{"id":10849,"date":"2020-04-16T02:21:02","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T06:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=10849"},"modified":"2021-12-28T21:38:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T02:38:06","slug":"thursday-april-16-2020-report-from-space-station-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=10849","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, April 16, 2020 \u2014 Report from Space Station 38"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Olive Fredrick\u00adson pub\u00adlished her auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy in 1972, after a long and hard life in Canada\u2019s wilder\u00adness, her cho\u00adsen title, The Silence of the North<\/em>, was instant\u00adly mean\u00ading\u00adful to any\u00adone famil\u00adiar with the hard and emp\u00adty coun\u00adtry north of the tem\u00adper\u00adate decid\u00adu\u00adous forests. Most of the forests of the world are noisy. At night, the relent\u00adless sound of cicadas, the scam\u00adper\u00ading of ani\u00admals, the sway\u00ading limbs of trees and rus\u00adtles of leaves, and the sounds of human\u00adi\u00adty, even if only in the form of dis\u00adtant trains or high\u00adways, are evi\u00addent. But the vast bore\u00adal regions of Cana\u00adda, road\u00adless, train\u00adless and town\u00adless, dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by motion\u00adless black spruce and tama\u00adrack, are silent at night. You have to be near a water\u00adfall or a stretch of rapids to hear noise. The cold lakes are like black sheets of obsid\u00adi\u00adan. Iron\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, if there is a noise, it will car\u00adry across a lake for miles, so that you can make out a qui\u00adet con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion by a camp\u00adfire from the oppo\u00adsite shore, and when a loon makes its occa\u00adsion\u00adal solemn cry, you don\u2019t know if it\u2019s near\u00adby or three kliks away. I have vivid mem\u00ado\u00adries of that silence, and the phrase nev\u00ader had to be explained to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>I live in a small apart\u00adment in down\u00adtown Toron\u00adto. In fact, it is known to sta\u00adtis\u00adti\u00adcians as the most dense\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded place in Cana\u00adda. With\u00adin a short walk from my door, there are more peo\u00adple than in all of the Yukon, North\u00adwest and Nunavut ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adries com\u00adbined. Nor\u00admal\u00adly, this is a very noisy neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood. The streets are usu\u00adal\u00adly crowd\u00aded with traf\u00adfic, peo\u00adple pour in and out of the sub\u00adway sta\u00adtions, the stores are full of shop\u00adpers. There is always music. A few blocks from my home, the gay vil\u00adlage has been a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous\u00adly live\u00adly par\u00adty for the last half cen\u00adtu\u00adry, and it\u2019s nor\u00admal to see flocks of peo\u00adple on the streets at 3:30 or 4:00 in the morn\u00ading. Forests of con\u00addo\u00admini\u00adum tow\u00aders fill the air with domes\u00adtic nois\u00ades, and con\u00adstruc\u00adtion crews are always ham\u00admer\u00ading, hoist\u00ading, and mix\u00ading con\u00adcrete to build new ones. Motor\u00adcy\u00adcles, heli\u00adcopters, cop cars, fire engines and ambu\u00adlances add to the din.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, under lock\u00addown, my neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood has the Silence of the North. For most of the day, you hard\u00adly hear a sound. For me, it\u2019s a bit of nos\u00adtal\u00adgia. For the hard\u00adcore denizens, those \u201cbred and but\u00adtered in Toron\u00adto\u201d as the say\u00ading goes, it must be very dis\u00adcon\u00adcert\u00ading. It\u2019s \u201cdamned eerie,\u201d one elder\u00adly gen\u00adtle\u00adman told me. But, every day, at 7:30 on the dot, a rau\u00adcous din erupts, and lasts for about five min\u00adutes. You hear the nation\u00adal anthem loud\u00adly play\u00ading. Peo\u00adple are out on their bal\u00adconies blow\u00ading whis\u00adtles, bang\u00ading pots, and singing. The cus\u00adtom, which began in Italy and spread around the world, is a need\u00aded emo\u00adtion\u00adal out\u00adlet as well as a trib\u00adute to the doc\u00adtors, first respon\u00adders, care-givers and store clerks who must risk infec\u00adtion so that life can go on. <\/span><\/p>\n

