August Newsletter
Summer’s half gone and we’re still in the Twilight Zone of COVID-19 which is transforming our world in every way. But there are other major issues which need our attention and corrective action. Consider your own position of these following issues facing us at this moment.
CORONA VIRUS
COVID has affected everyone. As months passed, we decreased doing many things, shopping at our regular retailers, browsing at our main libraries, socializing with family and friends. Yet, our governments, municipal, provincial and federal, seem to be all over the map with their pandemic policies.
SYSTEMIC RACISM
From business board rooms to the police headquarters to the RCMP, racism rears its ugly head regularly. We are doing something very wrong in our efforts to eliminate racism. Perhaps the lines of communication between the blacks and the rest of us must be opened wider, heard more clearly and constructive responses based on what we learn may be a more successful strategy than what we currently use.
STAGE 3 vs ECONOMIC DISASTER
Easy to scaremonger that another pandemic wave threatens. So fighting the pandemic should trump everything else. Tell that to the families who cannot purchase basic foods for their kids. Tell that to the food bank volunteers who see donations dropping off to frightening levels. Tell that to the parents who are about to send kids back to crowded schools. Tell that to the teacher who is trying to persuade very young children that mask-wearing is a health precaution. Tell that to the retailer who has increasing mortgage payment debts on his/her business loan but decreasing clients at the store. Tell that to the worker who has been laid off from the local business where client numbers have hit rock bottom.
THERE IS HOPE
Like spring blossoms, changes are sprouting. With growing hope, our governments inch our communities forward label changes: ‘Stage 2,’ ‘Stage 3.’ But each changer unleashes renewed warnings of a 2nd wave, a 3rd wave. We inch forward, backward really, toward our new world in the hopes of getting back to the ‘good old days,’ the normal ways we once knew but there will be no turning back. We now live in a “new normal.”
YOU ARE NEED IN THIS WAR
Think about the issues facing us today, how they are stressing us and causing increased tension and anxiety. We are all trying to return to our normal, former way of life. However, COVID-19 refuses to release its chokehold. Consider what you can do to help reduce the stress and anxiety we are all experiencing at this time. Consider how you can help fight the battle in which we are all engaged. How can you help your local retailers but still taking the necessary precautions for your own health and safety? Employ all the health precautions that we been learned, hand washing, mask-wearing, limited social gathering, maximum social distancing and eliminating unnecessary visits to stores and public buildings. Most importantly, explain to your children, to those you meet how crucial it is that we abide by the precautionary measures that will help reduce the risk of infections. You are one of the conscripted soldiers in this war, like it or not. And it is a war. We can reduce the number of casualties. We will win, soon we hope.
Our website
Our website has been changed a little to make things easier to find, to manage. We eliminated category labels in our posts. The titles now speak for themselves.
Books
We have tired of TV and the movie dregs being offered repeatedly. Even the re-opened cinemas are touting a return to the old classics movies screened in the past. Hollywood isn’t operating normally. So, we have reverted to reading, with more dedication, devotion and focus. We are analyzing and examining what we read with a more myopic eye. Which author is our favourite? What makes him/her so? And we have dedicated our summertime reading more specifically to reading the books written by the authors who are connected with our site.
Our website published authors
Visit our site and consider supporting our published authors. They have dedicated their professional lives to writing books to entertain and enlighten you.
With great pleasure and satisfaction, we have read….
Cheryl Bristow, A Shield in the Shadows
A romantic encapsulation of the dying days of the Roman Empire.
Terry Fallis, Albatross
An award-winning Canadian humourist writes a paean to golf and its passionate devotees.
Ginger Kuenzel, Downtown
Humour a la Erma Bombeck but closer to home…Muskoka, Haliburton and small-town living.
Rick Pyves, Midnight Madness
A son’s tribute to his father who served as a WWII bomber tail gunner in the RAF.
Sheila Tucker, Rag Dolls and Rage
A courageous memoir as written by a survivor of an incredibly abusive childhood.
My reading list is not complete yet…
Lucy Black, The Marzipan Fruit Basket
A collection of short stories, summertime patio reading.
Howard Pell, Retire Fit, Fit & Fit
Fitness: financial, physical, and emotional. Instructive direction to better living.
Richard reads and reviews
We not only read, but we also record and review what we read. Check out Bookz/BOOKS/REVIEWS/RICHARD reviews to see the top 100 books we have read and reviewed.
Meet the author event
Finally, we invite you to join our ZOOM meeting with Canadian author Cheryl Bristow. For more details, click on Bristow.
Registration
To register for the event and to receive the meeting ID and password, send an email to us at richard@szpin.ca
There you have it, mid-summer, hot, humid and heat records. July has had just 5 days with temperatures below 30C. Watch out for August. The CNE is going to be torrid!
Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay distanced.
Best,
Richard
