Saturday night. I can’t believe I missed my own anniversary: one year and two days ago, on March 26, 2019, I crossed the border into Canada. I’d spent three days driving from Seattle on the mighty I-90 – 2,600 miles till the Michigan crossing, through the flooded plains of the northern states. Aside from a couple of week-long business trips back, I’ve spent all that time here in Ontario. It’s been a very strange year… I never would’ve guessed that I’d celebrate the anniversary in self-imposed isolation from a pandemic in a tiny town, holed up with my awesome Canadian girlfriend. Can’t even imagine where I’ll be in March 2021, or what the world will be like then.

As of right now, there are 2,196 officially counted covid-19 deaths in the US, and only 61 in Canada. That’s curious, considering we didn’t impose restrictions on international flights. Here is hoping there aren’t any hidden clusters ready to explode. The US situation is rapidly de-evolving… New York is the new designated scapegoat. Rhode Island police will start hunting down New Yorkers and encouraging them to get out. Governors of southern states who previously disregarded the pandemic are starting to blame New Yorkers as well. Meanwhile, Los Angeles authorities are saying they’ll likely hit New York’s levels in five days. Italy had another bad day, though still below 1,000. Spain is catching up. A minor royal somewhere died of the virus, while Trudeau’s wife supposedly recovered. There are videos of people washing all of their groceries in a sink filled with soapy water. Gf’s favourite youtuber, a makeup specialist from Guelph, has released a video showing how to make your own hand sanitizer.

My favourite blog had a very wholesome discussion on eating well while self-isolating, and quite a few folks mentioned their dough starters. They make it sound fun: a pet that you don’t need to watch over 24/7 and that can give you yummy food if you just give it some flour. Might give this a try if I get sufficiently bored.

Gf and I are catching up on our sleep, reading the pandemic news together, and watching Netflix. (Baby Driver is a strange, strange movie.) Three days from now, we’ll be in Quebec, assuming the movement between provinces isn’t blocked by then.

 

Apocalypse shopping list:

  1. Tortillas (not whole wheat)
  2. Pasta
  3. Vitamin C pills (not buffered with calcium)
  4. Purple grapes
  5. Art supplies