As the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic is marked, the race is on to get more people vaccinated as soon as possible as local infection numbers in the Peterborough region continue to climb.

During a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Thursday (March 11), medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra reported there are currently 81 active positive cases of COVID-19 in the region — an increase of 18 over the past seven days.

But more disturbing, according to Dr. Salvaterra, is the 89 presumed cases of more transmissible COVID-19 variants of concern — with a second variant case now confirmed (presumed cases have a mutation that all the variants share; further genomic sequencing is then done to confirm the actual variant).

To date in March, 95 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the region, putting the month well on track to eclipse February’s total of 105 cases and be the third highest month for new cases reported during the entire course of the pandemic.

But tempering the news of rising local COVID-19 cases is some progress on the vaccination front.

On Wednesday (March 10), Peterborough Public Health announced the second dose of vaccine has been given to long-term care residents who reside at the area’s eight long-term care homes. An estimated 90 per cent of close to 950 long-term care residents are now fully vaccinated.

In addition, first doses continue to be given to long-term care home staff, retirement home residents and staff, Curve Lake residents, and health care workers deemed highest priority. This week is seeing Hiawatha residents and urban Indigenous people being vaccinated while next week the process to vaccinate seniors residing in congregate living settings receive their first dose.

But grabbing the most public attention on the vaccine front is the distribution to family health care providers of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for patients in the 60 to 64 age group.

Close to 30,000 doses are being distributed amongst six Ontario regions, Peterborough included. Dr. Salvaterra said Peterborough’s share of 4,500 doses are “expected” to arrive on Friday. According to the 2016 census, there are more than 16,500 60 to 64 year olds in the the city and county of Peterborough.

“How doctors prioritize which of their patients get vaccinated is up to them,” said Dr. Salvaterra.

“It’s truly a pilot project,” she added. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying different things. What we don’t want is people phoning their doctors asking for the vaccine. You’re going to have to be patient. If you get the call, it will be up to you if you would like to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Speaking to a report out of Denmark that some AstraZeneca recipients have experienced blood clotting with one related death, leading to a suspension of its use in Denmark, Dr. Salvaterra said while it’s “important that these types of events be reported, sometimes it’s just a temporal association … people got vaccinated one day and something happens the next day and you can’t link the two.”

“Certainly it is not uncommon that if you do have a significant event that you pause either the use of the whole vaccine or that lot number until you can determine whether or not there was a link, so this (the suspension of AstraZeneca by Denmark) doesn’t surprise me. I look forward to learning more about what happened there.”

As for the pilot project distribution of vaccines to pharmacies in Windsor-Essex, Kingston, and Toronto for those who make an appointment, Dr. Salvaterra said depending on how well that is rolled out “we should hear what the provincial policy decision will be as to which vaccine (will be issued to pharmacies in other regions) and when.”

“I truly suspect the AstraZeneca vaccine will be offered here in our pharmacies and they’ll play a big role in our vaccine rollout just as they do with the flu immunization program.”

Dr. Salvaterra also provided an update on the local vaccine rollout plan in the spring.

“In April, we will begin immunizing people over the age of 75 and, by the end of that month, people over the age of 70. Also in April, those with specific health conditions and their caregivers will be able to get vaccinated. In May we will invite people over age 65 to book an appointment, and then those over 60 will become eligible by mid-May. By June, we’ll be able to vaccinate everyone who cannot work from home.”

More immediately, those 80 and over will be eligible for the vaccine starting next week in conjunction with the launch of the provincial appointment booking system, called COVaxON. Next week also marks the opening of mass vaccination clinics locally at the Evinrude Centre and the Norwood Arena.

“If you have a photo health card, you’ve already been registered in the COVax system; you do not need to pre-register,” stressed Dr. Salvaterra.

“We will advertise widely when each group will be able to book appointments. Once you become eligible, you remain eligible and can be immunized whenever it works best for you. You won’t lose your place in line if you don’t get immunized immediately.”

