The play areas are open!

Yes, the yellow caution ribbons are gone. Playground equipment out-of-bounds for months is again available to children in London neighbourhoods. And not a minute too soon I might add. Kids need exercise.

Balancing the threat of COVID-19 with the healthy promise of ample outdoor exercise was tough. I'm not sure the right balance was struck but we may have to weigh our options again at some point in the future. This viral battle is not over.

London is entering stage three of the reopening procedure.

People still visited the parks but in small groups or even alone. But today the province declared London to be in Stage Three of the reopening process. Soon small groups will being gathering again in the parks. Large parties, groups of up to fifty will now be allowed. Barbecues and big picnics will soon be common again.

The yellow caution ribbons are being removed from the park equipment and restaurants are now allowed to serve diners inside, and not just on the patio, as long as some degree of social distancing is being observed. Kids will be back in the pools and back using the numerous splash pads found throughout the city.

Parks are coming back to life

The parks in London, Ontario, are slowly filling, life returns, but the activities one sees are heavily influenced by the need to social distance.

Does tumbling, cascading grass make a picture?

The rain was heavy, the wind was strong and the grass growing tall in the wide ledge on the wall, arced downward under the pressure. 

I saw it and thought picture. Others saw it and thought wind-damaged grass. 

Others thought absolutely nothing. 

Hmmm. Some folk have no poetry in their souls. 😊

What DO we the public really know about COVID-19?

The largest neighbourhood park now has a seven or eight foot fence blocking access. Why? I've read reports stating that fomites -- contaminated surfaces -- are not an important source of COVID-19 transmission. Furthermore, bright sunlight and high heat, according to some respected sources, can quickly eliminate the viability of t he virus.

Of course, it is possible that there are so few COVID-19 patients who are known to have caught the virus from a contaminated surface because such a good job has been done at eliminating this threat from our lives. Playgrounds taped off, credit card stations wrapped in clear plastic which is wiped after every use and the list goes on.

After communicating with a chap on this very site, I decided to determine just what I did and didn't know when it comes to COVID-19. I'm certain masks work. I found lots of support in medical journals going back more than a decade.

I'm also certain that COVID-19 is not just like the flu. But there are some great similarities and the flu is a lot more dangerous than many like to believe. There's a reason this old geezer with a failing heart always gets his flu shot. He knows the flu poses a serious health threat to him and his wife. Both diseases leave behind a lot of dead seniors.

The big difference between the flu and COVID-19 is that COVID-19 leaves behind a lot more dead seniors. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, "Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher than that of most strains of the flu. Link: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

Note the words, "at present" and "thought to be." By the time I got to the second thing I was sure of, I was beginning to rely on fudging words. I never got to a third item for my list. 

This is a new viral threat. It should come as no surprise that nouveau means there are big gaps in our knowledge. At this time I will wear my mask and hope others do the same, I'll keep my distance, wash my hands and wash and wipe surfaces where possible. I'll follow the suggestions of those in authority and hope, and pray, they are right as they modify their actions based on the latest knowledge.

And I understand that that knowledge indicates we might, just might, open playgrounds to children. Enforced inactivity may be more dangerous to developing children than the threat posed by fomites found in playgrounds. What demanded a fence yesterday may be open to all come tomorrow.

A Segway spotted in the neighbourhood

I didn't know these were still in production, but, according to the young man spotted using one in the neighbourhood, they are! He was canvasing the neighbourhood for a charity and using the Segway to cover more distance than would be possible doing this on foot.

I googled Segway and found: Segway Personal Transporter. Was this a company ahead of its time?

Not a stairway to heaven

Trees, unlike parrots, can be dead, deceased, bereft of life, resting in peace and yet still be full of activity—the life of others, such as birds, insects and fungus animate the dead structure. And so, as the sign explains, the London parks department has trimmed the dead tree on the far left of all large, dangerous branches and has left the massive dead stump to provide wildlife with a habitat in progress.

Behind the tree can be seen the barricaded entrance to a fine staircase leading from the park to the Thames River. It seems the staircase, like the tree, had become a wildlife habitat full of insects and general rot. Unlike the tree it will soon be removed.

At some point, nature will replace the dead tree. It appears, unless the city changes its mind, the once well-used bridge will disappear and never return. Staircases don't grow like trees, one might say.