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| We don't know when the beaches will open. |
We’ve recently received a number
of inquiries as to how we are doing, so I guess it’s time for another update.
In our last update, I mentioned
that we were in “lockdown”, meaning that we couldn’t move between sub-districts
in our province. That has now been lifted, effective May 1, except for five
hot-spots. The country of Thailand has extended its Emergency Decree until May
31, so many things are still closed. But like many other countries, there is a
tentative move to gradually reduce restrictions. Any day now, we should be able
to cycle in our park. Soon, the alcohol ban will be lifted. Pet grooming
clinics might open on Monday. Maybe our new dental clinic can open its doors soon.
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| A hungry cat walks by a shuttered restaurant. |
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| Usually this area is bustling with activity. |
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| Once upon a time our village was thriving. Now it is a ghost town. |
“Any day now”. “Soon”. Based on
the news we are watching, there is still much uncertainty all over. Some people
talk about the New Normal – but that is a phrase I won’t use. It is all new,
but it is not normal. Each day is likely going to hand us something abnormal that
we will have to deal with.
It still feels like we are in
suspended animation. At best, we are moving in slow motion. Life in our little
apartment seems almost normal – but there is a strange stillness and quietness
in our neighbourhood.
Even though life is not normal, Darrel and I are coping very well. We realize that we are extremely
lucky. Our pension income has not been affected, our savings are in GICs so
have not been impacted, we can get all the groceries we need (mostly – where’s
the yeast!?), internet is still robust and our TV reception is top notch
(mostly – sometimes cuts out when it rains – working on that). We have lunch
delivered to our door a couple of times a week, and now that the Phuket
lockdown has been lifted, we can increase that to three times a week, because
one of our restaurant managers can now cross the “border” to get to work. The
rains are returning and the air is cooling, so with our doors wide open we are
enjoying the freshest of tropical breezes. The construction across the street
has slowed, increasing the peacefulness of our neighbourhood. They are laying
some new water pipes along our road so sometimes there is a bit of noise and
mess, but it is not too bothersome. Every morning, noon, and night we go up to
our rooftop balcony to check out the sky, see how many orchids are blooming,
bake a little in the sun (our plant sprinkler system has one section that is an
over-achiever, so we stay cool and fresh under its gentle over-spray), and at night we enjoy the
beauty of the stars, planets and the moon. Sometimes we get lucky and see a
satellite, the ISS, and even the odd shooting star. We have an exercise regime
that seems to be working. We have puzzle books to keep our minds from getting
too numb. Darrel is writing a book of humorous stories and the background noise
of his continuous chuckling is lovely background noise indeed. A nice contrast
to the stillness and quietness of the neighbourhood.
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| Infrastructure work continues. Our biking route is a mess now. |
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| Construction of this site continues, but at a much slower pace. |
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| One hopeful taxi driver on the good side of our dug-up street. |
We are painfully aware that many
people are not so lucky. There has been some horribly sad news of tragic events
in Canada to compound the sadness of the deaths from the virus. Here in Thailand,
many of our friends are going to have a difficult time to get back on their
feet financially. Everywhere, our friends and relatives with young children
have an extra burden to bear – answering difficult questions, trying to cope
with home schooling, finding creative ways to get them exercise and fresh air, while
trying to maintain a semblance of happiness and sanity. Our friends and
relatives who are “essential workers” expose themselves to risk on a regular
basis, and many have to wear protective equipment that is uncomfortable –
sometimes to the point of being harmful, but the lesser of two evils. Our
hearts go out to all of you who are having difficulties with coping.
We have received some questions
from friends who have units here at the Dewa. Since the time that Darrel and I
put ourselves in isolation mode, we have not had much contact with other owners
or staff. The hotel is closed, so most staff are not working. The Phuket
lockdown added some complexities to the situation, and even “essential” employees
couldn’t come to work. For instance, Khun Janya was restricted to the southern
end of the province. Now that the lockdown has been lifted, we hope to see more
of the friendly and familiar faces that we miss so much. Our general manager lives
on site, so that was very convenient for everyone. Some staff are now living
here at the Dewa, so our pools and gardens are still well-maintained. Our
engineering, internet, security and other maintenance needs are being met.
Housekeeping staff – a core few of them – are keeping things clean and tidy.
