Mystery writer Heather McLeod writes daily pandemic diaries. These are her entries for the second half of May, 2020, during the global COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic.

May 16, 2020 (Saturday) – DAY 62

Perhaps Isaac isn’t as addicted to Minecraft as I think: while I wait in bed for my old lady eyes to wake up, he chooses to play his Osmo music coding game. He blows my mind again when he sits at the piano without any prompting and plays me and Ryan “Hedwig’s Theme.”

Evy and Peter are in Cranbrook today to get Peter’s bow restrung and tuned up. While there, Evy braves Dollarama, Staples and Walmart to tackle the family’s shopping list. Dollarama and Walmart have shoppers line up outside, then allow family groups in one at a time. Walmart (Evy tells me) has an overwhelming profusion of arrows and signage to control how customers can move through the store: there’s no backtracking for items. She finds it stressful, but manages to get new biking helmets for me and Isaac.

At Staples, they are assigned a personal shopper who tour guides them through the store, carrying the basket and handling all the merchandise for them. He wears gloves. There is no browsing. They get me a 3′ by 4′ cork board and two stacks of Hilroy notebooks.

For lunch, they get Wendy’s drive through and dine in their car. The line-up at Tim Horton’s is EPIC, so there is no tea or coffee for the drive home.

Meanwhile … I email the schools of the two 2020 recipients for our Cowichan graduates award, in memory of Brock, asking if they plan to have an awards presentation ceremony.

I work on my mystery plot for Buds a bit … This planning stage might be my favourite part of writing a mystery. Good thing I also love the writing part.

At noon we get the tent trailer set up with our bedding. Isaac brings out his Minecraft books, a notebook and a pen: he intends to make the trailer his “Minecraft YouTube channel studio.” I’m not sure what that means.

I open a storage cupboard and find PRICELESS TREASURE, specifically: a large canister of Lysol disinfectant wipes.

We head up to Mom and Dad’s. Mom is revelling in her worm farm, and shows me an avocado filled with the red wrigglers.

Evy messages to tell us that Lego is offering the Lego Ninjago Movie Game for FREE until May 21. Isaac gets Dad to download the game onto Dad’s Xbox, and I don’t see my son again until 5:30pm.

I use that time to get a large pot ready to grow mint on my deck, then sit down with iced tea and my mystery book plot notes.

This is heavenly.

Evy arrives with the items she bought for us. I make her sparkly water and we visit on the deck for awhile. Her daycare won’t open again until July: she’s eager to go camping in the forest district, once the sites are open again in June.

Isaac returns: we play with the new sand toys his Secret Admirer (Evy) has left for him.

Dauna comes over around 5:45pm. We light our fire and she gorges on perfectly toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate and graham crackers while Isaac and I eat a sensible dinner of chips, hot dogs and smokies. Plus marshmallows.

Dauna has Nelson boyfriend germs and I have Ryan germs: we do a good job of social distancing.

Quinn sends me a photo from Whistler Village. It’s a ghost town.

We put out the fire around 8pm. Isaac and I are all set to sleep in the tent trailer. He’s been talking a lot about having a Minecraft “server,” and I promise to research that for him.

We read books until he falls asleep. I go indoors to write up this journal entry.

I’d love to work on my mystery plot some more before bed, but it’s 11pm now. Time to go camping.

May 17, 2020 (Sunday) – DAY 63

We wake up at 6am because of the sunlight coming in through the thin walls of our tent trailer. Also I am very cold. Isaac and I snuggle, and then agree it’s okay to go inside to warm up.

Isaac plays Lego while I make tea and toast. Eventually it’s 9:30am (the earliest I’ll let him “drop in” on Mom and Dad) and he races to their house, hoping to play Ninjago on the Xbox with Dad. 

I’m suddenly free. I do the 30 minute Vixen cardio workout I discovered awhile back on YouTube. It’s everything I’ve been wanting: a sexy, challenging but doable dance workout, at a slow-ish pace and with plenty of repetition. Then I do some weights and sit ups while watching Brokenwood.

Isaac’s still not home after my shower, so I continue plotting out my mystery novel on the couch with hot tea. Heavenly.

My Mom-in-law Debbie calls and confirms that it’s probably best for me to cancel my reservation for the group camping site in July, for our annual McLeod family reunion.

We all want to visit as soon as that’s a good idea: they offer to come here, or Isaac and I could fly out. But Debbie’s much more relaxed about this whole pandemic thing than I am, and I foresee a situation where I have to say they CAN’T come visit yet, which will be awkward. Hopefully B.C. will continue to do well, and we can visit here or on the Island in July or August.

I cancel our reservations at the four different campgrounds I’d booked for our July road trip. (Wow, it took a lot less time to type that than to actually do it. So. Much. Bureaucracy.)

Then I work on my mystery plot some more.

Isaac comes home and plays in the gravel. He spots a big yellow butterfly, and takes a picture of it, then goes inside to his Lego. I mount three pictures in the living room and put up the HUGE cork board Evy got me yesterday — it’s for my book, but I’ve tacked a letter-sized sheet here so you can see how massive the 3′ by 4′ board is:

Evy says she and Peter are going to drop in and visit Mom and Dad: we go over too. This is the first time we’ve all been together for weeks. We sit on their patio, and visit long-distance with the neighbours.

We all (including the neighbours) had reservations to camp in Wasa Provincial Park for the long weekend: half of Invermere retreats to that park each year, to avoid the hordes of Albertans who come to Invermere. It’s funny to have us all here together now.

We make predictions about international travel, airline flights, second waves of infection, herd immunity, vaccination, the risk of interacting with children, and more.

Sometimes I feel like a limbo pro, after supporting Brock with his terminal cancer for three years, but with cancer you know there will be an end, and roughly what that will mean. This pandemic is Xtreme limbo: no one really knows what our world will be like in a month, a year, etc.

