Signs of the Times

We've heard the News...we've watched TV...this world-wide pandemic affects us all!

We are all on edge and on the alert as cases of COVID-19 continue to grow.

We are keeping our physical distance from each other

and learning how to live a more solitary existence for now.

With the closures of schools, businesses, libraries, even parks and trails,

the message is clear! Stay Home, Hamilton! Keep Well and all Stay Safe.

(reported recently in Hamilton's Spectator)

Wisely, someone , with positive thoughts, gave us suggestions

 to occupy our individual enjoyment. 

 A red-breasted robin, from its fence top, chirps a suggestion:

 Try a scavenger hunt to break the self-isolation monotony!

If you go outside, be sure to stay away from others.
When you see someone coming down the sidewalk ~ cross the street.
Take or use a clipboard and circle the items you were able to locate ~ leaving these items where you found them.

Perhaps, the following list will waken your eyes, which previously, you've never observed:

UPS or FedEx delivery truck...Christmas lights still up on a house...

someone walking a big dog...tulips growing in a garden...

someone walking a little dog...a robin, perhaps your first of the season....a sign or poster stapled or taped to a street light pole...someone pushing a stroller...a squirrel's nest... a teddy bear in a bedroom window...sidewalk chalk drawing...

a house number 100...someone riding a bicycle... someone else roller-blading...

a mud puddle...a grey squirrel...a gravel driveway or sidewalk...

.a street-hockey net..a garbage can lid...a rabbit.

Give yourself a time limit of 30 to 40 minutes. This is 'your hunt' ! Remember to'stay safe..'

Envison this MUTTS cartoon in today's Spec titled Woofie Wuvs Kitty:

he chases after Kitty who says, YES while running fast away,

further stating...'but in a Long Distance Relationship!

Tom, one of my Faithful Readers, sends the following opportune “Signs of Times:”

Just think, people who kiss their dogs( knowing they lick their ass every day)
are in a panic to buy hand sanitizers!

What if they close grocery stores??? We'll have to hunt for food (as in olden times)...

I don't even know where Doritos come from!

How long is this 'social distancing' going to last?
My wife keeps trying to come in the house!

Some people aren't shaking hands because of the Corona Virus.
I'm not shaking hands because everyone is out of toilet paper!

Gas is finally affordable ~ and we can't go anywhere!
To go to the grocery store, they said, 'A mask and gloves were enough.
They lied! Everybody else had clothes on!

Many people are just about to discover ~ the teacher was not the problem!

Home Schooling is going well:

2 students suspended for fighting...
one teacher fired for 'drinking on the job.'

On Home School: Day 1

I'm wondering how I can get this kid transferred out of my class!

The Sky is open for Business... wrote Kathy Renwald on a recent Spec page
with marvelous photos by Cathie Coward:

Nature abounds ~ if we but wander outside ~ looking up!

With camera in hand, she captured a dramatic 'female cardinal commonly seen.'
And waiting below on a barren branch, is Mr. Cardinal anxious to be summoned!

Birders Barry Coombs and Jackson Hudecki standing 6 feet apart overlooking Hamilton Harbour near Dundurn Castle observed, being migration time,” the sky is dotted with eagles and hawks......osprey look for perches...and vultures (nature's hard-working recyclers) soar over the 'high level bridge, scanning for food. The contemplative nature of bird watching is a release from worries.

Early migrants, you can view from your backyards: red-winged blackbirds, common grackles and flocks of starlings are here chatting and singing! Soon you will see warblers, singing sparrows and elegant cedar waxwings. The male birds will be in their colourful, breeding plumage! Their song patterns will change with 'dance moves...hopping...and bouncing' for female attention!

Colleen Reilly states, “Stand still and listen for the birds
when we are housebound...and scared.. the focus on nature is calming.”

Mark Twain's Wisdom

The two most important days in your life are

the day you were born ...and the day you found out why!

First Time in History... we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV...

by doing nothing!
Let's Not Screw This Up!

These are serious times ~ however, I believe it's important to have a chuckle.
We have always found that serious times are eased
by poking fun at them. Hope you've had a smile or two!

Composed by Merle Baird-Kerr...written March 29, 2020
Comments welcome: mbairdkerr@cogeco.ca