Sixty-seven weeks! My friend Steph (HI STEPH) mentioned that at some point soon, she would stop using “Coronavirus Chronicles” in her blog titles, as she has been doing for – probably – sixty-seven weeks, and it reminded me that I, too, must consider when to stop the weekly count. The problem is, when? Do I stop when the pandemic is officially OVER, as declared by the World Health Organization? Do I stop when it’s over in Canada? In Alberta? When I can go on vacation without fear of debilitating illness? What shall I do with this entirely optional and arbitrary rule that I have brought on myself?
Sixty-seven weeks into the pandemic, and it’s been a pretty exciting one in the Boyhouse, as the boys – all three of them – received their second vaccinations on the weekend. This happened a full two and a half weeks before I thought they would get their shots, god bless the good people at the Pharmasave down the street. That Pharmasave opened up in 2019 and it has been a godsend for this community.
I’m so happy we are all vaccinated because as of July 1 our province has declared us all “Open For Summer” which means, as far as I can tell, a total free-for-all in terms of health protocols. Um, guys? Can we ease into things here? I have already noticed that the maximum capacity for places such as Costco and Superstore have been increased, as both places felt uncomfortably crowded to me this week, although people are still masked and, as far as they can, distancing. I personally do not feel ready to attend any venues, indoor or outdoor, that are crowded and possibly maskless.
So here is a question for my American friends: if your state is “open” and all the mask mandates and other health protocols have been dropped, how are you doing? Are Covid numbers spiking or is everything…normal? I guess what I’m asking is should I expect a fourth Covid wave, or are things going to be okay?
In any case, we aren’t really changing our behaviour around here, except to visit with our vaccinated friends and family, which will be nice. I have no plans to, for example, eat in a restaurant or go to any place where there might be crowds (Stampede, I’m looking at you.) I will continue to mask up when I need to be indoors; you will have to tear my cute, outfit-coordinated mask off my cold, dead face. With that in mind, we are all ready to dive into summer, and we have ALSO been having actual summer weather, as in “non-Calgary” summer weather! We have had beautiful heat interspersed with a day of intense rain, and so the garden is very happy and so am I.
Outfit of the Week
Probably the very best thing about living where I do is the proximity to the Rockies; there is so much beauty right on our doorstep.
My soul sister Janet (HI JANET) and I went on a fairly epic hike last week; it was a total of about 13 kilometres, with about 950 metres of elevation, and it felt like most of that elevation was in the last kilometre. Hoo boy, that was a booty burner. Look at that view, though!
This week’s outfit is a hiking outfit, complete with hiking poles. I cannot recommend hiking poles enough for high-elevation hikes. Going up is one thing, coming down is another. I don’t think I could have done it without my poles, I would still be up at the top. Even with poles, I slipped and fell on my aforementioned booty a couple of times on the way down.
It was a pretty hot day, and I love this old tank from lululemon for outdoor activities, as it is fairly high in the neck so as to protect that delicate skin in the chest area. These tights are technically running tights, but they are great as they have side pockets to slip a phone in for easy photo-taking access.
If you’re hiking in the Rockies, good boots and socks are a must. It seems weird to wear heavy wool socks with heavy hiking boots on a hot summer day, but both are a must for blister prevention and ankle support on rough, uneven terrain.
Pandemic Reading
A Very Punchable Face. This was a pretty fun read. Some parts dragged but mostly it was interesting to read about Jost’s life going from Staten Island to Harvard – he was in the Harvard Lampoon – to becoming a writer on SNL. He was very young when he started at SNL, like 22, which surprised me. There were lots of details about how he felt like he didn’t belong: as a child, at Harvard, at SNL. As Suzanne (HI SUZANNE) said, I could have done with a lot FEWER details about the many times he soiled his pants as an adult, although I could also have skipped that chapter, so caveat emptor. In general, it was pretty entertaining. The chapter on “notes from the censor” alone is worth the read. Oh, and he and Michael Che were in a match at Wrestle Mania and thanks to the people I live with, I actually understood that chapter and recognized all the wrestler names, at which time I stared into space for a while and wondered who, exactly, I have become.
The Other Black Girl. Wow, this was one of the most original and unsettling books I’ve ever read. I read A Lot and I had no idea how this was going to go. It really asks the question about what POC give up to achieve success in a white world: does one go along to get along, or fight the power? Disturbing and engrossing. I really liked it.
As a privileged white woman, I believe it is my job to listen to and read about other people’s experiences in the world. It’s very common for white people to say “I don’t see colour” but what I am hearing is that this attitude is hurtful and dismissive to people of colour. Through my reading and listening I am learning about microaggressions and ingrained racism – most white people would deny racism, but I think there is more to it than that. I think there are generations of ingrained attitudes before us, and we need to listen to and learn from people of colour and what their lives are like on a day-to-day basis in a white-dominant world. This book really brought that home for me.