While the hotel and pool villas are completely empty, we estimate that about 15
condominium units are occupied – about half are owners or Dewa employees, and
the other half are longer-term guests. We do not get together with any of them
but wave balcony-to-balcony. Darrel and I do an evening walk-about when
everyone else is tucked away, and it is comforting to see that all is well in
the condominium grounds.
We have no idea when tourism will
return to normal. Our little village is heavily dependent on tourism. There
will be no “new normal” here. It is going to be one long, hard struggle to just
get back on our feet.
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| So inviting, but off-limits. |
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| Just by pure luck,we had enough to get us through the ban. We were able to toast the new moon. |
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| Perhaps a hopeful sign: Our money plant has a new sprout. |
While sitting in isolation, I did
keep track of a few things:
April 13 – Darrel went to pick up our laundry and also get a
few items from the mini-mart (our grocery delivery was missing some items like
apples and oranges). He was stopped by the police and required to show his
passport and to have his temperature taken. All the information was recorded on
a form. (Note – no officials ever did visit our unit. We had thought that it
was a possibility).
This day is the traditional Thai New Year. The government
declared that it would NOT declare it a public holiday. Usually it is a three-day
public holiday. It is a very extreme measure that indicates that the Thai
government is taking this situation very seriously.
Also on this day, we lost one of the restaurants from where
we ordered for home delivery (the lamb burger place, sigh).The manager lives in
another sub-district, so she had to close.
April 18 – The Governor of Phuket has announced that the
lockdown has been extended until April 30th. Four extra days.
April 19 – We heard the horrifying news of the mass shooting
in Nova Scotia.
April 22 – Possible food/meat shortage? Some meat-processing
plants closed down in Canada and US. I read that there might be problems with
the food supply change, so I ordered four extra cans of beans with my food
order. They were out of stock. I wonder if I should be alarmed.
After that last entry, I stopped writing stuff down.
Instead, I baked cookies a couple of times and worked on my YouTube playlists.
I created a “mellow” category for myself and find that it is growing
exponentially. For every song I add, YouTube finds a couple more to
recommend. It’s like a virus.
A “Dinner Out” for Dylan and Laura:
Here’s something to lighten up the tone of this blog
entry. Our son and daughter-in-law shared this lovely little story, and said we
could share it with you. It also involves our teenage grandchildren, Taylor and
Tehja.
After a few weeks into Covid-19, Laura and I were
starting to miss our date nights, usually a nice dinner out. So as consolation,
we decided to get “take-out” from one of the Italian restaurants in Stony
Plain.
On our way out to pick it up, I quietly asked Taylor
to have the table set and act like our waiter when we got home to surprise
Laura. No other direction was provided other than that.
When we got home with our food, Taylor was waiting at
the front, dressed up nicely and hair combed (an unusual image lately, lol).
He escorted us to a fully set table, complete with a
variety of cutlery, side plates, water, wine glasses, and even bilingual menus
and a “reserved” sign.
After lighting our candle and filling our wine
glasses, the kids left us to eat our “date night” dinner, coming once and a
while to fill our wine glasses of course!
At the end of dinner, the kids cleared our table and
washed the dishes while we continued working hard… on our wine.
Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos (but we kept
the menus), since we were caught up in the moment. But we’ll remember it
forever. And a note to the blog readers, the servers were tipped for their
efforts… we’ll definitely come back again!
Coffee Break for our Ottawa Friends
We got this update from friends in Ottawa who, like us, are mostly
unscathed by recent events.
So far, we are adapting very well
to all of this time at home. We do low-tech "Stairmaster" exercises,
going up to the 9th floor every other day, plus weights, jumping jacks, and pushups
in the apartment.
The "afternoon coffee break"
routine that we used to do – going out to a coffee shop for coffee and to read –
is now done in the apartment. We set up a folding table by our living room
window with two chairs, table cloth etc. and have our coffee breaks there.
~~ We hope all our friends are finding creative
ways to stay fit and enjoy special moments. ~~
Quote found on Facebook (thanks Jenny):
“I can’t go out because of the
virus” sounds weak, whiny and boring.
Try instead: “I’ve sworn an oath
of solitude until the pestilence is purged from the lands”.
Sounds more Valiant and Heroic,
people might even think you are carrying a sword.
That’s
it for now. Stay valiant and heroic everyone. Loretta & Darrel.
