So, it's official; Ontario is into its third wave of COVID, much of it propelled by the UK variant. What is also official is that Canada is far, far behind other countries in its vaccination efforts. All too few people have been inoculated in this country against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On the one  hand, a more virulent and contagious pathogen is on the hunt in Canada, and there's an acute vaccine shortage.

The result of the prime minister of this country deciding in his juvenile wisdom that cozying up to Beijing would result in Canada being awash with anti-COVID vaccines. Canada officially partnered with Cansino, signing on with the National Research Council giving the Chinese pharmaceutical company access to a Canadian-made biological platform on which to build their vaccine.

Trouble was Beijing  held up shipments of the resulting vaccine from China to Canada and nothing availed us but to finally look elsewhere to source reliable, efficient and safe vaccines. Which meant, as the mad rabbit in Alice chanted "We're late, we're late, for a very important date!". Here is the difference between Canada and Israel, for example, from the mouth of Pfizer CEO Albert Bouris: "We wanted to select one country to demonstrate the benefits and I spoke to several heads of state and Israel convinced me it had the right conditions."

"It had an extraordinary healthcare system, a relatively small population, and data-gathering capacity. He [the prime minister] would call me at three o'clock in the morning and ask me about variants and what data we had? Then he'd call me about the effect on children and pregnant women. This convinced me he was on top of it and Israel has executed beyond imagination."

 

To the extent, the world now knows, of being recognized as the globe's most successful inoculating state. And while Israel stands as Number One, Canada is somewhat down on the ladder, at Number Forty-three. Just when we're being stalked with a more contagious variant that is more lethal, and with insufficient vaccine doses to ensure that the country's most vulnerable citizens are duly vaccinated.

 

 

We, unlike others concerned over their health and the welfare of their communities, do have some relief. We have a home where we live comfortably. We can look out our front door to watch our neighbourhood squirrels pop up one after another on our porch for a visit. We can take our two little dogs out to a wooded ravine in  easy walking distance to spend an hour or two tramping through forest trails. 

It's spring, at long last, and the spring sun sends its molten sunlight through our landscape to melt away the accumulated snow and ice acquired over the winter months. That snowpack is melting on our lawns and in our backyards and we know that dreams of working in the garden and seeing trees fully leafed and flowers beginning to emerge from the soil is not too distant.

 

In the forest, we can now see the occasional bit of forest floor relieved of its snow burden, as the leafless forest canopy allows the sun to fully infiltrate through bare boughs to the snow-packed floor below. The creek winding its way through the bottom of the ravine is running high and wide with snowmelt, carrying along with its spuming fierceness detritus that accumulated over the winter months. 

 

Another sunny day and a wide blue sky, with soaring temperatures in the double-digits, absolutely glorious. Crows are mobbing, and there are hints in their collective caws that they might be harassing an owl, likely the very owl we heard loud and sonorous two days ago from the heights of one of the upper forest trails. 

Today, we even saw the beginning of catkins on hazelnut bushes in the ravine. In another month we'll see the foliage of trout lilies beginning to emerge, and eventually the shy little heads-down yellow lilies will make their appearance. By then, we can hope that Canada will have gained a good head-start on inoculating its people. And with that, hope for a better outcome for 2021 than what was experienced in 2020.