If I had written this post a few months ago I probably would have said a lot of different things. First of all - like most of us I thought this THING would have been over by now. Who would have thought that something like this virus could do so much damage - take so many lives - upset the global economy as it has. And with no real sense of relief being just around the corner it feels like we are in for a long haul.

The new normal is not the old normal. Before you step outside - check your pockets for your phone, keys, wallet and of course now your mask. Shopping is not entertainment anymore. Who wants to go anywhere and hang around a lot of people? The numbers here in Toronto continue to increase as predicted and today we topped over 800 new cases - a new record (yikes).

And just so you are fully aware - this virus doesn’t discriminate. I was hoping to play tennis earlier this week and a few hours before my game I received an email that the club was closing for a week!!! Who would have guessed….

As Billy Joel wrote - even the rich die young. No doubt there are all kinds of social economic studies that show that the virus is more likely going to spread in certain parts of the city or within certain economic groups however the tennis club at I play at has become a casualty - the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club situated in Rosedale, which is one of the most expensive postal codes in the country announced they were closing for 7 days. I was scheduled to play tennis on Monday night and few hour prior to playing we all received an email stating that there had been a member to member transmission and the club felt it was the best course of action to close. Which of course, I fully agree. My point is we may have thought we were invincible - living in a special bubble there was very little chance that the virus would impact us? Well - think again.

We have actually had it pretty lucky. We have been able to play tennis both indoors and outdoors, have dinner, swim and exercise. Yes, there have been some restrictions - they don’t want anyone to just show up and hang around. Unless you have a purpose to be there, don’t bother coming. With Thanksgiving just around the corner we are now being told by local health experts to shrink our bubbles and have dinner only with the people we live with. My guess is we will see an increase in the numbers next week as no doubt a number of people will choose to ignore this which is more than unfortunate.

So, we have to suck it up and remember that this a serious virus and it can strike anywhere. Unfortunately, the govenment which has been getting high marks for the way they have handled the crisis is starting to show signs of weakness with confusing messages about bubbles, education and testing. You used to be able to show up at any assessment centre and get a test but now you have to make an appointment and from what you read on social media you can tell people are extremely frustrated because they can’t get hold of anyone and then have to make a decision whether they should self-isolate and take a risk? It’s also sniffles season and kids were told to not come to school if they were showing any symptoms - which sniffles is one of them. Suddenly the assessment centres were being backed up with large numbers of people who probably didn’t need to get tested but were told they should get tested.

My daughter has the Covid app on her phone and last week it buzzed telling her that she potentially had been exposed. Panic sets in - what should we do? So, of course I took her to an assessment centre to get tested and she was miserable because the rules are quite clear - you have to self isolate and so she couldn’t see her friends for the weekend (again - sigh). On the positive she was completely clear with a negative test but we could see how the possibility of a postive test could make everyone very uneasy. We even stayed closer to home and kept a low profile and no one was showing any signs of symptoms.

In case your missing professional sports we have been able to watch most of the sports we want (without fans) and in the tennis world we just finished the US Open and this week we’ve been able to watch the French Open which normally is played in May but because of the virus is now being played in September.

The conditions are not the same and the players have been complaining about the cold temperatures - sigh….

As I write this I’m watch a football game taking place in Chicago and the stands which normally would have 60,000 fans is basically empty. I guess it’s about money!

So..that’s it for this post. Not a very long one. Stay safe!