Meanwhile, regarding COVID-19 rules enforcement, Peterborough Police Services Inspector John Lyons said no charges will be laid against The Junction nightclub in downtown Peterborough after photos of patrons partying without masks or any social distancing were published on the business’s Facebook page. That post drew a lot of angry comments on social media before it was taken down by The Junction.

“It was investigated and determined, through public health, that they were old photos from approximately a year ago that were not as recent as they may have appeared to be,” Lyons said. “It was not as fresh or current as social media led it to seem, so it was dispelled.”

Peterborough Public Health’s catchment area — which includes Peterborough city and county and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations — remains at the ‘Red-Control’ level of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework — a more restrictive status that has been in place since March 8.

For a complete list of restrictions now in place, visit ontario.ca/page/covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open#red.

The region’s placement at the ‘Red-Control’ level — a step back from a short-lived placement at the ‘Yellow-Protect’ level — came following a major outbreak at the Severn Court Student Residence on Wilfred Drive, a privately owned student housing complex in the city’s southeast near Fleming College, resulting from a party or parties held February 20.

To date, 56 positive cases have resulted from what is the largest local COVID-19 outbreak to date, including one infected person who has recently been hospitalized.

Subsequent outbreaks — including one at Trent University’s Champlain College affecting eight people and another at The Regency of Lakefield retirement home — combined with the rising infection numbers, have lessened the region’s chances of being returned to a less restrictive level any time soon.

To date, there are 46 positive cases per 100,000 people locally — a number that is keeping the region at the ‘Red-Control’ level.

Also commenting during Thursday’s media briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, Hiawatha First Nations Chief Laurie Carr, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.

Those born in 1941 or earlier with a primary care provider in Northumberland County will be contacted by telephone over the next few days to book a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

In a virtual media briefing on Wednesday (March 10), acting medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill announced the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit is moving on to vaccinating residents of the area who are 80 years of age and older.

A vaccine distribution clinic at Cobourg Community Centre will be the first in the health unit’s region to begin appointments on Tuesday (March 16) for residents of Northumberland County in the 80-plus age group.

The clinic is not run by the health unit but is instead a collaborative effort that involves volunteers, family health teams, and hospitals. Public health is helping to facilitate the clinics.

“Offering appointments first to older residents with a primary health care provider is designed to help to reduce the number of people expected to call the provincial booking system once it goes live next week,” Dr. Gemmill explained in a media release issued by the health unit on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Gemmill, residents 80 years and older who do not currently have a local primary health care provider in Northumberland County can also book a vaccination appointment, but will have to do so through the provincial booking system. The system goes live on Monday (March 15) and will have an online option for booking in addition to a phone-in option.

Seniors in Northumberland with a vaccination appointment who require transportation to the clinic can phone Community Care Northumberland at 1-866-768-7778 to register and request a ride to their appointment.

“I think it’s going to be a remarkable community initiative, and you’re going to see people really pulling together,” Dr. Gemmill said at Wednesday’s media briefing.

In the meantime, Dr. Gemmill reminded residents born in 1941 or earlier with a Northumberland primary care provider to wait for their call.

“Nobody should be calling their family doctor to ask for a vaccine,” he explained. “It will not be the family doctor’s office calling. It will be a community group working with family doctors.”

According to Dr. Gemmill, if a resident misses their call to book an appointment, a volunteer will call back later. If they are not reached upon the second call, the volunteer will leave a message directing them to return their call and make an appointment.

Dr. Gemmill noted he expects a similar booking system will be in place for vaccine clinics opening soon for residents 80 years and over at the Lindsay Exhibition Centre and the Trent Hills Fire Station. The health unit plans to have two mass vaccination clinics per county set up by April, when they will begin vaccinating the rest of the population by age groups.

“We are also looking for another centre in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and there are few prospective venues in Haliburton County as well,” Dr. Gemmill explained. “We are using a series of criteria to help to decide which locations to use. We want to have a space with adequate parking, adequate crowd control, and have it accessible enough so that people don’t have to travel too far.”