For myself, I\u2019m as sat\u00adis\u00adfied as a well-fed cat sleep\u00ading near a fire\u00adplace. Well-stocked with sup\u00adplies, blessed with good neigh\u00adbours who are self-dis\u00adci\u00adplined and mutu\u00adal\u00adly help\u00adful, and sur\u00adround\u00aded by a vast col\u00adlec\u00adtion of books, films and music, I am in no posi\u00adtion to com\u00adplain about any\u00adthing. While the pub\u00adlic author\u00adi\u00adties made some errors in the begin\u00adning, on the whole they are act\u00ading respon\u00adsi\u00adbly \u2015 even the ones I vot\u00aded against. None of them are wast\u00ading time with self-pro\u00admot\u00ading pro\u00adpa\u00adgan\u00adda videos and all of them are pub\u00adlicly com\u00admit\u00adted to fol\u00adlow\u00ading the sci\u00adence to deter\u00admine pol\u00adi\u00adcy. Alber\u00adta, which began plan\u00adning for the pan\u00addem\u00adic last Decem\u00adber, and is con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly less seri\u00adous\u00adly affect\u00aded, is shar\u00ading its sur\u00adplus med\u00adical sup\u00adplies with the oth\u00ader provinces, and Air Cana\u00adda has vol\u00adun\u00adteered three large jets to move them. Pol\u00adi\u00adtics in Cana\u00adda is not as a rule much con\u00adcerned with race or reli\u00adgion, as it is in our neigh\u00adbour to the south, but it has always been char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized by extreme rival\u00adries and con\u00adstant bick\u00ader\u00ading between the provinces, each of which sees itself more or less as a mini-nation. But in this cri\u00adsis, all such rival\u00adries seem to have dis\u00adap\u00adpeared. I\u2019ve nev\u00ader seen the provinces get on so well, or co-oper\u00adate so effi\u00adcient\u00adly. The one sour note is that the cri\u00adsis has revealed the shock\u00ading lev\u00adel of ill-pre\u00adpared\u00adness and incom\u00adpe\u00adtence in pri\u00advate\u00adly-run homes for the aged, where half of our deaths have occurred. In one case, crim\u00adi\u00adnal charges are being con\u00adsid\u00adered. On the brighter side, a com\u00adpa\u00adny in Ottawa has devel\u00adoped an effi\u00adcient portable test\u00ading kit, giv\u00ading results in less than half an hour, that meets the gov\u00adern\u00admen\u00adt\u2019s stan\u00addards, and mass pro\u00adduc\u00adtion of this kit is already under\u00adway. Mass test\u00ading, when com\u00adbined with social dis\u00adtanc\u00ading and con\u00adtact trac\u00ading, is the solid\u00adly proven way out of this mess. Let\u2019s hope that the kit is real\u00adly as good as it seems, and that it is prop\u00ader\u00adly deployed. I fol\u00adlow all the avail\u00adable covid sta\u00adtis\u00adtics dai\u00adly. New Zealand and Ice\u00adland, both of which are places whose sta\u00adtis\u00adtics are unques\u00adtion\u00adable, demon\u00adstrate that the virus can be beat\u00aden if the cit\u00adi\u00adzen\u00adry, med\u00adical pro\u00adfes\u00adsion, and elect\u00aded offi\u00adcials co-oper\u00adate and are pro-active. Cana\u00adda is, of course, a much larg\u00ader and more com\u00adplex coun\u00adtry than those two, with some inbuilt dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adtages that nei\u00adther the Kiwis nor the J\u00e1arar have, but the evi\u00addence so far is that the meth\u00adods should be basi\u00adcal\u00adly the same. We will not come out as squeaky-clean \u2015 the scan\u00addalous fail\u00adure in our care for the elder\u00adly will be a stain on our record \u2015 but we may at least get a \u201cgood effort\u201d report card. As I write, test\u00ading lev\u00adels have been con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly bet\u00adter than aver\u00adage, with imme\u00addi\u00adate prospects of dras\u00adtic improve\u00adment, no region\u00adal med\u00adical sys\u00adtem has been over\u00adwhelmed, though some are work\u00ading at a fren\u00adzied pace, pro\u00adcure\u00adment of essen\u00adtial sup\u00adplies seems to be assured, pub\u00adlic response has been as good as any\u00adone could rea\u00adson\u00adably expect, social sol\u00adi\u00addar\u00adi\u00adty and pub\u00adlic morale have remained high, the co-oper\u00ada\u00adtion between pri\u00advate indus\u00adtry and gov\u00adern\u00adment has been exem\u00adplary, and there are no food short\u00adages or sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant fail\u00adures in the sup\u00adply chain. I went to a super\u00admar\u00adket to stock up on fresh veg\u00adeta\u00adbles on Tues\u00adday morn\u00ading, after more than a week spent