Mom’s been crocheting octopi and baby octopi for Evy, for some reason. She shows us her work so far.

It starts to rain and we realize it’s dinner time. Isaac and I go home: we eat a plate of carrots while the ribs and pasta cook.

Then we set up his table in my room and eat while watching the second half of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince.

There are enough scary scenes to justify him sleeping in my bed, for nightmare prevention. We read books and he’s out by 9pm.

Mmmmmmm shall I play with my new cork board now? Or watch Brokenwood? So much freedom …

May 18, 2020 (Monday) – DAY 64

I get a few hours of work done for the Chamber of Commerce in the morning. Our online events calendar is looking busy again: everyone’s getting used to this new weird world, and committing to online webinars and Zoom get-togethers.

It’s a blue-sky day and Evy initiates our adventure: we convoy out to Cartwright Lake at 11am. Hollis rides with me, while Evy and Peter get the dog plus Isaac and young Georgia. Apparently they’re noisy the whole hour-long drive: my nephew and I revel in quiet music.

We see plenty of camping trailers coming out of the backcountry (despite the no-camping limitations), but there’s no one set up for camping at Cartwright. 

Peter lights a fire so we can roast hot dogs and smokies. The kids net minnows off the dock. When the sun comes out, I win Isaac over into the kayak and we paddle around.

He jumps ship to splash with my nephew. They play with inflated toys: a unicorn and a flamingo from my 40th birthday car parade. I abandon the family and paddle around on my own for a bit. A loon is calling across the lake, and it’s all very magical and zen.

Isaac is exhausted and mellow. I discover a new station on Sirius: “Stay Home Radio.” So trendy. Irresistible. 

Back home, Isaac plays xBox with Dad for an hour while I do 15 minutes of my new Vixen workout, then watch Brokenwood and lift weights.

I make us grilled cheese sandwiches, with carrots and an apple for Isaac.

We read books for an hour, and then he crashes.

Such a great day.

May 19, 2020 (Tuesday) – DAY 65

Ryan came over last night: we’re up at 8:30am. We eat fried eggs and toast and talk about parenting. Isaac and I put on work gloves and help Ryan load some rebar, leftover from building my house, into his truck: last time, I was paid for these in restaurant gift certificates. This time I’m hoping for honey.

Then Ryan heads off to check on his kids and go to his physio appointment. (Three cheers for “personal services” business being allowed to re-open in B.C., as of today!)

I make Isaac peanut butter toast. He has his weekly video meeting with Ms Erin at 10am. They read a non-fiction book about frogs, and play word games.

We have a Minecraft date on the couch: yesterday he taught me how to mount, saddle and ride a donkey.

Today we build a floating island fortress.

At 11am, Isaac has his piano lesson. He’s squirmy but still plays well. 

We play Lego. The sky is clearing after raining overnight: I want to get us outside, but I have a webinar on plot twists at 1pm. No one’s able to take Isaac so he watches YouTube videos while I learn.

At 2pm I tell him he needs to go outside, and he rages. He gets violent so I pick him up and put him outside, then lock the door. Dad’s outside, coordinating the delivery of our fence building materials. Isaac goes to his sandbox.

My webinar isn’t done for another 30 minutes but I realize a Responsible Parent would now go outside and talk to her kid, so that’s what I do. We make peace on the trampoline, then play in the sandbox. Isaac wants a campfire so I go inside to get hotdogs and make bannock dough.

Isaac appears at the door and asks if it’s okay that he’s invited his daycare lady (who lives just down the road) and her flock of young kids to play in the sandbox, since they were walking by. I say sure. He’s going back to school in June part-time: this is the perfect chance to re-start his socializing, and test the germy waters.

Leanne and I visit 2m apart and blow bubbles for the kids while the four young kids play in the sandbox. Isaac is excited to have Leanne’s attention, and tells her all about Minecraft.

We get the campfire lit, and Dad delivers an oven rack he foraged from the dump: we can cook stuff on it! Then he flees, to escape all the germs.

Leanne and the kids leave, and then Evy and my nephew arrive to sit by the fire. I disclose the breach in our germ circle. Evy discloses that she had a yard visit with a friend and the friend’s new baby. Evy wasn’t allowed to touch the baby.

They leave when it starts to rain around 5pm. Inside, we play Minecraft together again until 6pm.

We explore a ravine, and then I stock a pond with salmon and go fishing.

Isaac reminds me that we’re supposed to eat dinner.

I make him “crazy soup” while watching the rest of my webinar. Crazy soup is a family recipe, from the early ’80s when we were poor: Campbell’s tomato soup with water, with cooked macaroni noodles.

He eats on the deck. I drink cranberry juice with vodka and we chat about our day.

I work on my mystery plot while he watches YouTube videos. Then we snuggle up in Isaac’s bed and watch the latest TikTok videos Evy’s made for him. She’s addicted to this app lately.

We read plenty of books. Isaac’s asleep around 9pm.

Ryan appears at my door: I thought he was going to be away this week for work, but his child care plans fell through so he’ll be in town. He’s exhausted from a busy day and by the time I’m ready for bed, Ryan’s asleep. I turn off the Netflix comedy special with Jerry Seinfeld he’s put on, and watch an episode of Brokenwood, with Ryan warm and snoring beside me.

May 20, 2020 (Wednesday) – DAY 66

In my dream, I happen to drop by Stephanie the literary agent’s Toronto office. I’m all casual-like: it’s not yet our scheduled meeting day (which is tomorrow, in real life). She says: “Oh hey, I’m just waiting for a call about you.” I end up in a room (with no social distancing!!!!) with Stephanie and three other agency staff. They want to take me on as a client, as long as I’m willing to consider their feedback on revising the ending of my book. Of course I’m willing. Celebrations all around.

