Canada could and should have have done better in countering the pandemic than has been the case. The federal government which lauds its various initiatives, from giving financial support in wage subsidies to corporations meant to aid them in paying workers' wages whether or not they made a profit, then to learn that while accepting handouts on the taxpayers' dime, they were distributing dividends to shareholders. The public also learned that among individuals who applied for federal government financial aid meant for those whose employment was cut or eliminated due to COVID through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, applicants included people of wealth.

The news has been full lately of ongoing increases on a daily basis of COVID case numbers, with government and health authorities urging Canadians to eschew international travel, to remain at home rather than risk contracting the virus through additional exposure abroad, only to find that a growing number of parliamentarians have felt entitled to get on with their lives by taking recreational trips abroad. And nor are they the only ones; people in federal, provincial and municipal positions of elected trust have also done the same.

Another government program, set up to send support cheques for self-isolation of people testing positive for COVID, keeping them from earning wages for the obligatory 14-day period, has been taken advantage of by those returning to Canada from abroad, to also receive the financial support cheques while they self-isolate. Defying all appeals, traveling outside the country for recreational leisure and tourism during the holiday period, people then apply for tax-sourced financial support as they self-isolate.

All a bit much. When we went shopping this morning, we brought along a bag as we usually do, to be filled with foodstuffs for deposit to the Food Bank. Those operating the food bank aiding those in the general population who need help to access food have been fairly vocal about the growing need for public assistance. Over the holidays we were surprised and pleased to see the generous cache of food offerings that would become Food Bank inventory to be given out to those in need. 

For us it has been a regular routine for as long as I can remember that when we do the food shopping we set aside food staples for the food bank. We did that today; four tins of tuna, four tins of soup, four tins of baked beans and four boxes of macaroni and cheese. We keep it simple, rarely deviating from those choices since they store well and are easy to distribute. When I deposited the bagful into the large bin kept in the grocery store foyer for that purpose, it was evident that the number of people donating has steeply declined with the end of the holidays. 

You have to do a mental shrug over these things. Life can be difficult -- beyond difficult -- for so many people. Those who are fortunate should be aware of their good fortune and be prepared to lend themselves to little acts of kindness toward others. There is no entitlement to good fortune, it's the result of happenstance, a random thing, where some in society live well and others barely manage. 

In the early afternoon, after everything was done in this house, and our puppies were getting a little restless, we went off for a good long hike with them on yet another heavily overcast day, but mildly temperatured, at 0C. While we were out in the morning, there was some freezing rain. When we went out to the backyard with the puppies before launching ourselves into a ravine hike, snow was lightly swirling about, but not much fell to be added to the snowpack.

The mild temperature makes for a more relaxed tramp through the trails. Where we can fully appreciate the landscape unfolding before us as we make our way from one level to another, swoop in wide arcs through the forest as the trails intersect and invite one to go this way or that. There were few others out in the woods today, so tranquility reined as it once did constantly, reflecting the norm, not a delightful anomaly. There were nuthatches about and chickadees, but no squirrels in sight anywhere.