5C's Que Pasa

We have had so much rain over the past few weeks…months, actually. This past week we broke some records for low temps in June.

Often rain brings some lovely rainbows.  Can you see the second rainbow, to the right?  Very dim.

A very poor snap but the best I could do. Loved watching this eagle fly overhead.

Very bold colours. You can barely see the deep purple to the left.

For a moment the rainbow was reflected on the lake. Or course it was not possible to photograph. Can you see the rainbow between the two layers of clouds?

So now finally after so much time, I only see blue skies.  I actually did sing this song in a choral group that I once belonged to.  Have a listen if you have a moment. Sung by one of the greats, Frank Sinatra and composed by Irving Berlin.

We are finally on the upward path and our hearts and most importantly our garden is being warmed by the sun.

Well what is happening?  Rain, more rain and even more rain and record breaking cool temperatures.  Personally we are managing just fine.  Especially if you count using your furnace every morning and having your fireplace on half the day, normal for mid June 😯  However our garden is literally drowning. We did get out for a wee walk this afternoon and saw that the only thing growing were the weeds.  We even have weeds growing in the bark mulch.  Actually we have one zucchini which is about four inches long.  The beans will need to be replanted for the third or is it fourth time?  The tomatoes are not looking good but may survive if we get sunshine and heat. The good news is that sun is in the forecast starting Wednesday. Mice have been eating strawberries in  some gardens but we have been spared thus far.  I picked three more today. In a word, yummy.

The golf cart left again a few days ago.  Since they did the repairs and replaced the batteries we have had a very strange sound on the back right.  Some fellows here told us that is was a wheel bearing axle problem.

It left on Thursday the 11th and we got a call the next day telling us that the repair was $0.00.  They said that the wheel had something in it that was loose and only needed to be tightened. Between us that told us that they ‘might’ have made an error when they did a full check of the golf cart ( on the insurance money ) and now rectified it.  We didn’t even have to pay the $55.00 pick up charge.

However there was an issue on delivery on the 13th. It was a different driver than the other 3 pick up/drop off times.  This guy just gunned it and as it came off the ramp I heard a noise from inside the house.  Yes the cart hit the pavement. Colin did a quick check in the cold/wet weather and all appeared normal but he will check it out when the weather is better. The other fellow knew that he had less than 1/2 inch clearance.

Today’s latest news article related to my post two days ago.  So now Americans are expected ( always have been!!! ) to spend 14 days in quarantine once they cross into Canada (at least in BC ), before continuing onto Alaska.

You can read the entire long article here. The article also addresses people choosing to sail from the the US through Canada to Alaska. All I can say is that things are becoming rather complicated.

Yup, dismal weather.

Colin saw a muskrat the other day and it is very very different from our beaver. It is much smaller and has a tail. Muskrat photo from the internet.  Good to know that we have both.

Our beaver has a much larger head.

Colin got it coming up from feeding on the weeds/grasses in the lake.

Taken last Thursday, the day the golf cart was picked up. A wee break in the weather.

Choose your activities wisely.

This was the 9th week that Dallas and Rocio have been giving out food packages to those in need on the Isla. This past Friday they only gave out 80 despenses for two reasons.  The first was that people from the Sinaloa government came to the Isla and gave out a large  number of cards from the Ley ( grocery ) store worth 350 pesos. There was no indication that this would be repeated. Certainly a better hand out than the 100 small despensas given by the city of Mazatlan a few weeks ago. The second reason is that the funds have run out.  There is just enough left to give a small number of despensas next Friday.

However, close to 1200 bags of food have been distributed over the last nine weeks.

Hopefully Sinaloa will allow things to open up again as everyone needs to get back to work. Sadly the beaches are still closed. However the numbers were going down and then they went up again for a few days. There has been a drop in new cases for the past two days now.  Everyone is supposed to be wearing a mask but not all do. When things were looking better people began to flock outside and apparently even a few musicians began to play outside which of course drew a crowd.  The Plazuela Machado was first roped off and now there is a plastic fence around to keep people out.

So many were involved in helping these folks on the Isla, from those who donated to those who helped put the packages together every week and helped hand them out.

Dallas and his wife Rocio have given so much of their time week after week, first by going to the bank several times per week to collect the money I and others send, then by ordering the food, collecting it and then sorting it and distributing it. They are selfless.

Disturbingly Covid-19 has reached the Isla. One person has recovered and a few others are sick. I don’t believe that anyone is in hospital. In case you have not heard, the hospitals are pretty much full in Mazatlan.  In fact ambulances are being turned away and can only return their patient back home where that person then dies.  I know someone who has had five neighbours pass away from this virus. Please everyone do what you can to stay safe and wear a mask to protect those around you.