I NEVER have real-life dreams like this, so clearly I am excited and anxious about my scheduled phone call with Stephanie tomorrow. I really hope she thinks my book is okay. Or at least salvageable. I hope she wants to help me get it published. I feel like throwing up.

Back in the real world, it’s raining. Ryan and I play backgammon, then he makes us eggs bennies.

Ryan heads off. Isaac leaves to “check on” Mom and Dad, which means he wants to play xBox with Dad.

My big project this week has been to develop the plot outline for my new mystery novel: for the last few days, I’ve been adding all the notes I made on printed sheets to my master document on the computer. It is SO much fun. One of my goals for this book is to make a more complex, sophisticated plot than my first book, and I’m getting there.

Isaac returns, and the rest of our day is a blur of Minecraft, food, Lego, Playdoh, and me on the computer.

At one point I investigate this “Outschool” thing I’ve been hearing about, and discover a weekly Minecraft club that Isaac is old enough to join: I sign him up, and he is ecstatic. Finally he’ll have other kids to discuss Minecraft with. It starts June 1.

By 5:30pm we’ve barely left the house, but the rain has paused. I get us outside: it’s not cold, just wet and grey. We check the mail (Isaac gets a letter from Grandpa Randy!) and go say hello to Mom and Dad. On our walk over, Isaac tells me twice that “You’re only young once.” I have no idea where he heard this phrase.

He starts talking about Minecraft and I encourage him, which distracts him into circling the neighbourhood with me. We pause at an empty lot full of dandelions and clover: he likes to make wishes.

Back home we play Minecraft for a bit, until he reminds me we’re supposed to eat dinner: I scrounge him some food. I need to do better at this “meals” thing.

We discuss our options for the evening, and decide to move Isaac’s mattress into the living room and camp out. Mom dropped off a brand new library book about Minecraft medieval castles earlier today, so we read that until Isaac falls asleep.

It’s late, but I’ve been using my brain all day to plan crimes and need some (mystery) escapism, so I watch Brokenwood in my room before joining Isaac at our campsite.

May 21, 2020 (Thursday) – DAY 67

The sun shines through our deck door at 6am, but we’re not ready to wake up yet so Isaac and I move from our living room mattress to my bedroom for another hour of sleep.

BC Parks emails with interesting news — they’re following Alberta’s lead with respect to Provincial parks:

Much of the camping around here is on BC Forest District land, and I wonder if they’ll initiate (and enforce) the same B.C.-only rule. Also, will Albertans who own a residence in B.C. be allowed to book BC Parks sites? Or is the Province checking license plates?

By the time I remember my intention to avoid caffeine this morning, I’ve already drunk most of my tea.

To keep myself from getting too excited about my noon phone date with Stephanie the Agent, I do 15 minutes of Vixen Workout cardio and some weights. I shower and feel all clean and civilized. 

Isaac has his video class meeting at 10:30am. I set him up with Playdoh, and then breakfast, to keep him in his seat. 

When the kids are done, Ms Casey and Ms Erin invite the parents to ask them any questions. There’s some pretty heavy subtext that “school” is not what it used to be, due to all the new health and safety rules. 

From what they describe, there will be no socializing: it will be a lot of at-desk, individual learning. I’m inclined to send Isaac for a day and we’ll see how it goes. Another option: if the school asks me to return as a noon hour supervisor, I can bring Isaac with me and we can schedule some education assistant or teacher time for him during that hour, inside the school.

We’ll see. No one knows anything for sure. Limbo is our new normal.

I check my email: Stephanie apologizes, but says: “I need more time to read to have a productive conversation,” and asks if we can postpone our date until next Thursday. Of course, I say yes, and thank her again.

How anticlimactic! I don’t know what to do with myself. Then I see that our local pub, The Station Pub, has announced it’s reopening its in-restaurant dining as of today. (Until now, they’ve only had takeout and their new ice cream service.) Mom agrees to keep Isaac for a bit.

I go get Ryan, and we meet Dauna at the pub. We are their first customers.

We’re all wearing pants, not PJs: this is so exciting.

Some new rules of pub dining, in COVID-19 times:

I drink my first beer at a pub in over 65 days.

We celebrate Stephanie the Agent not simply getting rid of me. Dauna says her email message is a good sign.

I drop Ryan off and grab three bags of groceries at Valley Foods, which seems busier. The customers are more relaxed about social distancing today. A dad has brought his kids in: I haven’t seen kids in the grocery store for months.

Isaac is hanging out with Mom when I pick him up. We go home and play Minecraft together for a bit.

Then he does his own thing and I keep working on my mystery plot outline.

Tony Berryman swings by around 7:30pm to drop off a copy of his new thriller, The Night Nurse.

We read books, learning about Harriet Tubman, and the human body. Isaac falls asleep easily.

Ryan comes over and silicones where the tile backsplash meets my countertops in the kitchen and upstairs washroom: this job has needed to be done since we built the house 1.5 years ago. Yay!

May 22, 2020 (Friday) – DAY 68

We’re up at 7am: I challenge Ryan to a game of backgammon and he destroys me.

It’s pouring rain outside. Rain never lasts this long (days!) in the Columbia Valley. It is disheartening and annoying, because we want to swim at the beach with our inflated flamingo island.

A sliver (or something hard) has been irritating my finger since yesterday. We use a precious Lysol wipe to sanitize some surgical tools, and Ryan tries to dig it out. But he thinks it’s a hardened burn blister, and I remember touching a hot roasting stick at the campfire the other day.

Ryan leaves for work, I make a huge breakfast, and then Isaac and I play Minecraft.

At 11:30am there’s a break in the rain and I insist we go outside. We check in with Mom and get her mailbox keys, then walk to the mailbox and check both boxes.

Back inside, Isaac plays Minecraft and I work on the computer.

