the shimmering

Oh shimmering lark vomit, Batman! it’s a panic-demic!

Yesterday I overcame my soul-gripping fear and made a delivery to the hub of death: that great city of death, whitehorse yukon, population: about 30k. And here is what I found:

First strange observation came about 30 minutes short of town. I passed a large loader coming down the shoulder in the opposite direction, apparently to move some snow somewhere; we have a LOT, and was surprised and shocked to see the male operator wearing a face shield. He was alone in the cab, afraid of infecting himself perhaps.

Traffic in the city and on the highway was noticeably light. Normally at 3:30 pm it is nearly impossible to cross whitehorse for the traffic as the massive writhing, govt-employed population attempts to leave the coffee shops for the long commute back home. It was easy to navigate the traffic yesterday, almost like driving around in teslin on a holiday, at 4 AM, not that i travel around in teslin much at 4 AM but hey, I’m speculating.

I was heartened to see that in walmart, where I needed some cat supplies, the prices had not been jacked to take advantage of the situation, and in fact, price-jacking didn’t appear to have been the case in any of the several businesses I visited yesterday. Shoppers were nowhere near overwhelming in number. It was interesting to observe the shopping patterns: Some shelves were stripped bare as a smile in court. Turn 180 degrees and not an item appeared to have been removed. Most paper was gone, which, i’m sorry to ask, but will people soon be found emaciated and shivering, racked with hunger, skeletal babies in their arms, their cc’s maxed, beside 2000 dollars worth of paper products? Perhaps it’s all a metaphor for what will happen shortly to all of our paper “wealth”?

I didn’t see a single cop car or ambulance all day and have no explanation whatsoever for that. Some stores were closed entirely and others tell me business is slow. One shop was busy disinfecting jewelry which someone had boldly tried on.

My fav dental office is closing for the next 2 weeks. I tried to visit a friend in the whistle bend senior home and was stopped at the entrance. The lady seemed a bit shocked I would even try to infect them all. Same at the whitehorse hospital, entrance denied with a nice explanation about patient safety. I hope someone is explaining to the patients, the reason they wait in isolation with no one seemingly concerned for them.

I was able to get my vision tested and get a new supply of contacts. The optometrist agreed that the economic fallout from this whateveritis will be far worse than the impact from the virus. 

One of the few people seen walking about downtown was a bylaw officer in full regalia wearing a high quality face mask, presumably ticketing feral parkers, vainly attempting to restore an atmosphere of normalcy. The gov’t never totally sleeps it seems.

I walked past an apartment building and was loudly greated by a man outside on his balcony. He gave me 2 thumbs up. I think I was being honored for my bravery. Good Lord.  Imagine. Someone daring to walk around in the city of death unprotected! The courage! How inspiring!

I like the Angus burgers at McDonald’s. Perhaps the last burger I ate was a cow I fed at my brother’s farm a year ago. At Mcdonalds the staff was relaxed and joking around with each other, and I was the only one in the line. The place had all the seating areas roped off.

Bear in mind. The yukon hasn’t had a single case confirmed: SO FAR!

Greta must be so happy! All her prayers to Gia are being answered.