Posts with the pandemic tag

Barris Beat

All that’s Jazz

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My newfound walking partner – Jazz!

Through most of her professional working life, she was devoted to her students. Planning lessons. Marking papers. Grading. For something like 40 years. But a couple of years ago, Karen retired. Then, the pandemic hit, and suddenly she had plenty of time on her hands. She chose this moment to buy a Golden Retriever puppy. And guess who now has no time except for the dog?

“The Golden is pretty much the counter cleaner,” she told a group of Probus Club meeting I attended this week. “He jumps up and takes whatever he wants. I’m pretty much a dog-sitter 24/7.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Travel by swab

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Going into and returning from the U.S., requires a swab. But which one?

There were several of us sitting in the consultation area of a local Uxbridge pharmacy last week – all of us waiting, most of us doing this for the first time, and everybody looking a bit anxious. The woman next to me – well, actually two metres away – was busy texting somebody. Of all those in the waiting area, she seemed the most at ease. I thought I’d seek some assurance.

“Done this before?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said through her mask. “My husband and I travel a lot. So, we’re getting used to it.” (more…)

Barris Beat

She-covery and she-lection

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Surviving the pandemic requires women (such as my daughter, left) to make career-altering decisions.

Some months ago, I met a friend by accident. We stopped, distanced, masked and got caught up. We talked about vaccination, isolation and the state of the nation, all in one meeting. I was surprised, however, when the subject of the CERB (the Canada Emergency Response Benefit) came up, that my friend thought federal spending of that magnitude ran the real risk that everyday citizens would abuse it.

“There’s too much cheating,” my friend said. “Too much money squandered.” (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

Where news comes from

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Lisa LaFlamme at the CTV News desk each night.

It’s the last thing my wife and I do each night and nearly the first thing each morning. It’s been that way for nearly 50 years. We turn off the light at night and wake up each morning in sync with broadcasters and their newscasts. At 11:30 p.m., Lisa LaFlamme says:

“That’s it for us at CTV News. Have a good night.”

Then, each morning at the top of the hour, we catch Nil Köksal introducing us to, “World Report…” on CBC Radio. (more…)

Barris Beat

An injection of kindness

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Muffin mystery began at my front door.

For those of us who can afford to, the toughest part of coping with COVID is the waiting. Waiting for the wave of cases to pass. Waiting for the vaccine. Waiting for the chance to be social again. And again, because I can, I begin most mornings with a long, brisk walk around town. My timing often follows on the heels of the morning newspaper deliveries. So, along my routes, I regularly pick up some of the plastic-bag-wrapped papers and deposit them on the porches of their recipients.

“Why not save my neighbours a few steps,” I figure, “especially if the weather’s inclement?”

Anyway, one day a few months ago, I returned home from my walk. Hanging from my front-door handle was a bag containing a cardboard box with two (still warm) muffins inside. There was no note, no identification, not even a logo, just the baked goods. (more…)

Barris Beat

Opposites attract in a pandemic

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Gifts from my friend who’s purging during the pandemic.

For about a year now, I’ve received packages in the mail from a friend in southwestern Ontario. He’s a military-history enthusiast. So, we have much to share in telephone conversations, letters, emails and the periodic packages he posts to me. But when the pandemic hit, suddenly the packages began to increase in number and frequency.

Not just once a week, but several times, his packages (many of them two and three kilograms in weight) would arrive jammed with clippings, magazines and books. And most of his mailings include cryptic notes.

“Two light, two-pound envelopes are on the way,” he wrote last week. “Probably the last of my house cleaning.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Earth, wind and fire

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Fire – one way to use the elements against the pandemic.

It’s euphemistically called an “RFP.” But if you really want to get technical, it’s Section 3, under Article 2.6.3.4 of the Ontario Environmental Protection Act, and it says:

“Notwithstanding, any provisions herein, no person shall cause, permit or allow a fire to be set or cause, permit or allow a fire to burn in the open air…”

Just before Christmas, I grabbed my COVID mask and my wallet and visited the firehall to buy an RFP, a Recreational Fire Permit. It all began – a just before the second emergency lockdown over New Years – when one our daughters suggested I build a portable firepit so that handful of us (in the immediate family) could gather ’round a small fire on chilly evenings.

“Great idea,” I said. “I get right on it.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Music that fills the distance

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Frank Zappa’s “Hot Rats” album and memories of meeting him, help fill the COVID gap.

Until about a year ago, it sat there, unused. It was just a piece of furniture filling a corner of my office, covered in dust and unopened. Its knobs, glass dials and chrome corners pretty much untouched for years. Then, shortly after Trudeau and Ford locked things down, the result of the pandemic, I unlocked its lid, turned the dial to “phono,” and got reacquainted with an old friend – my record player.

I should say friends. In the opposite – and equally dusty – corner of my office, I pulled out some of my favourite vinyl. And I got lost in the leisure of pulling discs from their cardboard jackets and paper sleeves, sliding them onto my turntable, dropping the stylus in the groove and turning up the volume. (more…)

Barris Beat

Value of people in the know

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Bill Doig had a solution to most problems.

Everybody says it at one time or another. They grapple with a personal issue, a mechanical problem, an unsolved mystery and then they toss and turn instead of sleep all night long. Well, I said it to a writer friend I called on Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t sleep a wink last night,” I said to Phil Alves.

“What’s the problem?” he asked considerately.

“I’ve lost a big file.”

And he moaned a knowing moan, because he’s done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it. But in my case, I’d really done it. (more…)