The sun comes out at 1pm, but it’s very windy. Isaac suggests we go to the beach. I treat us to ice cream at The Station Pub (my first time trying pistachio with almonds). There are people eating at the pub: it almost feels normal.

At Kinsmen Beach, Isaac runs right into the waves.

We recover from his short, cold swim by cuddling up in warm jammies and watching the new Scooby Doo animated movie. It’s pretty funny.

I feel like baking and Isaac requests chocolate chip cookies.

At 5pm I tell Isaac to unplug until dinner. He finds this an unreasonable and tyrannical request, and runs away to Mom’s. Dad intercepts him and they play soccer.

He returns at 5:30pm, when my cookies are cooling, and we ride our two-person bike down to Evy’s house, taking the longer route. We bring her cookies and two Flat Stanley books. She comes out to the yard with a beer for me, and a mini wine box and quilt for her: it’s cold outside! She’s made Flat Teacher Evys for her day care kids, and gives us one.

Ryan comes with his mom’s truck to pick us up and bring our bike home. Yay: no uphill pedalling for me today!

We have bean quesadillas. Then Isaac and I go play soccer with Mom and Dad: it’s the nicest weather we’ve had all day.

Meanwhile, Ryan falls asleep. Isaac and I read books and he goes to sleep. I putter around the house, getting Isaac’s school work sheets ready for the morning, and discover a bowl full of mini chocolate egg foil wrappers: he was all cracked up on sugar! Oh dear.

I wake Ryan up and we talk about our days. I love my independence, but I also love bookending my days with this guy.

May 23, 2020 (Saturday) – DAY 69

It’s our usual morning of tea and staring at the mountains. Ryan leaves and Isaac and I brace ourselves for his piano lesson (which is always a struggle, to keep Isaac sitting and focused for 15 minutes), but Arne has forgotten and never calls. Isaac begs me not to remind him, and I let it slide. We’ll leave this lesson up to fate.

Instead, Isaac and I play Minecraft. We load up two donkeys with supplies and head south to explore. Eventually we hit water and abandon the donkeys for row boats. We make camp, fish, run away from all the monsters Isaac summons, and eventually discover an abandoned, cobwebbed village that we settle in to renovate.

I spend some time on the computer and then at 1:30pm I pack up an adventure backpack (water bottles, snacks, Flat Evy), get us outside and lock the front door. Isaac suggests a soccer game with Mom and Dad so we do that first.

Mom and I rake rocks out of a growing area and plant some ground cover plants while Isaac plays in the sandpile.

We decide to ride our bike down to Evy’s house for a lawn visit.

She makes me tea and gives Isaac a fudgesicle. At 4pm, Ashley and Georgia come over for a virtual cooking class hosted by a local Mexican chef: I work on my mystery plot in the yard and Evy brings me a fancy drink with a salt rim.

We take the very long route around and to the skate park, which officially re-opened yesterday. There are about five teens on bikes, boards and scooters. They cluster in the shade and chug water. Isaac runs in the bowl whenever it’s not being used.

I’m intimidated by the hilly route options to home, but Ryan told me it’s doable if I just use the right gear so I think positively and successfully pedal both me and Isaac up the hill to our driveway. I celebrate/recover in the porch chair for a bit, scrolling through social media nonsense and emails. Isaac reunites with Minecraft.

Ryan’s coming over with dinner so I make Isaac’s order of hot dogs (plus carrots) and he eats on the deck while I revel in the sunshine. 

I realize how sweaty I am after our bike ride, so shower and put on a pretty dress. Ryan arrives with a decadent spread of cheese, bread, salami, mango salsa, olives, etc.

At 8:15pm Isaac and I start reading books. He’s asleep an hour later.

Evy Facetime calls and we watch half-naked Peter try to get my nephew out of their bedroom. Oh, teenagers.

Ryan and I stay up way too late watching binge-episodes of 100 Humans on Netflix.

May 24, 2020 (Sunday) – DAY 70

Isaac abandons me and Ryan after breakfast and goes to Mom’s house to play xBox. We play backgammon and each win a game, but I win the second round and you’re only as good as your last game, so.

It’s lovely outside. Ryan and I sit on the deck for a bit before he heads off. I pack a backpack and ride our bike up to Mom’s house, where I find Isaac playing Minecraft on Mom’s iPad: but at least he’s outdoors. We helmet up and ride down to Evy’s.

Hours later, once we’ve returned, we map out our day’s route; here it is in advance, so you can attempt to follow along:

As you can see, we spend only a little time at Evy’s. She and Peter are cleaning out their trailer. Eventually Mom and Dad ride down on their electric bikes, and the four of us set out for Kinsmen Beach. 

My parents leave us at this rest stop to continue their own ride. Dauna soon rides down to join us. 

A boy around Isaac’s age and his Mom approach us and ask if it is okay if the kids play together (this is COVID-19 etiquette, now). Isaac rarely wants to play with other kids: he tends to do his own thing. But I say the boy is welcome to try. I figure moderate germ exposure is good practice for when school starts in June.

BOY: “Are you Isaac?”
ISAAC: “How do you know that? Are you a spy?”

They play together well for a bit, until the water guns, sand throwing and then shore garbage throwing escalate. It’s hard to know when to intervene. How do I teach my only child to play properly with other kids? How do you teach a kid how to make friends?

Ah well. Dauna and I have our visit. Evy and Peter arrive to deliver teas in to-go mugs, then disappear again.

When Isaac is wet and cold and has alienated the other children, I dry him off and give him dry clothes. I notify my family via text that we will go for ice cream next. Evy and Peter drive down to meet us at The Station Pub.

We sit on the big rocks beyond the parking lot to eat and visit.

Evy and Peter head off to start their “day drinking.”

Dauna, Isaac and I return to our bikes, and set out on the least-hilly route to get back up into town. It isn’t easy on our bike, even with Isaac pedalling. We pull over at the bench view point and I call Evy for a rescue pick-up. She arrives quickly with Peter’s truck.

