“Happy happy, joy joy...”

Well, here we are.

"We'll meet again/Don't know where, don't know when..."

On Thursday morning I consulted my notes. “Toronto The (not so) Good” was the strongest contender for this week’s post.

I wasn’t looking forward to it. It was mopey material, for one thing. Worse, most of what I was gassing on about could be found elsewhere — “This town has lost its snap,” basically. And my only potentially unique insight could be summed up in two bullet points:

• Car is a terrible way to get around the city.
• Car is the best way to get around the city.

I have no idea how city and provincial and national governments can come together to turn that equation on its head, other than to make public transit free to all (which has always struck me as a no-brainer, but then I’m not a politician who has to work within volatile public expectations of what is acceptable and what is beyond the pale). I can only profer my sincere best wishes to all involved.

I typed the above words and a few hundred more. Eventually I noticed my newsfeed getting increasingly agitated. The headlines changed every 30 seconds. And they were changing about exactly one subject, to the point where the escalation of violence between Iranian-backed militia and UK/US troops — resulting in US casualties — was a distant footnote of passing concern.

OK then.

The various newsletters I subscribe to all have their Asian correspondents, and without exception they’ve been outstandingly magnanimous toward their Western readers. They exhibit, I must say, remarkable depth of character. The temptation to open fire on collective (and, let’s face it, singular) stupidity must be enormous — I know I’m having trouble staring it down.

Instead, they suggest some gentle tactics for dealing with the new reality. Including:

• Find something to make you happy at home.

My guitar has gathered some dust since Christmas. At some point I grew discouraged with the plateau I’d reached, and let that discouragement feed my laziness, and vice-versa. Out it now comes.

Hey, if you’ve got happy-making home-based activities, please share.

One final note, in the Never let a serious crisis go to waste category:

Both my adult children have lovingly confronted the 'rents on ways we can make better choices for a sustainable human future. We can all do better — so why not? Why not apply some of the heat we now feel in the fever of this COVID moment to the collective challenge of being more responsible and, for those of us who ascribe to the mindset, grateful stewards of our natural home?