Vaccination of residents 80 years and older comes after completing full vaccinations of all long-term care residents in the health unit region. Long-term care staff and essential caregivers, in addition to some high-priority health care workers, have also already received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Once residents 80 years and older have all received their first dose of the vaccine, the health unit will move on to those highlighted in the province’s other priority groups. These groups include adults in the community with high-risk chronic conditions and their caregivers, those unable to work from home, and older adults between the ages of 60 to 79 in five-year increments.

Dr. Gemmill also noted the health unit is still only receiving and distributing the two licensed mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), not the more recently licensed AstraZeneca vaccine. He added that the health unit has been promised approximately 5,000 doses per week over the next four weeks.

“I’m very hopeful that — while this is the number of doses we’ve been allocated for the next four weeks — as more vaccine becomes available, we will have more access to that vaccine,” Dr. Gemmill said.

As vaccine distribution in the area increases, Dr. Gemmill reminded the public not to let up on restrictive measures.

“We can’t become too relaxed,” he said. “It’s still going to be several more several weeks before we are in a position where we can start (to relax).”

Dr. Gemmill’s advice comes after the the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit region — which encompasses the City of Kawarthas Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County — moved from the ‘Orange-Restrict’ level in the province’s COVID-19 response framework to the less-restrictive ‘Yellow-Protect’ level on Monday.

“I’m hopeful that people will understand that yellow does not mean party time,” Dr. Gemmill pointed out. “Yellow means we are allowed to do our business in a less restrictive way, still respecting all of the public health measures that need to be in place.”

As of Wednesday, there were 32 active cases of COVID-19 in the health unit’s region, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes and 16 in Northumberland.

The story has been updated with new information supplied by the health unit about clinic dates and times at Cobourg Community Centre.

After rescuing two lost hikers in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park last Friday (March 5), the Ontario Provincial Police are reminding people to take safety precautions when planning a hike.

The OPP released video of the rescue, which involved the OPP Aviation and Emergency Response Team, on social media on Tuesday.

Located between Minden and Gravenhurst, Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands is 33,505-hectare non-operating park with no maintained public facilities or services.

Last May, two hikers were also rescued by the OPP after getting lost in the same park.

On its website, Ontario Parks warns visitors that navigating in the park is difficult and cell service is unreliable.

“Be prepared to use appropriate route finding and safety practices as interior travel beyond access points requires complex navigating in a remote semi-wilderness environment,” reads the website. “Cellular service cannot be relied upon as a means of communication or navigation within these wildlands.”

VIDEO: Hikers Rescued in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park

The OPP advise people planning to go on a hike to visit adventuresmart.ca for information about staying safe.

A 30-year-old woman is being treated for serious injuries in a Toronto hospital after she was struck by a dump truck north of Colborne on Wednesday afternoon (March 10) while walking with her two young children — a four year old and a six month old.

At around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the woman and her two children were crossing the intersection of Orchard Road and Percy Street south of Highway 401 at the traffic lights. As they walked southbound across Orchard Road, a northbound dump truck turning west onto Orchard Road struck the woman.

The woman was transported by paramedics to a nearby hospital and subsequently airlifted to a trauma centre in Toronto to receive treatment for serious injuries.

The woman’s two children were also taken to hospital as a precaution, where the infant received treatment for minimal injuries.

The intersection of Orchard Road and Percy Street was closed for several hours on Wednesday while OPP members trained in collision reconstruction measured and documented the scene.

The Northumberland OPP are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding this collision.

The second weekend of March is almost here, which means it’s time to “spring forward” as daylight saving time (DST) begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14th and clocks move forward an hour.

Whether you call it “daylight savings” or “summer time” or “cottage time”, the good news is that we’ll get more daylight in the evening hours (the sun will set at 7:18 p.m. on Sunday night). The bad news is that we’ll lose an hour of sleep.

If you still have any manual clocks, remember to set them forward an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

The time change is also when you should replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and check whether the devices need to be replaced (if they are more than 10 years old, they probably do).

Who invented DST and why?

Although it’s commonly believed Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea for DST, it was actually New Zealand entomologist George Hudson.

In 1895, Hudson proposed a two-hour shift in the clocks (he wanted more daylight to collect insects).

