Mike Moss is a former student of Marlborough Grammar School. Growing up in Chiseldon he has fond memories of his years spent in what later became the Stedman Building (class of 1970). On leaving the Grammar School he studied Medicine in London, specialising in Pathology before taking a year’s role in the flying doctor service on the Labrador coast in Canada. That year evolved into a permanent move with Mike and his wife settling down on Canada’s West Coast in British Columbia, before retirement last year and move back East to Nova Scotia, from where they are dealing with the Covid-19
Greetings from Nova Scotia, where we are fortunate to now live in a beautiful sheltered cove on St Margaret’s Bay.
Our ‘back yard’ provides an ever changing view, reflecting the weather of the day and the mood of the sea. We watch eagles and otters in the cove and along our shoreline, while on our property itself are pheasants, deer and chipmunks as well as a resident groundhog whom we have named, Reginald. He’s still hibernating in his burrow but will surface in time to eat the best of the early roses. He particularly likes the red ones.
We have already sheltered in place in this home through a couple of hurricanes and are now doing so through COVID-19. We actually have the end of an Atlantic storm passing over today but, unlike the weather, we won’t know by looking out the window when the COVID threat will have passed. Some say not until June or July, while others warn of a potential resurgence later in the year. Nova Scotia has a population of about 970,000 (of Canada’s 37 million) and as I write this, our Province has had less than 200 confirmed COVID cases to date (of 10,000 across Canada).
As in many other countries, our nation is now in an official state of emergency, under travel restrictions and self-isolation orders. My wife and I had already restricted our outings a month ago to essential grocery shopping as well as implementing routines for more frequent hand washing and sanitizing surfaces plus all groceries brought into the home.
Posts on social media freely offer help for those who need it with shopping for groceries or prescriptions. We haven’t needed any help but it’s reassuring to have the sense of community that surrounds us. We also appreciate being able to take our dogs out at any time for walks on the property while still observing self-isolation rules. Staff in our grocery stores are undoubtedly under unusual pressure yet most are helpful and manage to remain cheerful. So we are fortunate to be able to remain at home without difficulty.
However, we are concerned for both our daughters. Our younger daughter is a physician in solo practice in a remote part of the Yukon Territory, about two hour’s drive from Whitehorse (and 7600 km by road from us). She is among the many who are working selflessly in the front line with limited personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to keep themselves safe.
Our elder daughter is only an hour’s drive away. She is expecting her second child within the next month and will likely require hospitalization for a C-section, since she had one before. We know we would not likely be able to visit her there and it is uncertain when or to what extent we will be able to visit with her once she and her baby have returned home.
However, as incongruous as it may seem, it feels as though COVID is bringing us closer together as a nation, even though we have come together in separate, self-isolation.
Mike Moss, Whynachts Cove, Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia
Wellbeing advice available to all on The College website to help everyone deal with lockdown
