ANNE BRANDER'S COVID TIME MEMENTOS 2020

           

       Remember when Covid first struck and suddenly, it was no longer a nasty disease infecting people way over in China?  That’d be about March 2020, when we realized Covid had wormed its way out of Asia and was striking and even killing men, women and the occasional child everywhere, including Toronto.  We began to mask, though it was hard to find a ready-made one, but thanks to helpful how-to-make-a-mask instructions posted on social media, enterprising women (and perhaps men, too) sewed them.  Some mask-makers also decorated them, injecting a tiny fun, cultural, or even socio-political element into the nightmare.  

          In those Sad Bad Times, the streets of Riverdale were empty and came alive only once a week, when determined citizens emerged from their cocoons clanging pots and pans in a collective cacophony of love, respect and gratitude for the frontline workers who kept us going, at the cost of their own health and safety.

          Back then I asked a few friends to contribute to a Covid Time Capsule for the Riverdale Historical Society.  Two responded, and here are their offerings.

The first, from retired school principal Anne Brander, is a photographic essay.  Here is TORONTO DURING COVID, 2020.  Please supply your own captions!

Coming Soon:  Girl Sprout to the (Covid) Relief Team!