“The effect of this alteration would be to advance all the day’s operations in summer two hours compared with the present system,” Hudson wrote in 1898, explaining his original proposal. “In this way the early-morning daylight would be utilised, and a long period of daylight leisure would be made available in the evening for cricket, gardening, cycling, or any other outdoor pursuit desired.”

A few years later, English outdoorsman William Willett also proposed advancing the clocks during the summer months (he wanted more daylight to golf).

The first governments to implement DST were Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916, as a way to conserve coal during World War I. Britain and most other European countries adopted it shortly after, with the United States and Canada adopting it in 1918.

DST used to end on the last Sunday of October (and begin on the first Sunday of April) but, in 2007, the U.S. decided to change it to the first Sunday of November (and the second Sunday in March) in an attempt to conserve energy.

To avoid issues with economic and social interaction with the U.S., the Canadian provinces that observe DST followed suit.

Why don’t we just get rid of DST?

If the Ontario government has its way, we’ll be ending the practice of changing our clocks twice a year — but by making DST permanent rather than getting rid of it.

On November 25, 2020, the Ontario government gave royal assent to The Time Amendment Act, a private members’ bill tabled by Ottawa-West Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts that proposed making “the time now called daylight saving time the standard time year-round”.

Researchers in chronobiology (the study of biological rhythms) agree that we should get rid of the bi-annual time change, but not by making DST permanent. They say we should be permanently adopting standard time instead.

“Based on current chronobiology knowledge, permanent Standard Time (ST) would be a wiser, healthier choice,” the Canadian Society for Chronobiology writes on Twitter.

Chronobiologists say adopting permanent standard time would move sunrise closer to our body’s internal clock, while permanent daylight saving time would move it further away. It’s the light in the morning that is most important in resetting our biological clocks, they say.

And it’s not just the Canadian Society for Chronobiology advocating for the permanent adoption of standard time. The U.S.-based Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, the European Biological Rhythms Society, and the European Sleep Research Society have all issued statements supporting getting rid of DST.

As for the province’s The Time Amendment Act actually being enacted, don’t hold your breath. Ontario will only make DST permanent if the province of Quebec and the state of New York do the same.

“We’ve built in a contingency to make sure that this bill will only come into force at the discretion of Ontario’s Attorney General,” MPP Roberts said in the Ontario legislature on November 25th. “The Attorney General has given me his word that he will not do this until we get our other neighbouring jurisdictions on board.”

What are the health effects of DST?

While the evidence is mixed, some research has found “springing forward” increases the risk of heart attacks and traffic accidents.

Losing an hour of sleep in the spring can affect both your cognitive ability and your physical health, especially if you aren’t getting enough sleep to begin with.

That’s because moving clocks forward changes our exposure to daylight and affects our circadian rhythm (the body’s natural internal clock).

It can take up to a week to adjust your internal clock to the shift in daylight hours, so here are some suggestions for how you and your family can adapt more quickly to the coming time change:

• Each morning leading up to Sunday, try waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal.
• Also try going to bed 15 minutes earlier than normal each night. You can help prepare your body for an earlier bedtime by not eating two hours before you go to sleep, and put down your devices an hour before bed.
• Eat a healthy breakfast when you first wake up, as food is one way to tell your body it’s the beginning of the day.
• After the time change, expose yourself to daylight during waking hours as much as possible.
• Reduce your use of caffeine and alcohol during the day and increase your physical activity.

A year ago this week, when the global pandemic was first declared, I had no idea that one of my job duties would soon become writing weekly inspirational and supportive messages for our readers.

The afternoon of Thursday, March 12, 2020 may be permanently etched in my psyche. It started out as a typical work afternoon, including having coffee meeting at Kit Café in downtown Peterborough with a colleague. We were talking about a show his production group had coming up for Mother’s Day at the Market Hall.

The World Health Organization had the day before declared a global pandemic, so we were aware of the news breaking. But the future was very unclear.

I recall that we talked about the possibility of our major performance venues needing to close, but we felt that, surely, it could never come to that.

A few hours later, I walked into a committee meeting at Peterborough City Hall and registered the shock on everyone’s faces. Premier Ford, along with several of his cabinet ministers, had just announced Ontario’s schools would be closed until April 5. The following week was March Break, travel was not recommended, and there was talk of airport and border closures.

