Posts with the mask tag

Barris Beat

Mind the gap

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
A Boston cream donut helps reveal what’s needed to return to normalcy.

It’s been a ritual for years. Generally, on Saturdays, I convene adults and kids in the family Donut Club. I rustle up the donuts. They readily eat them. And through most of those years, the orders for the kids have been the same – chocolate-glazed or sprinkled donuts from Bredin’s Bakery in town. Well, the pandemic and the closure of the bakery changed all that. The Donut Club hasn’t met as regularly as it used to. But last Saturday morning, I put out the call for the donut orders anyway.

“Boston Cream, please,” came back one order.

“Boston Cream? Since when?” I asked.

Well, because everything’s been turned upside down for these past two years. And the donut delivery guy (me) has been separated from the donut eaters (them) for quite a while. (more…)

Barris Beat

Non-essential travel, the real antidote

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Iconic nomadic life in a van. eTags.com

As we all find ourselves craving to talk to somebody and do it at close range, I bumped into a friend outside the grocery store recently. And we got caught up. First things first; we made sure we were both double-vaccinated. Then, we lowered our masks, so that we didn’t sound like we were mumbling, kept our distance, and began to catch up on each other’s lives.

“Everybody well in the family?” I asked.

“Yup,” she said. “All doubled-vaccinated, including away-from-home kids.”

“I noticed you sold your house recently. Are you leaving town?”

“We’re leaving everything,” she said. “We’re going to try the nomadic life.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Strangers in the blight

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Col. Dr. Ian Anderson, though retired, continues to serve Canadians in a time of pandemic.

We met because of COVID. Having retired from a surgical practice just before the pandemic struck, Dr. Ian Anderson found that he had a bit more time on his hands. Consequently, he began to read more of the non-fiction books on his shelf, in particular writings about Canadian military medical personnel. During the Alberta lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, he found time to read my book Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire. That’s when he corresponded.

“I read history and biography,” Anderson wrote in a letter to me in 2020. “The truth is always better than the imagination.”

Thus began a correspondence that has continued through the pandemic. (more…)

Barris Beat

What COVID-19 has wrought

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

It was one of those break-through moments, one that a lot of us have waited for all these many weeks, since the pandemic descended on us. My wife and I were visiting with members of the immediate family, inside our acceptable bubble. I motioned to one of the grandchildren, with my arms. She looked to her mom for permission. Mom gave her the nod. Out went her arms.

“Oh, hurray!” we both sighed, “a real hug!” (more…)