GRAMMA CAMP – Week 3.0

With the timelines for this pandemic, things are changing rapidly. Or remaining the same, depending upon your point of view.

Momma and Papa continue to work from home. We have the girls. We are all isolated.


I had a chat with my girls and explained that we've gone from Gramma's as vacay, to now being  caregivers, with stuff we have to do. We can't do food treats every day, for example. We are having a great time, though.

Tuesday, March 31st

Grampa did the hostage exchange in Carleton Place. Caitlin sent some fruit. Everyone arrived home safely. It's 11 a.m., by then we'd made beds, Izzy built a fire, and the girls were playing school. Oh, the irony!

Izzy and I fetched a video and skittles.

"Gramma, I'm looking forward to when I can tell MY grandkids about the coronavirus time."

We headed off to the forest. I gave Josephine the camera.

 

The frog pond is lovely. It is melting, and spring is coming soon!



Izzy and I changed the SD cards on the trailcam.



A puddle and a girl. She didn't get too wet!



Poor old Dutch elm!



And yet... these are the ones Isabelle and I planted last fall! [Sept., 2019, We had visitors!]



She earned herself a soaker. Not in the frogpond, but picking up a plastic bag that had drifted onto our property! I sent her out to fetch the floating plastic bags. I didn't realize those were raspberry bushes. What a trooper!!!! The one bag had water in it.



Izzy had a good play outside. I had to loan her my shoes. Stuffing newspaper into her boots, I put them beside the fire.

Wednesday, April 1st

      "Hi, girls! Am I interrupting something?"
     "Yes! We're just having a chat. I moved down so that we could talk. Isabelle doesn't like it up too high!"



Josephine helped me check out the nesting box. It hasn't had any tenants. This involved the wagon and ladder.



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Clip1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We had four different breakfast times. Lunch as another story! The lunch meat was still frozen. Jos took a generic can of chicken noodle soup, added carrots and celery, while I had a salad. Isabelle had the camera!



Dolphin Tales 2 was the movie. I reminded them they needed wood. We had a plan.
A half hour in, I flicked the lights, and off they went to fetch wood for the night. Dinner was my pot roast, which I began at 8 a.m. They both enjoyed it!

Isabelle did her Zoom meeting with her Girl Guide troop. That was fun!
Josephine had a shower, Isabelle had a bubble bath prior to bed.
We fixed up the fire, and I wished them good night.

It's difficult not to worry in these trying times. We know we are luckier than most. There are about 200 laid off workers in Perth. We have access to food, although that is getting more difficult. It's very difficult for many. I wish all of you the best.

There will be one million people who have contracted it by today. I told that to JB on Monday. The trajectory is clear. I thought Friday, but it's getting worse.

The media is doing their best, but the news is strange. I read that there were two cases of COVID–19 in a local well-to-do retirement home. Next, I read that there was a 50-year-old woman diagnosed with it in Perth, but this was in an article that stated Renfrew County. I can't tell how many people in our region are affected. [Coronavirus case confirmed at Perth's Carolina Retirement Suites; 5 more confirmed coronavirus cases in Renfrew County]

Our local ER Physician posted this tweet. It's a good read!

Just about to start an emergency shift and here's what I want you to know.
I am serene and confident.

— alan drummond (@alandrummond2) March 31, 2020

He goes on:

My hospital has an enthusiastic, community-minded and innovative medical staff. Our nurses are the best. Our emergency department is superb with energetic, well-trained, highly skilled and committed emergency nurses. Ditto our emergency medical staff.
We have taken the lead time we have been provided to prepare and prepare well for what may come We are ready.
We cannot change what is to come but we can provide the very best of care to the limits of our abilities and resources.
We will rise to the challenge and deal with whatever presents to our doors.
In my limited world view, Perth is a microcosm of every emergency department in this country.  Canada has one of the best cadres of emergency physicians and nurses in the world. Canadians can have some confidence in their local emergency department and their provincial emergency medical systems. We will all do our very best for you!

Keep smiling, we'll get through this.

They continue to make us giggle.

Forest friends

I took Josphin down to fetch the sd cards. She asked the most interesting animal I found on them. I showed her the video of the fisher.

We'd dropped some old grapes on the trailcam on Tuesday. Butch quite liked them.


Butch 1 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.



Butch from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.



doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Book Review: The Skin We're In

The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power
by Desmond Cole

"Whiteness pretends to forget its own name when called, and refuses to acknowledge its desire for dominance. White supremacy keeps stepping on your toes while insisting it was an accident"  - The skin we're in, Desmond Cole

Sir John A. Macdonald, the Indian Act, residential schools, racism exists in Canada. Cole illustrates how racism has a long history in this continent. 

White people cannot put their heads in the sand. We owe it to humanity to read and understand their stories and become allies. Recently, the CORVID-19 virus has exacerbated it. Asian-appearing kids are bullied at school, people move away on public transportation. The lockdown has slowed it, but it exists.

This is an excellent book, which looks at what has been going on in Canada. Of course, it exists around the world. The stories of racism abound in the US, as well. The attacking of Asians during COVID–19 has also become more common.

Since I wrote this, Black Lives Matter, and the tragic lynchings continue on this continent. It is shameful.

A Belleville cop has been seen with a Confederate flag. He has been called to task for this. It's gotta change. Peers must speak out. 

CBC reporters, after the Wendy Mesley story, have been speaking out about it, as well.

This is an amazing young man, who is making a difference.
CBC News   

Smiths Falls

On the other hand, in Perth, Friday, June 5th.

There is much work to be done. White supremacy lurks in the dark corners. 

Book Review: Resistance is Futile

Julie Lalonde has turned her battle with her stalker into a crusade. She writes honestly, and well, as a French Canadian woman in her 20's, going off to Ottawa for university. She was stalked for 11 years, but never spoke of it. Stalking is a result of a break up that the stalker simply cannot fathom. With social media, it is far easier to track someone.

The title of her books tells a great deal.

It is a fascinating read, as her stalker lulls her into his domineering world. He isolated her from family and friends. He sweet talked her apartment building neighbours into thinking he was harmless. They enabled his behaviour.

There are signs of an abusive relationship. Ms. Lalonde has made an amazing career of speaking to young people. She is teaching them about consent, domestic violence, and abuse. She is amazing.

Julie S. Lalonde is an internationally recognized women's rights advocate and public educator. Julie works with various feminist organizations dedicated to ending sexual violence, engaging bystanders and building communities of support.