And so it began. For all of us at kawarthaNOW.com, the weeks that followed were hectic and exhausting. I recall calculating that we were working 90-hour weeks to report on local pandemic news. The need to shift our news coverage was rapid and immediate. We were suddenly also monitoring Ontario and Canadian news, with daily briefings from politicians being available online for the first time. We also lost hundreds of events from our online event system — which typically runs at 1,200 events — as cancellations were rampant.

The following Monday, we were faced with a dilemma in planning our weekly VIP enews, sent to over 11,000 of our readers. Our enews has always been our recap of the week’s top stories and has been sent every Wednesday without fail since 2015. We usually give away tickets to great local events, including concerts and theatrical events, as well as local promotions. We had always avoided hard news if possible, as our enews was intended to be a pleasant morning read — a lighter promotion of local and community.

We had never published a pandemic version of our enews, so it was a challenge to avoid dramatic headlines. Most of the major events that we promoted were cancelled. We quickly adjusted our enews format and called it a “special edition” version. I felt I should add a message to our readers to address this format change, and I tried to make it inspiring given the anxiety, uncertainty, and fear all of us were experiencing.

The feedback we received encouraged us that we were on the right track — people needed to hear that message. We had an opportunity and a responsibility to help our readers know that they were not alone and that their communities were working together. So I kept going, writing a new message every week.

Over the past year, I strived to figure out — one week at a time — how we were feeling as a community, and the message our readers needed to hear. We’ve received several requests to publish all the messages, so we’ve decided to do this to mark the first full year of the pandemic.

You’ll find them listed below, with a brief description of each week’s thought and a link to the complete message. I’ve tried to describe where we were in these singular moments in time, and why I was inspired for that week’s theme. It’s really interesting to browse the top stories of any given week as a recap of this extraordinary year.

I hope you’ll appreciate this look back and, if you’re not yet a weekly subscriber to our enews, you can sign up at http://eepurl.com/hcyQiX.

Stay safe and take care of each other.

March 18 – Week 1 – Local leadership

In our first week of a global pandemic, I was inspired by our local organizations organizing quickly to work together.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-18-2020

March 25 – Week 2 – We needed hope

It became apparent in week two that we needed to keep moving. Hope comes in many forms and I was inspired by filmmaker John Chester, creator of “The Biggest Little Farm”.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-25-2020

April 1 – Week 3 – Historic times

At a time when we were coming together, many were drawing comparisons to the great World Wars. A quote and the inspiration of Eleanor Roosevelt seemed appropriate.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-1-2020

April 8 – Week 4 – Resilience

As our adrenaline collectively waned, the need to think about resilience surfaced.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-8-2020

April 15 – Week 5 – The new normal

Adapting to change and thinking longer term required a more serious quote from Charles Darwin.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-15-2020

April 22 – Week 6 – Fear, anxiety, stress

We all needed the calm words of Dr Bonnie Henry in this week.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-22-2020

April 29 – Week 7 – Thinking longer term

This pandemic is not a sprint, it’s a long-haul, kick-ass, ultra-plus marathon. Thinking long term is a necessary step.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/april-29-2020

May 6 – Week 8 – Is the universe bizarro?

Just when you think that things cannot get more bizarre, week eight brought us murder hornets, a polar vortex in the May weather forecast for Mother’s Day, “the old normal” is a thing, and I stage-style my Zoom background. A little gratitude for all the good was needed this week.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-6-2020

May 13 – Week 9 – Nine very long weeks

It was week nine when online debates and social media heat ramped up. I felt it necessary to draw on Nick Lowe as a quote to promote peace. But I also commit a serious faux pas in including a J.K. Rowling quote on acceptance. This enews also included a very special, physically distanced version of Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-13-2020

May 20 – Week 10 – Fear

Reopenings this week trigger joy and fear, and also debates and concern.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-20-2020

May 27 – Week 11 – Are we a society divided?

