Grasping at straws

The pandemic grinds on, carving a path of destruction through our healthcare system, the economy, and the quality of our lives. It’s a crisis, and I’m not trying to play it down. I just feel like I need a little break from all the gloom right now. You too? The pandemic hasn’t been good for much, but here are a few small things:

• We finally learned how to wash our hands properly
• We’ve been saving money. We just buy what we absolutely need and get it over with
• We get to snoop into other people’s rooms and meet their kids and pets on Zoom
• We can finally read, or reread, all those books that have been sitting on our shelves for years
• We don’t have to worry about how our hair looks in the back. We can just run a comb around the front and we’re good to go on Zoom
• We introverts are loving it; social pressure is way down
• We don’t have to cook and clean for company. What’s a little dust?
• We finally find out which deadbeat doesn’t pick up what his dog leaves on our lawn
• We get to know our neighbours, some of the few humans we see in person. In spring, summer and fall, we can complain about the weather over the back fence or across the driveway. In winter, we can complain about the weather while we’re shovelling
• We can procrastinate to our heart’s content. Might as well put off that nasty chore; it’ll give us something to do tomorrow