Living in a Slow-Motion Train Wreck

Am I the only one or has anyone else noticed the surreal nature of life nowadays.

On the one hand, everything seems to be just ticking over nicely. The radio station still plays normal music. TV shows are still airing with no sign of social distancing (filmed before C-Day). Water still flows out of the taps. The sun still gets up and shines. Birds are chirping excitedly and making nests, planning for their future.

On the other hand, the news tells us that the number of cases and deaths is rising dramatically. Going out for a walk in the woods is fine until one encounters another hiker and then there is this 6 ft dance around each other with smiled, but cautious Hellos. Traffic is much less than normal. And let's not even talk about going to the stores to shop... trying to find what I want on partially empty shelves while dodging masked and gloved shoppers. Conversing with the check-out person through a plexiglass shield. And the level of anxiety in the stores is enough to make the skin crawl.

But then... I come home and everything seems just fine. Life goes on. We work in the garden and the house, hacking down the length of our to-do lists. But there is always the worry... when is the tsunami of this train wreck going to hit us? Is it going to hit us?? British Columbia's numbers over the weekend seemed pretty good... does that mean we are flattening the curve? But then we read about Alberta, Quebec and Ontario, where cases are rising rapidly and we wonder... have we dodged a bullet?

I know that in the coming years and decades (maybe even months), books and papers will be written about this time. What we did. How we did. And most importantly... what we did wrong. It feels like I'm living in a history book except... it's dragging on forever... this is the slow-motion part. I have read books about the Second World War but... those books can be read in hours and days... I know that the Blitz happened over months and yet... it feels like it happened in a few hours. Because I'm just reading about it... not living it.

And I have to say... this living in slow-motion history sucks! The level of uncertainty is probably the worst thing. The not knowing...

• how long will this last
• when will life get back to "normal"
• what will "normal" look like after this is all over
• will this ever be over
• why are some churches in the US still open!!!
• will we get sick
• what if we get sick
• what if one of us gets really sick
• what if...

With every visit to the grocery store feeling a bit like a game of Russian Roulette... I'm not sure how many more trips I can gird myself for... We only have 72 cases on Vancouver Island but... there is always the unknown of the asymptomatic... the ones who might be infected but not showing symptoms... and the ones who are infected but never show symptoms...

Argh...

And so... we garden, like we do every spring. Maybe with a bit more mindfulness of what seeds to sow... what do we eat the most of, that we can grow easily... Greens! Lots of mesculun (lettuce mix), kale and swiss chard. We sow the seeds... the sun and rain come... and the plants grow. In all the uncertainty around the virus... there is a certainty deeply rooted in nature. So, perhaps, while society and culture teeter with uncertainty, now is a good time to cling to something solid. Goodness... I sound like a prophet for the Gaia religion... Not intended... The shrinks tell us to focus on what we can control... and right now... gardening is that... till the soil, fertilize the crops... and weed. When in doubt... there is ALWAYS weeding to be done.