Dauna opts to continue her own bike adventure. Evy drops our bike off at our house, and then we join her and Peter for a lawn visit. Isaac eats his third fudgsicle of the day at their house.

We start walking home, with a detour to the skate park. Mr. B (an education assistant?) from Isaac’s school is there, skateboarding. He’ll be in classes on Thursdays in June. I still don’t know when Isaac will attend, or if I’ll be working my noon hour supervisor shift.

I get a few minutes to work on my mystery plot, but we’re soon moving again. En route, we check out the new community garden area. Isaac collects the fluffy seeds from dandelions and offer me wishes. Lately, my wishes are always the same: I hope Stephanie the Agent likes my book and helps me get it published.

We attempt to visit Leanne, but she’s not home. Neighbour Juli’s parents have arrived to visit and their trailer is set up in Juli’s driveway. Isaac plays in a muddy gutter.

At home, we are hot and weary so drink icy cranberry juices (with vodka for this mama) on the deck. I bring out paper and markers. We draw our day’s route (as seen above).

Isaac announces he’s going to Mom and Dad’s for a bit before dinner. I waste precious time on social media.

At 6pm it gets cooler and I head inside to make dinner.

Isaac and I watch the end of … whatever that movie is about a snail that wins the Indy 200. Turbo?

Books, bed. Boom.

May 25, 2020 (Monday) – DAY 71

I am so proud of my six-year-old. We both sleep in until 7am, and then he gets up and makes us both breakfast. (!!) We dine on toasted Eggos. I make him (decaf, very milky) tea.

We play Minecraft together. Isaac teaches me how to put a Jack-o-lantern on my head.

It’s cloudy but the family votes to proceed as planned: at 10:30am, we set out in two cars. Evy drives my nephew, Isaac and Caeli the dog, while Mom travels with me. I run through Valley Foods to pick up essentials (hot dog buns, smokies, chips): more people than usual wear masks, but maybe that’s because I see more seniors shopping.

We rendezvous at the Brisco general store, to check out their greenhouse plant selection. Isaac relocates his booster seat to my car.

We turn off the highway and soon arrive at Patty’s Greenhouse, Evy’s favourite place to procure fresh vegetables.

We peruse their greenhouse plants, and leave with 3-5 seedlings each: I get two more basil plants and a Ponderosa Pink tomato seedling.

Evy has asked me to lead the way to the waterfall hike. To me, this means Lower Bugaboo Falls. Later, I learn she meant the pullover with the 5 minute meander to a bridge ……… That is not where I lead our crew.

The hike is uphill, often steep, and hugs a dangerous lookout in the final curve. I am impressed that my nephew trudges on without complaining. Mom and Evy persevere despite faulty knees.

Right about now is when we realize our miscommunication about WHICH hike Evy intended.

We arrive at the river, with the waterfall in the distance. My family has never been here before and they’re suitably impressed.

Isaac pauses mid-descent to saw at a sapling: it’s the perfect walking stick, he says.

Isaac whips off his shoes and tests his endurance in the glacier-cold river: I’m so proud. You can see in the pictures how pink his feet are from the cold.

We hike back to the car. Evy carries her son’s backpack, which is oddly heavy. We tease and ask if he’s brought his laptop: no, he says, just two books. (Two books?! On a hike? I suppose it’s good he likes to read …)

Our next stop is Evy’s favourite lake: Cartwright. The first camping area has too many other people (one car), so we move on to the other option. There are two trucks here. One (with Albertan plates) pulls out when we park. The other belongs to the two men in the fishing boat, far out on the lake.

We light the campfire, roast things, eat chips. Isaac is in the water within minutes, his pyjama pants soaked. 

It’s not hot enough to swim or lollygaggle after we eat, so we pack up and drive home the less bumpy way. 

We reconvene in the Canadian Tire parking lot: Evy and I each buy a $99-on-special party island inflatable. We have ambitions for when the weather gets hot again.

After we drop off Evy’s plants, and Mom and her plants, Isaac and I collapse from our epic day. Isaac plugs in. 

I chat with our tenants about how they can best store their fancy bikes in our house. After decisions are made, it’s hard to make conversation because I’m tired. Not to mention socially awkward.

I’m amazing and so do my 30 minute Vixen cardio workout, followed by weights, sit ups and a shower.

For dinner, Isaac requests crazy soup. I make myself a tuna sandwich. We’ve dawdled and don’t start books until 8:30pm, but Isaac reads well and then is asleep by 9pm.

Oooo I have the evening to myself! I sort out the edges of a new jigsaw puzzle while watching 100 Humans in bed. It isn’t until midnight that I remember my Pandemic Diaries … but it was such a good day that I’m happy to get out of bed and write all this. Thank YOU for reading.

May 26, 2020 (Tuesday) – DAY 72

I wake up with Isaac in my bed at 7am. I was having a weird dream … something about having to use a gross public washroom stall crowded with random items when EVERYONE knew there was a cholera epidemic … 

Evy and my nephew are in Cranbrook early this morning, for a scan on his broken arm. They brave Walmart and I get to shop virtually, with Evy Facetiming us bathing suit options for Isaac. He’s growing so quickly.

The primary school principal emails me and asks if I’d like to work in June. I say I’m happy to, if they need me. So I’ll return on Monday, June 1 as a noon hour supervisor. I’ll either bring Isaac with me or he can play with family and avoid the germs. It sounds like there will be half the kids there (100) maximum per day, Monday through Thursday, with only 50 kids outside at a time for recess. Mark’s okay with absences due to going camping. I’m interested to see what school looks like next month …

I forgot to mention yesterday that I decided NOT to send Isaac to school in June. His teacher’s right at her 10 student maximum and if she can keep it to 10, she’ll have three days left to offer remote learning, which I think is best for her and the class. This might change … we’re flexible. We’ll see.

