People are not gathering as much in the time of Covid (and that has to be a good thing in a pandemic, don’t you think?) but you’d think they would have something to say when they do get together, wouldn’t you?
Well, we don’t!
Our friends and neighbours came out yesterday and they haven’t been here in awhile. We usually gather up and have tea or a beer and tell stories, lies, crack jokes and share the news when they come. But, well, this time when they arrived we both said the usual pleasantries and then sat poised for some news or stories or, at the very least, some gossip. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
“Waddya guys got?”
“Nuttin….nuttn’ really. Sheesh. Wadda…yooooo got?”
“Nothing. We’ve been busy puttering about but nothing that generates any stories. You know, spring cleaning, chopping wood…that kinda thing…?”
So the point of this post is that Covid had made for a relatively boring time for many of us. I am sure some people have had some exciting good or bad times but we, generally speaking, have not. Neither has anyone we know. Not really. SD had an operation, M is going through family issues, R is being thwarted by government procedures and another R is currently recovering from a health issue…………but those are not ‘exciting times’ even if they are critically important – more so if you are at the centre of it. But we are not.
Life OTG in 2021 looks very much like life OTG 2020 and both periods feel as if time kind of ground to a halt in so many ways. No, I am not bored. I am too old and content to get bored as in needing entertainment but I am kinda bored in that I can not make any kind of travel plans.
Our most exciting thing this year was seeing our beautiful grandchildren, salvaging logs, building a dock and generally getting caught up in chores. And now, the garden (woohoo!). Trips abroad were not on the agenda. Adventures never happened. Hardly anyone visited. We are good with all that and we are happy to be so content but, to be frank, we have lacked in surprises, disasters and catastrophes (knock on wood) – our story staples. Mishaps R Us. You know, if it bleeds it leads? If it blows up, too, it is even better? It has been safe and steady-as-she-goes but being safe and steady is NOT all that interesting.
Ironically, this life-in–vanilla is interesting only because it is so odd and made even more so by the banality of it. Ironic to say the least. Confusing is a better word.
Economists have already identified this weird phenomena and have predicted a soon and huge response of pent up consumer demand for ‘something’ (products, services, raw materials and socializing) that will jolt the economy back into high gear. ‘Course they are saying that at the same time as they say the economy has already BOUNCED back.
Make no mistake: the economy has not bounced back.
This is not only the time of Covid, a boring-but-ugly episode punctuated by illness and death, this is not only a time of remarkable economic lies and deceit, not only a time of political duplicity and corruption, mass delusion and divisiveness (the Trump debacle), but this is also a time of subtle-but-still-harsh reality in the form of stumbling, inept and failing governments and institutions. Society has had a wake-up call: ‘What!? The cities aren’t safe?’ ‘The police are bad?’ ‘The hospitals are full!’ ‘Many people believe insane conspiracy theories?’ ‘There is more to life than work?’ ‘Rural is good?’ ‘Money is not the only reason to live?’ ‘Government cannot take care of me?’ ‘Everyone is lying!’ ‘Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a leader?’
The world is upside down and most folks head’s are spinning. So ‘we’ in the personal sense have no news but ‘WE’ in the global sense have taken a licking and the blood keeps getting spilled. The world has had a hard time these past almost-two years.
And then there is climate change.
It may be a twist on the above described reality to say it, but it all still kinda feels like only one shoe has dropped, the calm before the storm still yet-to-come. I kinda feel another shoe is in the air……
Our Off the Grid Home 
Our work pace is definitely slower this year but we’re still busy.
Want something to talk about?
The amount of shooting in the Lower Mainland is crazy.
I cant wait for our feckless leaders (Trudeau or Horgan or Stewart) to jump on the “ban all guns” bandwagon…..again.
Only a matter of time before an innocent bystander is shot dead and THEN the politicians will put their “somber face” on and tut tut.
Cheap politics when one considers it costs nothing to create another Law that is rarely enforced because of the endless revolving door of the “justice system”..
Although they completely ignore the fact that 99% of gun crimes are with illegal (smuggled or stolen) guns.
And with the gun rules in Canada requiring all firearms to be locked up…..my money’s on the majority are smuggled from the US.
Disclosure: I own several types of firearms and have a “Restricted License”
I had to complete two security checks, involving an interview with the police as well as offering 3 friends names who had known me for at least 10 years who were also interviewed by the police.
I then had to take two firearms safety courses and join a gun club where I must renew my membership every year.
My Firearms license is renewed every 5 years and they check for any issues/charges involving violence.
If I am divorced I must inform the Firearms Licenses authority of my ex wife’s name and new address so that she can be interviewed.
Canada has one of the strictest firearms Laws in the world and every time some loser grabs his illegally obtained gun and kills someone….. all the legally registered firearms owners “take it on the chin.”
Gabriel Wortman comes to mind. ALL his firearms were illegally obtained either from the States or family members.
Here’s an idea. Minimum 2 years jail for the possession of an illegal firearm on a 1st offense.
But that would mean the govt is on the financial hook for locking up, feeding and rehabilitating the poor misunderstood criminals…..
As it stands now?
Our legal system is a joke and our leadership is worse than a joke.
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Thanks for the topic. You might be surprised at my response (I am a Greenie, pinko after all). But I agree. That horse has escaped the barn. That Pandora is out of the box. They cannot impose gun-control AFTER the guns have been freely distributed. Too late to lock the door on that mess. And, if I was in the US, I would be armed with two guns per adult (a shot gun and a pistol – we are not going to hunt animals). There should be no need for a gun ‘cept the bad guys have ’em already and the police are amongst the bad guys a portion of the time. FRankly, the gun issue is best answered by getting the hell out!
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Hahahahaha
Always able to turn the conversation back to the benefits of OTG.
two thumbs up!
🙂
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One could live to enjoy this new ‘on the down low’ way of life JD. It is kind of more stable and easy somehow, as opposed to the chaos that ‘normal’ life can entail. It is very much as you say for us, or was. Then ‘normal’ leaked in to our peaceful bubble and somewhat blew it up. A house fire, dear, sweet neighbours, her hurt, him lost, her forever sad, and TOTAL Annihilation. Crushing sadness at least. Vast emptiness added for some. I rather prefer the Peace and QUIET!!!
I wish You & Sal only the Best.🙏
PS I much suffer as you and agree likewise PM. Be Well ALL.
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Thanks for the good wishes but, as you know, I live in heaven with an angel. I am doin’ pretty damn good. In fact, I am happy. I am not 100% sure because there is not a lot of difference in me on the surface……one way or the other. My face has two countenances: blank and grouchy. Not much makes me grouchy out here, just about everything makes me grouchy in town. One thing is for sure – I am hugely addicted to peace and quiet with only bird song, whale pfffts and squirrel chatter to break the silence. Quiet is good.
I also have to admit that ‘exciting adventure’ can come by way of thrills and fun or pain and suffering. I much prefer the former. Stable, boring and beautiful is a more than acceptable state out here.
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