Originally posted on 2020-08-09
Although everyone is talking about Coronavirus and you most certainly have been dealing with it as well. Having lived most of my life in a city and now being here I know there are a lot of things that are different when dealing with a global pandemic between the two.
1) If not for jobs and schools closing we might not have even noticed
Given when the Province was shut down (schools at the beginning of March break, everything else the following week) if we had work from home employment and no child we might not have even known anything was amiss until the first time we had to pick up groceries or supplies, (assuming we don’t pay attention to the news, which we do.) and realized that things in the stores had changed or they weren’t open. Especially in March we already see very few people.
2) Except that March Break was busy!
Much busier than it was last year. It seemed like the Premier announced that they were closing the schools and everyone decided that would be the best time to come up. Granted, there are a lot of people coming back from winter abroad about that time, but even accounting for that, the street we live on had way more people than it should.
3) School closure and reopening.
Closing the schools was absolutely the right call, and of course, they had to shut down all the schools, but since our daughter’s school has a total of 13 kids in it I had a moment of wishing HER school could have stayed open. They already have an abundance of space that is currently underutilized. That said, I actually loved having the whole family home even though I had to do some work from home. That said, I’m looking forward to her going back. In part, because we have had to return to work so finding places for her to go was (is) a nightmare and in part because 5 months is a long time to have her around all day every day. (I’m sure a lot of parents are feeling me on this one.) I was so happy with the announcement that they are opening the schools in September. However, if I were in a city still, if her class had more than 13 kids, let alone the entire school, I would be worried sick over it. I would seriously consider not sending her back at all in the current environment. The only reason I am excited is because her school is small and the community is fairly isolated all winter anyway.
4) The Tourist Season
Selfishly, I have liked that the season is shorter as I personally don’t depend on tourist revenue directly; however, the community as a whole does and I know this has been a very difficult season for many businesses in town. It’s hard to say if it’s been slower (although I imagine it must be) as the town still seems as busy as ever the couple of times I’ve had to venture in and there is still plenty of traffic at the end of my street where a tourist destination is, but the season is already so short and this year many businesses didn’t open for another month or two. Businesses everywhere are suffering, but it will be interesting (and sad) to see how many places are not there come next season. The pandemic hasn’t seemed to have an effect on our neighbors finding renters, though it’s not like I know if they are getting the same income as they have in previous years.
5) Shopping is no longer a family affair
The biggest effect the pandemic has had on us personally is that shopping for groceries and other supplies used to be a family affair. We would all pile into the truck, take the hour drive to the city, and make a whole day out of running around and we would have some fun while there too. Not the case anymore as we respect that only one family member should be in a store at any given time. Grocery shopping instead is now me, (since I work near the city) picking things up after work and often forgetting things. It may sound silly, but I miss this family time and it being a special-ish thing. I would say it’s where the whole ‘this is the new normal’ is hitting us the hardest.
So that has been how the pandemic has been different for us living up here as opposed to how we would be faring in the city. Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to sharing more of the adventure of the renovation.
Huron The Lake 