It’s sunny out (although a bit windy) and we want a beach day. We go to Evy’s house to borrow a pump for our new party raft. Peter’s home for lunch, and he warns us that it’s choppy at Kinsmen Beach. So we drive up to Lake Lillian instead.

We inflate our raft and launch. It’s beautiful on the water. The raft paddles easily. We love our new toy. A loon dives and the water is so clear we watch it swim 100 feet or so. There is one other canoe plus a kayak visible: two more cars pull into the parking lot, and a group sets up on the beach.

The sun goes behind the clouds and Isaac shivers in his wet suit, so I start paddling us in. The wind has picked up and we aren’t getting closer to the shore, so I drop into the hole in the raft (the water is COLD) and walk us back to land.

We recognize the party on the beach: there are two kids from Isaac’s class, plus another kid, a dog and two parents.

Isaac wants to play. I help him change into dry clothes and we walk over, but the kids are on a small dock and I can’t let him join them. I try to read the adults for signals as to whether they’re okay with our germs, but I have to assume they aren’t, so I call him back and we get ready to pack up for home. He’s disappointed and feels left out: the kids are having fun in the water.

I feel guilty that our germ circle doesn’t include any kids his age. If anything, I’ve used this pandemic to justify my own hermit inclinations. Maybe we can invite a kid (and therefore that kid’s entire germ circle) into ours? I need to think about that more, and discuss it with my family.

The wind is strong now and it’s tricky to get the raft to stay on our car’s roof. But I have plenty of rope to strap it down.

We stop at Valley Foods to get chips (a consolation prize for Isaac) and other groceries. I’m one of the only people not wearing a mask now. This is the first time I’ve been the minority.

Home again, we compromise: Isaac plays Minecraft on the porch while I work beside him on my mystery plot, until it gets unpleasantly cool and windy. We move indoors and play Minecraft together for a bit: we go fishing, roast salmon on the campfire, and build a farmers’ market.

I go onto the social medias and discover a cool idea for a kid activity. I’m calling this a “crunchy bucket,” and I made one for Isaac from random ingredients in our pantry:

For an early dinner, Isaac requests deconstructed tacos. I make myself sushi while watching Brokenwood. It’s monsoon-raining outside by now. 

Evy and Peter come over with our purchases: Isaac and I hide in my room until they’ve laid out the goods on our couch, and then Isaac and I “shop.” She’s scored a Minecraft shirt, Ninjago Lego shorts, pink fake crocs and a whole new summer wardrobe for $64. He’s thrilled. My nephew found three Minecraft chapter books at Walmart and they are the first items Isaac “buys.”

The Von Walkers stay for a short visit — they’ve brought their own beverages. We discuss summer adventure plans: camping, maybe renting a houseboat. 

(We interrupt this visit at 7pm for noise time.)

We get Mom’s older Dell computer set up in the hallway: once we get a mouse and I figure out the internet connection, I’ll download Minecraft and sign Isaac up for Code Kingdom. He’s giddy about learning to code Minecraft stuff.

Suddenly the rain ceases and Mom alerts us to an uber-vibrant rainbow to the east: we go out onto the porch to check it out.

We stay up too late. Isaac plays with his crunchy bucket while watching “Turbo” cartoon episodes. We start reading a new Minecraft chapter book at 9:30pm and he’s out by 10pm. 

On the social medias I discover photos of the rainbow (which became a double rainbow) from viewpoints all over the valley.

I need a haircut.

May 27, 2020 (Wednesday) – DAY 73

We’re up at 6:59am, ready for an exciting morning of tea, Minecraft and whatnot.

Isaac has his speech therapy video call at 9:30am. Ms Karin gets him to practise his L, R and S sounds. In some ways, COVID-19 homeschool is amazing: we’ve created this great mix of structured, routine learning/practice with professional teachers, plus free range playtime and adventures.

When we play Minecraft, Isaac announces he’s summoned a raid and I (in Isaac’s words) “panic.” I build a huge obsidian wall around our village, with iron fencing and fires on top.

When it comes time to battle the bad guys outside the walls, I realize I have no idea how to use the bow or crossbow I’ve armed myself with.

Once peace returns, Isaac builds me an archery range and teaches me how to shoot. We practice until the wee hours.

We don’t get out of the house until 1pm because we’re enjoying our Minecraft time so much. Also it’s windy out there.

But we have a beach date with Evy and my nephew. En route, we check the mail and I get one of the books I ordered from Chapters: The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel, by Hallie Ephron. Belated, but hopefully useful.

I leave Isaac with Evy, then swing by Main Street Fun & Games to pick up two jigsaw puzzles the store advertised online. Dee and Deanna are wearing those hard plastic masks that cover their entire faces. There’s a cordon and hand sanitizer at the entrance.

When I’m paying, three young girls enter the store. Dee tells me she’s nervous about how to manage kids in the store. They’ve settled on asking people to put anything they touch in a shopping basket, and then the staff sanitizes un-bought items before reshelving them. So much extra work because of this virus!!

At Kinsmen Beach, the parking lot is packed but people seem to be keeping to their own germ circles.

I inflate the Von Walkers’ party raft with their foot pump, then top up our own air. We launch and it is so great. We LOVE our rafts. We feel safe and isolated despite the busy beach. It’s easy to stay dry: you could even read a book. Evy hands around cans of Buble and reveals her picnic basket full of treats.

Mom rides her e-bike down and sits on the beach for awhile. She doesn’t want to join us on the water, despite our pleas: we’ll lure her another time. Eventually we head back to shore. 

It’s only 4:30pm so Isaac and I stop by the skate park before heading home.

He’s eager to get his new/old computer working and learn how to code. Mom brought by a mouse this morning. I download Minecraft and buy our Code Kingdoms membership (just over $100 for a lifetime subscription, on sale due to the plague).