Many are emailing back and forth and asking about traveling back this winter. Just this past week a statement by the Sinaloa government was made that it might be as late as October before they open up the state. No one knows what the future may bring. Hopefully we will be able to return in early November.  I know that the Isla and the Mazatlan economy needs us. More importantly Mexicans need to get back to work to support their families.

Posted by Dallas just this morning.

These wise words from Dr. Bonnie Henry, our Provincial Medical Health Officer, here in British Columbia, Canada, serves as a North Star for all of us right now, as we adapt to an ever-changing and fluid situation.

Stay kind out there, everyone. These are some strange times.

I’m sure that many of you have seen some of the following ideas implemented to be sure that one is social distancing while eating out in a restaurant. Personally I would never ever go to this extreme. Perhaps some of them are simply a joke or an ad campaign. Actually I would never do anything even remotely close to the following. We have been to a drive through exactly twice and that was enough of a thrill for me at this stage of Covid.

I do like this idea, rather romantic.

Seriously, it appears that the new normal is going to something like this.

The future of restaurants may include these chandelier like shields to keep people safe.

Gosh this seems like an extreme to me but I can actually see this in small European cafes.

France is already working on implanting this design. You can read about it here.

Many of you may have read in the news today about how Americans are managing to get into Canada despite the border between the US and Canada being closed officially until June 21st and likely another month after that. Here is the link to that complete story.

A waiter in beautiful Banff, Alberta was taking an order and asked the people where they were from. He was surprised when they answered Texas. Of course he asked how they got into Canada and they explained that they had found a loophole. Just as we Canadians returning home from Mexico were allowed to transit the US back home to Canada, these Americans claimed that they were simply transiting Canada on their way to Alaska. The same thing happened with another family from Seattle.  Neither of these families were heading to Alaska but had come to Canada for a vacation  😯

Our first Mazatlan like sunset taken June 10th by Colin with his camera. The colours are spot on as opposed to the photos taken with my camera.

The explanation given by the border agents.

No photoshop nor highlighting at all.

So now Americans are vacationing in Canada without having to do the imperative 14 day quarantine.  This particular family was not wearing masks nor using sanitizer. Might I add that at the moment Texas ( as is Washington State ) is seeing a dramatic spike in Covid cases since they opened up the state. So these visitors are walking around Banff and wherever else they travel to, possibly infecting others.  This is not acceptable but what can we do?  Possibly call the various Covid help lines and complain 😥  If by chance an American is returning home to Alaska should they not have check in stops throughout Canada as they travel north?  If they miss a checkpoint then they should be required to do the mandatory 14 day quarantine.

When we Canadians come back into our country, whether by air or by vehicle, we have to fill out a form with our quarantine plan for 14 days, including name, address and phone contact information. and a very specific plan. The reason for that is so that checks can be done to make sure that we are actually following the rules.

This is what is required by a Canadian returning to Canada.  I say Canadian because at the moment no foreigner is supposed to be allowed into Canada unless for essential service reasons such as a trucker delivering food or medical staff.

However my story gets worse. Apparently rules are being broken by Canadian border agents at airports as well.  I have a friend who was stuck in Sweden for an extra ten weeks, until a few days ago.  She was caught by the Covid-19 situation and closed borders and flights being cancelled, etc. She finally was able to take a train to a different country and boarded a plane ( that  finally started to fly ) to another country and finally landed in Toronto last Monday.  She had her temperature taken along to way to make sure she was healthy and she wore her mask. She even had her self isolation form filled out with all the details, down to who would pick up her garbage. Turns out that not once but twice she was waived through and was told that the paperwork was not necessary. So no one took note of where she has come from, which flights, nor how she was getting to her actual home and what her isolation plan was.  They did not know that she still had two more flights to take to get home including a 17 hour stop at one airport before she could make that final connection.  She did nothing wrong.  It was the Canadian agents processing a flight of people entering Canada who waived her through and did not follow through with the rules as laid out by our government. No worries, she and her hubby (who picked her up at the airport ) are following their end of the rules and and are both self isolating.

Two wrongs within a few days by border agents. Will our numbers start to rise again? So many of us have been staying home and following the rules for almost three months now. What happens next? Fortunately for my friend, as she was in Sweden, she got to go out to restaurants and wander around. Of course she now has 14 days at home. Who were the others on her flight, where did they come from and where were they going?  There is no way to contact anyone from those flights if someone was indeed infected.

Thank goodness for Mother Nature.