31: Spring Ahead

I woke up this morning to our internet being down. It’s been a bit glitchy lately, so I suspect it will be back soon. This should really be good for my productivity and goal of spending less time surfing social media, but actually it feels more like the apocalypse.

There’s a pandemic out there! Toilet paper is sold out everywhere! Last I heard we were being advised to avoid large group gatherings. This is not good for a life of live jazz, social dancing and Pearl Jam concerts. I need an update, but instead I’m stuck with my comfy couch and sleeping cat, and all I can see is a quiet residential street lit by beautiful morning sunshine. Ugh.

I have been doing my best not to get too caught up in the media frenzy of the corona virus. It definitely helps that we don’t have cable anymore. I know I spend too much time on the internet, but at least there I get some balance between crazy panic and calm reassurance.

I was curious to see how this weekend would go. We had our regular Friday night dance and our Sunday afternoon jazz, both of which could potentially be considered risky activities. (Saturday night was spent doing our taxes, which is less risky, but also enjoyable in its own way.)

Friday night’s dance attendance was not noticeably lower than any other week. It varies without apparent logic anyway. This week was pretty ordinary, aside from the organizers making a few announcements about hand washing, and some reminders we had added on the slide show.

As you might suspect, the outlook I heard from most dancers was that the public is overreacting. I don’t find that surprising from people that choose to go out and hold hands with strangers as a pastime. I’m one of them and I agree.

Sunday was a bigger surprise though. White Rock Jazz is mostly elderly people and last week was extremely quiet, so we thought this week would be worse. It wasn’t!

All the regulars were there, dancing and enjoying the band like any other week. I also saw some people greeting each other by bumping elbows and finding themselves quite hilarious. The only difference there was a few morbid jokes during the announcements about getting drunk and then going home to die. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that live jazz was worth the risk.

I can only assume, based on media coverage, that most other people spent the weekend barricaded in their homes amid all their survival supplies. I guess only time will tell what the right course of action was, but what is interesting is the vast difference between how things look if you’re viewing them from out in the world or looking at them on a screen.

*My internet is back now and I’m caught up*

So far, there is no word of Pearl Jam cancelling or postponing any shows, which is my main topic of concern at the moment. I am prepared for the possibility of this happening and I am okay with it, as long as I have enough notice to be able to cancel the trip. I don’t want to waste any valuable vacation time or funds to go to warm and sunny California for NOTHING.

It’s the not knowing that is making me a bit crazy.

Now here’s the other thing: As much as I love going out dancing, and as excited as I am to go see a bunch of Pearl Jam shows and hit my 40×40 goal, if everything was to get cancelled and I was forced to spend the next month or two not going out, that really holds a lot of appeal too.

I can’t remember ever having a trip planned that I fully wanted to go on. There’s always a part of me that would really rather just stay home. I wasn’t aware until quite recently that there are other people out there that feel this way too. Apparently it’s an introvert thing and I don’t need to feel bad about it.

I mean, I still go on the trips. I can’t remember ever actually bailing out on a vacation; I just suck it up and go, and usually enjoy myself. I think though, this is why most of the travel I have done has been focused on going to concerts, or more recently, dance events. I need a really good, tangible reason to go somewhere. I do have a number of places I want to visit just because I want to see them, but those trips keep getting put on the backburner.

I have a ton of stuff on my calendar from the end of March to the end of April and if I’m forced to wipe the slate clean, I know just what I’d do with all that free time:

Yardwork

Now that spring is on its way, I am eager to get out there and tend to my new front yard, as well as our disaster of a backyard. We did a big overhaul out front a couple of years ago and it’s starting to look a bit more established now.

I have been trying to do everything I can with reused and salvaged materials, as well as planting things that I’ve gotten from neighbours and other sharers in New West. It’s been so satisfying to see the front yard come together while spending very little money. I have high hopes for the backyard too.

Stained Glass

I am getting closer and closer to having a space set up in the basement to work on projects and I’m really looking forward to getting started. I have a couple of small designs ready to go for practice pieces.

We have spent a few hours here and there working on cleaning up what’s left of our basement. We still have a lot of reno supplies that we are holding on to for unfinished projects, as well as a lot of stuff that just needs to go.

Over the past two weeks we have managed to get rid of a few items and we’re slowly organizing the things we’re keeping. It’s not happening quickly but it is happening.

Vacation Planning

Despite my love-hate relationship with going away, there are a lot of dance events I still want to attend. Depending on what happens with Pearl Jam, I will be looking at what to do with any vacation time we gain back. The planning part is really my favourite thing about travelling anyway.

In the meantime, I guess I will just go with the flow.