavirus outbreak
- Trump pleads with young people to "reconsider their routines" amid outbreak
- Government extends tax deadline to June 1 amidst COVID-19 outbreak
- Calgary Stampede announces mass layoffs amid COVID-19 outbreak
- De Blasio pleads with Trump for military aid amid 'staggering' spike in coronavirus cases
- City of Regina suspends parking tickets around General Hospital amid pandemic
- Save-On-Foods temporarily bans reusable bags amid COVID-19 crisis
- Premier Doug Ford 'frustrated' over large lines outside store amid video game release
See how that last title swung the amid into a new topic. Outstanding work there writers, just outstanding. Anyway - these titles faded away as we no longer recognized the need to write the words amid or amidst anymore... because the state of being in the pandemic took on a more distinct sense of permanence and normalcy. I still see it from time to time but not nearly as frequently and often times unrelated to the pandemic. Today's search yields:
- Sharon Osbourne Apologizes for 'Panicked' Defense of Piers Morgan amid Meghan Markle Controversy
So clearly the media has returned to normal rates and application of the word.
This year there has also been lots of borscht, bread, hikes, walks, sunsets, camping,
comfortable bras, leggings, pokemon go, and print media. We got a paid print subscription to
The New Yorker and
The Walrus. There's something exciting about receiving print media in your mailbox, but also the writing, art and comics are really great. I learned (among other things) about immunology, Canada's public health history, deep sea exploration and even a German war bunker converted to host questionable websites. I also used a bunch of credit card "travel" points to get a handful of free home design and cooking magazines. Mr. Canerican has to look away from my corner of the lounge filled with stacks of magazines and
Ottolenghi cookbooks. It is my refuge from the glut of digital time needed to fulfill the duties of my work and stay "connected" to humans.
Speaking of my corner of the lounge... in late spring we were gifted a used rug. Think mostly red, Persian, traditional, about 12x9 like
this one. Our friends were going to throw it out, they thought we might put it in our garage. Instead, we refactored our living room to fit the rug and I renamed the room "the lounge". This rug has some real history, it was purchased many years ago at a discount during an event while our friends were intoxicated, and has some loved, worn places from furry friends of their past.
The inspiration sparked by the rug came from two sources. The first was a lounge we used to visit in our local area that was dimly lit and full of weird eclectic items. The second was a room known as "Fanny's room" in the basement of the home I grew up in. This room had a similar rug, and so many memories from my childhood. The room was a sitting and music room. It seemed no one ever went to the room except for me although I'm sure it had a night life I was unaware of. Here's a description of the items in the room I remember:
- Warm sconce type lighting on a dimmer (oh, yeah)
- A terribly hard, uncomfortable provincial looking sofa (blue), chair (brown), coffee and end table from somewhere around the 1960s
- A corner bar filled with various bar and glassware from the 60s and 70s (with several pieces I would now find offensive because of their depiction of women...)
- A foot pump driven player piano from the early 1900s - it didn't work very well, but the roll for Blueberry Hill was my go to
- An oval framed photo of my Dad dressed up like a cowboy at the age of about 7
- A large stereo record player that I used to listen to Mom's Jane Fonda workout records on 2x for entertainment
Our own lounge has 3 reclining chairs, a reclining loveseat, a digital keyboard (which I play occasionally), a record player, 2 paintings we purchased at a thrift store in Kamloops in 2001, a forest scene painting our neighbor left on the curb a couple months ago, and of course, the glorious, free, well loved rug.
Ok, well there is more to write, so I updated the title to add "Part 1" and will try to add another soon. Until then - remember to love what you have rather than want what you don't.
Comments
Post a Comment