entire\u00adly at home. I arrived just at store open\u00ading, and there was as yet no line-up to get in, though it had start\u00aded to form when I left, with all the pro\u00adto\u00adcols adhered to. I scanned the shelves, and every\u00adthing appeared to be well-stocked, and even toi\u00adlet paper, cleansers, eggs, and canned goods were plen\u00adti\u00adful. The selec\u00adtion of pro\u00adduce was excel\u00adlent. There was no evi\u00addence of price-goug\u00ading, but some items had lim\u00adits-per-cus\u00adtomer, and there were none of the usu\u00adal \u201closs-leader\u201d sale prices. If this nor\u00admal\u00adcy can be sus\u00adtained, I know not, but in any case my per\u00adson\u00adal stock\u00adpile is suf\u00adfi\u00adcient for months, and I am only shop\u00adping for fresh items.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>I\u2019m able to keep my finances on an even keel, since my income is not depen\u00addent on leav\u00ading the apart\u00adment, and I have a small cush\u00adion in the bank to deal with any tem\u00adpo\u00adrary short\u00adfall. I\u2019ve nev\u00ader eat\u00aden so well! Since the best way to relieve the inevitable cramps from sit\u00adting at the com\u00adput\u00ader is to get up and pre\u00adpare a meal, and I no longer have the temp\u00adta\u00adtion to run out and get three slices of piz\u00adza or indulge in oth\u00ader unhealthy whims, I am steadi\u00adly improv\u00ading my cook\u00ading skills. My neigh\u00adbours tell me they are also doing this (except for the one who is a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal chef). I have fresh herbs grow\u00ading on the win\u00addowsill. I\u2019m going to be using a lot of basil. If you plant basil it will just leap out of the soil and over\u00adwhelm every\u00adthing, like the Blob in the 1958 Steve McQueen movie, while every oth\u00ader herb has a tough Dar\u00adwin\u00adian strug\u00adgle. My only regret is that I did\u00adn\u2019t stock enough car\u00adaway seed, so my goulash and my borscht will no longer have the taste I pre\u00adfer. But with all that basil, my Ital\u00adian dish\u00ades will shine. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the moment, I\u2019m lis\u00adten\u00ading to Otmar M\u00e1cha\u2019s Dou\u00adble Con\u00adcer\u00adto for Vio\u00adlin, Piano and Orches\u00adtra<\/em> \u2015 a some\u00adwhat melo\u00addra\u00admat\u00adic piece. The cats are snooz\u00ading. After writ\u00ading the next few sen\u00adtences, and post\u00ading them, I\u2019ll curl up with the cats and read The Jour\u00adnal of Nicholas Cress\u00adwell, 1774\u20131777<\/em>. Am I trou\u00adbled or incon\u00adve\u00adnienced by the lock\u00addown or social dis\u00adtanc\u00ading? It\u2019s a laugh\u00adable idea. When Olive Fredrick\u00adson\u2019s hus\u00adband drowned in a lake, and her three chil\u00addren were near\u00ading star\u00adva\u00adtion, she walked forty miles in a bliz\u00adzard to reach the clos\u00adest neigh\u00adbour in order to get food for them, and remarked that the expe\u00adri\u00adence left her with lit\u00adtle love for wolves. There were as yet no phones or radios in her part of the world. There was no internet. <\/span><\/p>\n

I have an apart\u00adment full of tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy that, in my child\u00adhood, I would have con\u00adsid\u00adered a fan\u00adtas\u00adtic sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion dream. The speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per sec\u00adond. My aver\u00adage down\u00adload speed is 28 Mbps. My friends are not far away in time, though some are pret\u00adty far in space. And I have very, very good friends.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Olive Fredrick\u00adson pub\u00adlished her auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy in 1972, after a long and hard life in Canada\u2019s wilder\u00adness, her cho\u00adsen title, The Silence of the North, was instant\u00adly mean\u00ading\u00adful to any\u00adone famil\u00adiar with the hard and emp\u00adty coun\u00adtry north of the \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1517],"tags":[1507,1509,1508,1511,1505,1510,1506],"class_list":["post-10849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ag-blog-2020","tag-boreal-forest","tag-covid-19","tag-lockdown","tag-nicholas-cresswell","tag-olive-fredrickson","tag-otmar-macha","tag-silence-of-the-north"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10855,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10849\/revisions\/10855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}