Reopenings, mask debates, testing methods — it was all colliding in week 11. The divide was profound and inspired me to quote Desiderata. This week’s message was dedicated to my late dad, who loved Desiderata and could quote the full text by heart.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/may-27-2020

June 3 – Week 12 – Maelstrom

The long history of racism in the United States once again reared its ugly head. It reminded us that racism exists here in Canada as well, just under the surface of what we like to think is a just society. Week 12 was profound and has had a lasting impact to make change.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-3-2020

June 10 – Week 13 – Speaking out

There is a first time for everything, and during this week I had been called a “Karen” for the first time. So I wrote about speaking out, even if your voice shakes, and added my favourite Baroness von Sketch video “That Lady”. Enjoy.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-10-2020

June 17 – Week 14 – Patience

We hit a wall as a society this week while dealing with guidelines, bubbles, rules, floor arrows, and masks. Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting. And we needed it in abundance.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-17-2020

June 24 – Week 15 – Pandemic pivot

There it is. I used the pivot word. This week was all about thinking longer term and shifting our thinking to adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/june-24-2020

July 1 – Week 16 – True North Strong and Free

I am not the jingoistic sort. But when I wrote our July 1st message I was very proud to be Canadian and it was my favourite message. In comparison to other countries and on the global stage, we were leaders at the time.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-1-2020

July 8 – Week 17 – Acts of kindness

A higher evolution of compassion shines through.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-8-2020

July 15 – Week 18 – Self-care is survival

By mid-July, I asked readers “Are we on the edge of losing it?” The previous year around this time I had lost a friend to suicide. Mental health was weighing heavily on my mind as we moved ahead into an unclear future.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-15-2020

July 22 – Week 19 – On communication and messaging

When we hit this week of mandatory face coverings across the Central Ontario region (which is all of our readership area), the gloves came off and the name-calling on social media came out — and I had to talk about crafting a better marketing message.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-22-2020

July 29 – Week 20 – Radical acceptance

I have a surreal moment of bizarro universe this week. While this moment did not feel real, it was just another small jolt of reality and a push toward radical acceptance.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/july-29-2020

August 5 – Week 21 – Compassion, and compliance

On mask wearing being the right thing to do.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-5-2020

August 12 – Week 22 – Fear and kindness

Five months into the pandemic, we were a society divided. But the one thing we had in common was fear.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-12-2020

August 19 – Week 23 – Living with uncertainty

The uncertainty for parents became very real this week, as the back-to-school debate raged. What was the right thing to do? Was a second wave imminent?

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-19-2020

August 24 – Week 24 – Optimism and cracking the glass ceiling

It’s true that living in a pandemic (or any other global emergency) requires digging deep for hope and optimism. It was a surprise then, when the United States of America served us a big serving of historical hope.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/august-26-2020

September 2 – Week 25 – We cannot live in fear

My 95-year-old mother refuses to live in fear. And she is right — living a life immersed in fear is not living.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-2-2020

September 9 – Week 26 – Holding on to hope

Is it a surprise that we hit a wall of despair at the half-year point? But there was reason for hope and striving to adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-9-2020

September 16 – Week 27- Community knows no borders

School returned and cases spiked as news of a second wave broke. I had to write about our connectedness and acting responsibly as a community.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-16-2020

September 23 – Week 28 – Bend with the wind

Big case increases, the second wave, and the unknowns took their toll. We had to dig deep for optimism.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-23-2020

September 30 – Week 29 – Playing the long game

We hit the six-month mark hard, psychologically, and dreaded a second winter lockdown. Why we need to take the high vantage point and long-term view.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/september-30-2020

October 7 – Week 30 – Thankful for small things

As we headed into Thanksgiving week, we were angry and irritated. Fragile, exhausted, tense, and defeated. Which makes gratitude and giving thanks a very important process.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-7-2020

October 14 – Week 31 – Hope

After many weeks of large personal sacrifices, we had to dig deep to find new hope.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-14-2020

October 21 – Week 32 – Rest

I checked in on our collective breaking point, and explained why we must learn to rest and not quit.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/october-21-2020