The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton. I admit I nearly took this back to the library upon the reveal, in the first chapter, that the main character is a hoarder. No thanks. But I try to be an open minded person and so I kept reading. It’s a strange combination of charming, light mystery-romance, and grim and dark story about loss and undiagnosed mental illness. It’s weirdly satisfying but also kind of depressing. Throughout the book I kept thinking in my Mom Voice “MAKE BETTER CHOICES.”
Happy start-of-summer, everyone! I hope you have a beautiful week. xo
Gorgeous views and photos!
We are Fully Open in my state and things seem to be going okay, so far. The Covid census at my husband’s hospital is WAY down – like from triple digits to very low teens – and the key factor is that nearly ALL of those patients are unvaccinated. My daughter is in camp so I am anxious about a camp spike at any moment but so far so good.
I forgot to tell you, I think, that I listened to the Jost audiobook and it wad narrated by Jost which I found very charming. His voice is familiar to me, from SNL, and he seemed to find himself amusing in some places and grew quite sad in others and Very Indignant in the censor chapter. Would definitely recommend.
That is such hopeful news, to me. I am just so nervous about Everything Opening Up.
The audiobook sounds like a really good idea. I like his voice, and I think I’d like hearing how his voice would change with the chapters. I actually took photos of the censor chapter so I could look at it later when I needed a lift. “We are okay with KILLING things, but not rats. McDonald’s has never served rat meat” is one of the funniest things I have heard.
We too have been uncertain when to stop marking the weeks on our wall calendar. We stopped THIS week, after my last child got his second shot, figuring that if we need to start writing numbers again, we will, but we’re not really In Lockdown anymore: the twins are taking an in-person driver’s ed class this summer, we’re going to dentist/doctor/optometrist appointments again, we’re seeing vaccinated family/friends.
This is great news and makes me very hopeful!
‘Make better choices’ makes me think of a friend who used to tell his kids that the family motto was: ‘don’t do stupid things.’ Same sentiment just phrased differently. Anyhow, summer is here, it’s week 67 of my husband working from home, and life is dandy. We are healthy, what more could I want?
“Don’t do stupid things” – the mantra of moms of teen boys everywhere!
Healthy and happy, I love it! Me too 🙂
My county has one of the highest vaccination rates in the whole country. There are a few places where masks are still required, hospitals, public transportation, ride-sharing services, and movie theaters being the ones that have affected me in the past couple weeks. (North gets their regular medical care at a hospital.) Even though it’s not required, most people seem to wear masks inside stores but not outside. That’s what I’ve been doing.
North’s camps are a mixed bag. Two being held outside, one cancelled, one going on as usual. Beth’s office is open at 25% capacity, so she goes in about once a week. The indoor pool where I used to swim laps is still closed, but there’s an outdoor pool near us that’s open and you no longer have to make an appointment like last summer. I still haven’t been to an indoor restaurant, but we’re thinking about doing it soon.
I’m so glad your vax rates are high. I think over 70% of people here have had one dose, and 30% of those are fully dosed. It’s a bit of a slow process but we are getting there.
NJ is all open and things are going pretty well! I do see many people continuing to wear masks in stores and all around which I think might be a combination of habit and status? I continue to wear mine in public but my younger son is, as of today, fully vaccinated, woo hoo! I just feel like it’s polite to continue to mask for the time being but as a family we will likely start indoor dining again.
The Other Black Girl sounds great, going to put it on my to read list.
Oh, that’s great to know – thank you! I’m continuing to mask here even when it’s not mandatory (it still is, I’m just planning ahead).
Love, love, love the beautiful scenic photos. That is where you live? Gorgeous. I had the best hiking boots when I lived in Ireland in college and we visited other countries and hiked and walked. Great memories.
We all hesitate when we enter a building lately, “mask required?” They are not required in many places besides doc offices. Not sure of our numbers but I am not hearing of anyone testing positive or quarantining or anything anymore.
That POC book sounds very interesting.
So happy thst you are enjoying summer weather.
It’s only an hour drive away from where I live, isn’t that amazing?
We are open here and mask-less IF you are vaccinated. I continue to mask and stay out of places as much as I possibly can – only because I don’t trust that all these mask-less people are vaccinated – the amount of people not yet vaccinated is ridiculous.
Even though it seems our numbers are fairly low – I’m also eyeballing the Delta variant (trying not to freak myself out – but again so many people are NOT vaccinated).
The “maskless if vaccinated” thing is crazy to me as I just assume all the same people who are anti-mask would also be anti-vax. Argh!
Right?!
