Interaction without interaction

School has been canceled to slow the transmission of COVID-19. The goal is to keep the kids apart. No interaction, no transmission. Our ten-year-old granddaughter showed me how to interact without physically interacting. She plays a computer game called Animal Jam with other children. She found her cousin was online this morning. Lot's of giggles as two little girls played together but were miles apart.

Children can win trophies for answering questions about animals based on online booklets. Read a page, click on the image and the "page" turns. Finish the booklet, answer the questions and if one gets them all correct, the player wins a trophy.

I wish I knew more but I don't. It seems like innocent fun. One mother spent some time checking it out and it passed her inspection. Me? I do try to keep an eye.

Deer hunting during school suspension

School is suspended during this COVID-19 pandemic and grandparents are taking in grandchildren. It is difficult to break the links to society when one has to babysit. Both our daughters are still working and there is no sign this will stop.

Our granddaughter had a list of things to do today. Near the top of her list was deer hunting. The last time we visited Woodland Cemetery we didn't see even one deer. My wife and I thought possibly the deer had been removed to prevent more damage to the trees and other growth come spring.

But, we were wrong. We counted more than two dozen deer in the cemetery today. We didn't bring anything to feed the deer as the cemetery has posted a sign saying that this is not a good idea. Vistors to the cemetery are requested to refrain from feeding the deer.

As I said is a prior post, Woodland Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery owned and operated by St. Paul Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral in the downtown core of London. Founded in 1879 on the banks of the Thames River, today the grounds have expanded to almost 100 acres and hold more than 50,000 burials.

It took three families to make this dinner.

It looks like a simple bowl of rotini. Rotini, yes. Simple, no. Pasta is sold-out in every store in the neighbourhood. The shelves are totally bare. Hoarders have bought it all. And vegetables are getting  hard to find as well.

But friendly, supportive neighbours are abundant. The ingredients for tonight's dinner would have been difficult to find at a store but our neighbourhood has pulled together.

I'm proud of them. Good people.

Who needs to hoard when you have Costco?

My toothpaste tube was empty. I had to go to the closet for another. I got down my unopened package from Costco. It had five family size tubes of toothpaste in one package. My granddaughter thought I looked like a hoarder. I'm not. I'm just a Costco member. Now, did I tell you about our toilet paper?

A project to fight social distancing boredom

With three little granddaughters to care for everyday, their parents are all still working, my wife and I are not just fighting the threat presented by coronavirus, we are also fighting the threat of boredom. And with three little girls, 6, 8 and 10, we take both threats seriously.

The photo shows something called Cake Pops. Make a chocolate cake, break the cake into small crumbs and then mix the crumbs with chocolate icing. Roll the mixture into balls and place in the fridge overnight. Thanks to the icing and the cold, the balls hold their shapes quite nicely.

Have the kids slide the chocolate balls onto rolled-paper, lollipop sticks and decorate. They will enjoy doing it and, if done right, it will kill a lot of time. Remember, the kids had to make the balls the first day and then finish the project the second day. That's a fine, time-consuming activity.

Cheers! Stay healthy!

With schools closed, grandparents have kids

Spring-break plus the coronavirus closures means that many grandparents in Ontario are taking care of grandchildren. The kids are getting antsy and spring-break had just started. There is nowhere to go. Essentially, everything is closed.

Oh well, there is still the backyard for entertainment. Hiding behind a chair back and watching the rabbits is always a fun way to spend a little time.

Some folk do not spread COVID-19; no contact with others.

COVID-19 is quickly turning London, Ontario, into a bit of a ghost town. Cinemas have closed as have libraries. Many shops tried operating at reduced hours but found their customers were operating on reduced hours around the clock. The shops have now closed.

But, some people have jobs that do not spread the COVID-19 virus. This city worker works most of the day almost alone. Well, at least at quite distance from other people. But, eventually the city's outside workers will be told to stay home. All workers. There will be almost no exceptions.