October 28 – Week 33 – Fighting fear with action

After many weeks of in-school stress, online learning, second wave news, and relentless COVID statistics, I had to talk about the need for action in the face of fear.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/wednesday-october-28-2020

November 4 – Week 34 – Leadership

On the eve of the American election, I had to talk about leadership. Concise, brave, and decisive leadership had been of immense importance in the face of a global emergency.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-4-2020

November 11 – Week 35 – The return of hope

A collective joyful sigh of relief enveloped the world and we could breathe — just a wee bit — again. Hope, optimism, relief.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-11-2020

November 18 – Week 36 – Maintaining optimism

As the promising news of two potential vaccines appeared in news headlines, we were heartened but needed to hone our skills in optimism.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-18-2020

November 25 – Week 37 – On adapting

As winter settled in this week, there was a need to manage angst and adjust our sails. Self-care is not a nice-to-do indulgence — it’s a critical-for-survival practice. We must accept and adapt.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/november-25-2020

December 2 – Week 38 – Be kind

In chatting with a colleague, she commented how fragile we all are. After 40 weeks of pandemic, we were the walking wounded and needed kindness more than ever before.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-2-2020

December 9 – Week 39 – On the solstice and light

There was cause for hope, optimism, and focus as we planned for the holidays.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-9-2020

December 16 – Week 40 – A time to relax

It was the perfect time of year to think about our personal rest and rejuvenation.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-16-2020

December 23 – Week 41 – Finish strong

As we reached the end of the pandemic year, I issued a call to action for patience, understanding, kindness, and safety for all. We could finish strong.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-23-2020

December 30 – Week 42 – Focus on those who get you through

In the depth of winter, we know self-care and mental health are critical. But you can also focus on “those who get you through”. This week I asked “Who has your back?”

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/december-30-2020

January 6 – Week 43 – The optimism of a new year

Has humankind ever needed to put a calendar year behind us so forcibly? It was a fascinating week to watch the desire for closure in progress.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-6-2021

January 13 – Week 44 – On compassion

It was a week of major upheaval south of our border, and an overwhelming weariness with online news and social media. But wait — do I sense a new trend of tolerance emerging? This week I talked about compassion.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-13-2021

January 20 – Week 45 – On integrity

We were well into the second round of the provincial emergency and our third week of parents in Ontario managing online schooling and tech support. We were about six and a half months away from a fully vaccinated province. We were tired, but focussed. We knew this is a long game. This is the week when I thanked people for their integrity in following guidelines.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-20-2021

January 27 – Week 46 – Forward momentum

For 46 weeks, we had endured a rollercoaster of an unparalleled historic pandemic. Our emotions were the casualty of news headlines and lockdowns. But we kept moving.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/january-27-2021

February 3 – Week 47 – Adapting

I often ask my social media connections for one word on how they are feeling in any given week. It helps me stay in touch with everyone, but it also keeps me in touch with the collective psyche at any given moment in time. This week, people were all over the map. Exhausted, numb, healing, uneasy, anxious, bored, accepting, hopeful — these were just a few examples. But we are resilient.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-3-2021

February 10 – Week 48 – Patience tested

We had now been on the rollercoaster for 48 weeks — long enough to realize we’re going to be tested, again. Lockdown. Reopening. Curbside pickups. Closures. Regional rules. We wanted off the rollercoaster. We were tired of the ride — at least we all agreed on that one thing.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-10-2021

February 17 – Week 49 – Taking it one day at a time

The need to get through — at a pace of just one day at a time — is sometimes what we need to do.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-17-2021

February 24 – Week 50 – Local heroes

Not all of our heroes are working in front-line health care. Many are working to keep our communities moving ahead — despite all odds.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/february-17-2021

March 3 – Week 51 – Kindness is contagious

In a very challenging week of bad local news, I had to ask why kindness is elusive in stressful times. Are we moving to self preservation? The good news is that kindness is contagious.

https://mailchi.mp/kawarthanow/march-3-2021

March 10 – Week 52

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Special thanks to artist Lee Higginson of Port Hope’s Fluke Craft for gifting us the use of the feature image for our story. Lee is immensely talented and generous and you should follow her on Facebook and Instagram.