I’m in Colorado, in a county that’s highly vaccinated: a bit more than 80% of the vaccine-eligible population has received at least 1 dose, equivalent to almost 54% of the total population. We’re adjacent to a county that isn’t publishing their data in percent eligible terms, but almost 40% of their total population has been vaccinated. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and are both working at home until at least September.
According to the most recent news reports, 40% of the state’s current cases are delta variant.
The state said in mid-May that no masks are needed for kids under 11, and no masks needed for the vaccinated. The no masks for under 11 thing has me stressed because they can’t be vaccinated and I have a kid in that age range. I would LOVE it if we could go back to masks being mandated for ages 2-11 and if masks were required or there was some sort of vaccine status indicator for adults. I’m still primarily doing groceries for pickup and we are not going to playgrounds/the library/etc. at all. As best I can tell, nobody is trying to mitigate the risk of transmission in public. I had to go into a grocery store 3 weeks ago and there were practically no masks, no distancing, no nothing. And maybe it was fine and everyone was vaccinated, but how can you tell? And, given the vocal anti-vax, anti-mask groups, how can you trust? I know the CDC’s position is that if you’re vaccinated, you don’t have to worry about whether or not other people have covid19, but that leave parents who are concerned about their kids completely out in the cold.
Those mountains look like a Hollywood backdrop. Seriously gorgeous! I guess it makes up for some of your harsh weather. Love the book recommendations. You are on the pulse. I’m out of touch with the SNL crowd (and have been for about 20 years lol), but you’ve led me to some good titles and steered me away from others. Thks Nicole!
Hello Neighbour Nicole! I love your blog’s tagline “putting the OM in OMG.” Calgary’s close proximity to the awesome Rockies may be one advantage you have over Edmonton, but may I remind you — FIVE Stanley Cups to your ONE, eh? After not eating in a restaurant since March 2020, we had dinner in one last week and today I’m going for lunch with friends in another one. I am LIVIN’ ON THE EDGE! Have a great day and try not to melt in the heat!
I really hope you guys don’t end up with a Covid spike after Stampede. We’re just entering phase 2 so we can hang out with people outside again and I can get a haircut (while wearing a mask). I think eating inside a restaurant will be the last thing that comes back for me, between Covid anxiety and having two kids in university next school year.
I really hope we don’t either, fingers crossed.
I love the idea of a high-necked tank. I will look for one for me.
Where did you get your poles? PT recommended them for A and suggested I might like them too if the descents make me nervous (heights).
I am also thinking about the count. My colleague who likes to use Days. The Day Count was too close to my own day count for COVID healing. I never thought about it in weeks so your way of counting WINS.
I am pretty sure it was MEC where they came from!
Florida’s been open for a WHILE – I’m talking, in May 2020, my hair salon was open. And Florida never had a statewide mask mandate (*eye roll*) but thankfully, our county had one + neighboring counties did, too. And most places had capacity limits and things like that. But now we’re fully open and have been for a while. I’m comfortable being maskless indoors since I’m fully vaccinated, but also understand that many people aren’t just yet. It was a traumatic year+ we all went through!
I have both Colin Jost and The Other Black Girl on my TBR – I really need to get around to them! And I loooved your paragraph about reading widely and considering other perspectives and recognizing our own inherent biases. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s GOOD for us to sit in that uncomfortableness and recognize the steps we need to take to do better.
You’re exactly right; it is not comfortable, but it is so good for us to be uncomfortable with it.
I am so glad things are going back to normal for you!
Hi Nicole, just landed over here from Stephany’s blog and wanted to say hi and also chime in. I am a German/American Dual Citizen – but my family lives in Germany. So many in my German community are flying home this summer, but I am honestly not ready to travel… I am vaccinated, feel “safer” seeing vaccinated American family and friends, but I am not ready to travel internationally at all (don’t know what’s going to happen after everyone is traveling this summer) and definitely won’t be going anywhere without a mask anytime soon.
Hi San! Thanks so much for reading! I am with you on that, international travel seems scary to me right now. Our city just officially dropped the mask mandate yesterday, except in certain areas (medical, government property, public transit). I am still going to wear mine for a while though.
Your mountains kick my mountains ass. The views. The hike. The outfit. LOVE it all! I’m so happy you are having warm summer weather and of course, you are out there enjoying every minute of it.
Your books sound very interesting. I’ve just recently heard of this Jost child. I mean, he IS a child isn’t he?
Florida has been open for a long time. The mask mandate in our county and adjacent just ended about 4-5 weeks ago though. So far, numbers have not spiked. The same for Georgia. I honestly think that the HOT weather and people not contracting the virus as easily really IS A THING. We’ve been enjoying ‘all things normal’ for a while and I wish that everyone else was able to as well.