Stories
Plague Blog – 10
Our English friend with COVID had been moved to intensive care, but his family felt encouraged yesterday when he was able to make phone calls to both his wife and son. He’s been there for two days, and we hope the specialists have helped him turn the corner. As well as COVID-related pneumonia, our friend […]
Plague Blog – 9
Our English friend with coronavirus remains in hospital on Day Thirteen of his illness. We’re taking solace from the fact they haven’t moved him into intensive care, but remain worried. Last night, his fever went up and his blood oxygen levels were down. He’s strong and fit, yet he’s struggling. We’ve all heard about the […]
Plague Blog – 8
Our friend in England went into hospital yesterday with breathing difficulties. At the time, he’d had the coronavirus for ten days. After speaking with him on the phone, a National Health Service doctor told his wife to drive him straight to hospital. She was advised to drop him off and go directly home, where she […]
Plague Blog – 7
Our great friend in England remains very sick with COVID-19. This is Day Nine of his illness. His daughter has been directing his care, but she’s an ob-gyn resident, not an infectious diseases specialist. On Thursday, his condition worried her to the point where she spoke to front-line doctors at the National Health Service. They […]
Plague Blog – 6
Today is garbage pick-up day in our part of Toronto, and I wonder how long they’ll be doing it every week. I have no insider information and don’t mean to be alarmist. It’s an essential service and I’m sure pick-up will continue, but I wonder whether the city will have to reduce the frequency. Sanitation […]
Plague Blog – 5
It’s been such a strange waiting period. Canadians holding our breath—while we can—waiting to see what will happen. But it feels as if it’s getting closer. A dear friend in England woke up on Thursday feeling awful. He’d just arranged his job so he could work at home, but he’d been in the office until […]
Plague Blog – 4
I had a dream last night where I was looking out the kitchen window into the backyard. It was our kitchen window and the backyard was roughly our backyard. But there was a hawk in it, and the hawk was watching a squirrel. The squirrel was foraging around a stump that’s not really there, a […]
Plague Blog – 3
I went out to our local fruit and vegetable store yesterday. I’m not infectious anymore, and since the last time I shopped was almost two weeks ago, the fridge was pretty bare. Still, having had the flu so recently, I went from self-isolation into temporary social distancing, remaining hyper-aware of everything going on around me. […]
Plague Blog – 2
I spent the past couple of days reading the newspapers we get delivered on weekends, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star. Theoretically, I have a leisurely weekend, or at least a leisurely Sunday, reading the papers, eating a croissant, feet up, cat happy, a fire in the fireplace. Theoretically. This time, […]
Plague Blog – 1
About the same time as the first case of coronavirus was reported in Canada, I came down with the flu. Yes, I’d got my flu shot. It doesn’t always work. I thought I had a cold. A bad cold, but a cold. I only went into my family practice last week when I felt I […]
Writing Tip: Permit Your Characters Happiness
One film I liked a lot at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was Kuessipan, the story of two young women growing up in a Quebec Innu community. It’s a deep look at female friendship and the hard questions of leaving a community or staying there; about racism and colonialism and the bright joys of being […]
Book Review: Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Unsheltered, is a worried book. It’s worried about climate change, worried about the American economy, about health care in the U.S. (or the lack of access to it), about the American middle class withering away. Kingsolver was worried when she published the book last year, and I would bet she’s even more […]
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