Evy invites us for pizza dinner in her yard, so we pause our coding adventure and head over to their house. I get to have a pleasant adult visit with Evy and Peter in the sunshine. We talk about teenagers and only children. Camping plans. We’re too late to book a sunny weekend with the houseboat sale.

Evy reminds me it’s Wednesday and I feel panicky, remembering I have my phone date with Stephanie the Agent tomorrow.

Back home at 7:30pm, we get all the computer doodads working (wifi, headphones) and WE START CODING. It’s meant for ages 8-13 so I’ll have to coach Isaac through it, but we make it 2/3 through the first lesson before his brain needs a break. It is so exciting. The results of each coding lesson are immediate: we create and shoot exploding arrows, and bounce on gold blocks.

I realize it’s 8:30pm and past our book time. Isaac gets weepy and I realize how tired he is: I invite him to sleep in my bed tonight, because that will get him to sleep even faster.

I started piecing a knitting-themed jigsaw puzzle last night while watching Brokenwood, and I want to work on it again. Or maybe I should go to sleep, because it’s 10:45pm?

May 28, 2020 (Thursday) – DAY 74

Something weird has happened psychologically over the past two days: I’ve stopped trying to work. For most of these past 74 days I’ve felt guilty about not putting as many hours as I’d like into updating the Chamber of Commerce’s events calendar. I’ve resented being a solo parent during COVID-19, 100% responsible for keeping my son active and engaged and not just plugged in to a screen.

But somehow over the last two days I “gave up.” I’ve finally realized that working on a computer and parenting my kid while he’s out of school full-time are not possible simultaneously.

So I strive to have us out of the house by noon each day, and that leaves me with 4 hours in the morning to: drink tea, make us breakfast, tackle household chores, help Isaac with his video meetings/lessons, pack our adventure supplies, and — most importantly! — work on my writing. The writing is my priority, for life-goal reasons and for mental health reasons. So much for earning an income.

Evy shares an NPR article rating various summer activities for risk. 

For the record: I was the first person to use the phrase “BYO-everything.” I said it to Dauna Sunday-ish when she was planning a small party to celebrate her book being shortlisted for a Saskatchewan award. As of COVID-19, parties will be BYOE, with “everything” including chairs, cutlery, food, booze, water, hand sanitizer, etc. Keep that in mind when you hear it — I started this.

Isaac has his (last?) video meeting with Ms Casey and his classmates today. He shows them his computer and the coding he’s doing with Code Kingdoms, and I watch multiple kids lean into their computers/phones to see better. It’s a show-and-tell win.

Mom appears at 11:30 and whisks Isaac away: they will meet Evy and my nephew for a dog walk by the river. I have my phone call with Stephanie the Agent booked for 12pm.

She hasn’t called by 12:15, so I start working on my jigsaw puzzle.

At 1pm my puzzle is complete.

I draft a difficult email, being very nice and apologetic: Stephanie is doing me a favour by reading my manuscript. I leave for Kinsmen Beach, to go party rafting with Evy and our boys.

You can kinda see in the background of this photo of Isaac how busy the beach is. I’m grateful for our rafts: the most COVID-19-dangerous parts of our beach adventure are getting from the vehicles to the water, and keeping our kids away from all the other (germy) kids they long to play with.

We drink sparkly water, eat cooler snacks and enjoy our million dollar lake + mountain view. Under the water, we spot foot-long fish and some interesting wreckage that we’ll have to explore another day.

Peter appears after his workday and relaxes on the beach, chatting with a coworker who’s there with her kids. We paddle in to join him, and I get a few minutes to read my new book on writing novels. I don’t remember learning how to write scenes in my four years of creative writing at university. Maybe I’ve forgotten? I graduated 16 years ago.

Evy invites us for ribs but I remember I’m having dinner with Dauna and her friends: we’re going to watch the livestreamed book awards.

I get prettied up for Dauna’s party, even shaving my legs(!). Mom arrives at 6:30pm to pick up Isaac.

Dauna treats us to Fuze food, packaged separately for each person. There are five people here, all very careful about not contaminating each other. We sit far apart and visit.

Jamie works for the school district and is transitioning from working at home to being back in the schools June 1. Her man shares custody of his daughter, so the little girl’s been moving between households as usual during the pandemic.

Lorene has been working 40+ hours/week from home, saving herself her usual 45 minute commute each way. Her husband Justin handles the “schooling at home” of their grades 2 and 4 kids. They’ve decided to keep their kids at home for June.

Mid-picnic, Stephanie the Agent emails to apologize and rebook our call for 11:30am (MST) tomorrow. I am so glad I won’t have to wait much longer to have our conversation.

I leave at 8:15 to pick up Isaac. He gets weepy when he realizes we don’t have time to continue our coding lesson tonight: he’s tired and emotional. We read books and he’s soon asleep.

May 29, 2020 (Friday) – DAY 75

It was a choppy morning, with Isaac getting into my bed in the middle of the night and waking up at 6am, then checking on me frequently while I tried to sleep. I finally get out of bed at 8:30am.

I learned the secret to happiness many years ago: have low expectations. I’m nervous about my 11:30 call with Stephanie the Agent, so I write out what I expect her to say about my book:

Then I move on with our morning.

At 9:30am, Isaac walks to Mom’s so I can go to Juanita‘s house. I BYOE (i.e. bring my own tea, water and snacks). We sit on her porch and talk through the twisty plot I’ve drafted for my second murder mystery book. I wrote my first book without anyone to discuss plot details with, and I am so grateful to have a plot pro to work with for this one. 

I leave at 11am with a lilac bush shoot and homework: my next task is to write out all the plot points on index cards, so we can mess around with the order in which the clues and story are revealed.

