Being an accounting of the recent and continuing pandemic and its various circumstances, from the perspective of an inhabitant of the regions lately called the Lost Quarter. Dates unknown.

Day Three Hundred Thirty Five

The cold snap has finally ended after two weeks of bone chilling weather. I was out for a walk this morning, and though it was still a brisk -16 the wind had none of its earlier bite. By this weekend it will supposedly be above freezing again, a welcome reprieve from the frigid weather that has kept us trapped at home more than we would like with the grippe reborn still haunting us.

On Valentine’s Day my love and I did venture out, despite the cold, for what was not a particularly romantic day, but at least a break from the usual. We went to a Korean fast food place for lunch, which we ate huddled in our car. After that we went to a Filipino ice cream parlour and ate cones, again sitting in the car, which I would turn on for a few minutes when it got too cold. Restaurants are open to customers again in these parts, but the dread lord has amply demonstrated that small places filled with unmasked people are his favourite stalking grounds, so we will stay away, even if it means we are trapped in our vehicles.

The days are growing longer, which does much to make the cold bearable. A sure sign that we shall not have to endure it forever. When I start my walks in the morning it is dark, but by the time I return the sun has risen and the light stays in the day until six at least now. Each week the change is noticeable, the glare hitting my eyes at a different time in the afternoon. We all hope for the spring warmth, for inoculations, for some end to this glaciation of our lives. The end feels almost in sight some days, even if it is far away.