Sunday night. While we cuddled and had even more deep conversations, the world kept sliding down. The death toll in the US is 9,666. Once it gets past 10,000 in a few hours, that should generate some headlines… Folks are getting worried about the Villages – retirement communities in Florida, home to 125,000 elderly. They’re not taking the virus seriously at all, and once it sweeps through, it won’t be pretty.

Ecuador’s government has issued an apology after failing to collect hundreds of corpses. Uploaded videos show rows of body bags stacked on top of one another, overflowing into the hospital parking lots. People were leaving their dead in the streets in a major city because there were no other alternatives. It’s pretty certain that Ecuador’s official death toll is a lie. I fear for the rest of South America, especially Brazil.

Meanwhile, here, at the rural Quebec utopia, things are embarrassingly normal. I’ve started my own sourdough starter with some flour, water, a few bread crumbs, an old grape, and some tangerine peel. With luck, it’ll generate yeast and get us some delicious bread – and yes, I know how grotesque that sounds in a world that’s falling apart at the seams.