Stephanie the Agent calls at 11:28am. We chat about the plague: it’s fascinating to compare regional differences. Stephanie’s husband usually works in one of those massive skyscrapers in downtown Toronto: he was just told he’ll be working from home until the New Year. 

I’m terrified to talk about my book but she’s a pro so dives in. 

Quotes from Stephanie:

• “You have obvious talent.”
• “I really think your book will sell.”
• The manuscript is a “fast, compulsive read” … “in really good shape.”

(EEK!)

Stephanie will now do two amazing things for me:

1. She’ll forward my manuscript (presumably with a nice note from her) to three agents she recommends and thinks would be suitable for my book. She gives me the names and I will Google them as soon as I have time. It’s up to them to reach out to me if they’re interested in representing me.
2. She will send me her notes (i.e. suggestions for improvement) from reading my manuscript. She says the current version is ready for an agent’s review, but I’ll need to do some revising before it’s ready for a publisher.

This is all very exciting. I text short updates to Evy, Mom, Dauna and Quinn, and then Isaac arrives home for lunch.

Ryan’s getting fancy injections in his knee at noon, in an attempt to replace the meniscus that was ruined in a surgery six-ish years ago: I want to be a good girlfriend and be there to hold his hand.

But once lunch is done and I drop Isaac at Evy’s, I realize I’m not sure where the appointment is. Finally, after cruising Invermere clinic parking lots, mask at the ready, I find Ryan at home. He has to rest for 48 hours and won’t be joining us for any adventures. He says the needle was the size of rebar and it’s a good thing I wasn’t there: I get fainty around needles.

For our afternoon adventure, Mom, Evy, my nephew, Isaac and I float down the river in Fairmont.

At the launching point, a group of 20-somethings are preparing for an evening float. For a moment I forget about the pandemic, and this cluster of people drinking and laughing and inflating little plastic boats seems normal.

We’re back home around 6pm. We’re sun-toasted and weary. Isaac flits from Lego to coding to Minecraft, unable to focus. I (finally!!) pop open a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate this writerly milestone of having an agent approve of my work, then make us raw carrot sticks plus Yorkshire puddings with gravy for dinner.

Isaac asks nicely if he can sleep in my bed and I’m too tired to parent wisely so agree. It’s 25 degrees in the house so I turn on the air conditioning. We read books, then he rolls over and is asleep.

The gym is opening on Monday, June 1. Gyms are high risk, from what I’ve read, and our own (very clean) gym has never rocked the ventilation situation. As much as I miss the classes and am tired of this pandemic paunch, I should resist attending.

May 30, 2020 (Saturday) – DAY 76

We have no obligations today and settle into a lazy Saturday at home. Isaac revels in Minecraft YouTube videos while I (finally!) write out a review of AJ Devlin’s Rolling Thunder and post it online everywhere I can think of: Chapters, Apple Books, GoodReads, Instagram.

I can’t post reviews on Amazon because I don’t buy anything from Amazon: good to know. It’s almost worth shopping that way, just so I can post book reviews and support my writer friends.

Another computer to-do is my monthly newsletter. I get it all written out and then schedule it to send at 9am Sunday. Then I post on Facebook that I’ll be including an excerpt from One for the Raven in the May newsletter, to encourage people to subscribe. 

I ask Dad to help me troubleshoot a leak in our tent trailer’s water tank, which doesn’t take long. Then we fill the tank for next week’s camping trip, and I collapse the tent trailer: there’s no point in leaving it set up, given the forecast for wind and rain tonight.

It occurs to me (when I start getting hungry at 5:30pm) that a Good Girlfriend would bring dinner to her boyfriend when he’s laid up with a healing knee and unable to move. I call Ryan, but his eldest son has already arranged their dinner. We offer to pick up Blizzards for dessert.

Isaac and I get Subway subs for our own dinner. Isaac stays in the car while I go inside. The two employees wear face masks and there’s a soft, clear plastic sheet that drapes from the ceiling over the clear glass divider, which completely shields the staff. There are stickers on the floor to enable 6-foot spacing in the line up.

We get our ice cream treats in the DQ drive-through, and bring them to Ryan’s house.

Isaac plays Minecraft with Ryan’s 12-year-old son while Ryan and I eat on the deck. The clouds are speeding across the sky: it’s still blue in the east, but dark clouds are coming in from the west. We watch the sky light up with sheet lightning. The thunder is loud and moves closer.

Ten minutes later, the storm hits, turning the street into a river, and then it’s clear again as the storm continues east.

We play backgammon (I lose), and then I read Isaac to sleep in the guest room: the heat pump has never worked in this rental house and it’s muggy. Isaac takes off all his clothes and sleeps next to the open window.

It’s kinda funny how our day started and ended with rolling thunder.

May 31, 2020 (Sunday) – DAY 77

Okay … we’ve been at this for 77 days now, and I think that’s enough. We’ve settled into a new normal of avoiding crowds and using hand sanitizer every time we enter a store. So far, Invermere (and most of B.C.) has skated through COVID-19. I don’t have much new to say, and hopefully this pandemic won’t get worse.

(Also, I need this daily diary-entry time to start writing my new mystery novel …)

So here’s the plan: whenever something plague-newsworthy happens in my life, I’ll post it on our Pandemic Diaries webpage, and if it’s really a big deal I’ll write a proper blog post about it and send that to you via email.

Other than that, let’s all hope that the worst is over, and that this “new normal” someday returns to the old normal, so my son can learn to shake hands with new friends and socialize without fearing a trip to the emergency room.

Ryan and I fed our boys breakfast sandwiches and hashbrown patties for breakfast, drank oodles of tea and coffee, and I whupped him twice at backgammon before we braved an adult trip to Canadian Tire to get him a propane tank.

What happens next?

I stopped writing daily pandemic diaries at the end of May, but I continue to share our adventures during these weird times via Instagram: click the Follow button to continue our story. Thank you for your interest!