A festive, chatty start to the apocalypse

Despite the avalanche of grim coronavirus news this week,Vancouverites were out and about enjoying the sunshine and the arrival of spring.  We noticed a very small group at the Dunbar Lawn Bowling Club practicing proper social distancing procedures as they played a game of croquet. Photo by John Denniston.

 

Across the way at the tennis courts, the message about keeping six feet apart apparently hadn't gotten through. Photo by John Denniston.

Popular attractions like Spanish Banks beach and the trails in Pacific Spirit Park were so jam-packed that John and I decided residential streets like this would be a good alternative for our walk. No problem sticking to social-distancing rules here!

Spanish Banks was crowded on Thursday, a jostle of couples, families, bikers, runners and dog-walkers getting their exercise against a backdrop of ocean and mountains still showing some winter white. It was sunny, the first day of spring, but it was also a midweek afternoon, when most of those people would normally be at school or work. Pacific Spirit Park was similarly busy on Friday, its wooded trails overrun by a constant stream of humanity.

John and I turned away from both – too hard to keep a six-foot distance in such crowds – and walked the mostly empty streets in our neighbourhood instead. But something about those bustling scenes got me thinking. After a week of ever-worsening coronavirus news, with announcements of new restrictions and closures arriving almost hourly, the mood we sensed both days was . . . festive. As if the whole city had been granted an extra-long long weekend, blessed by the sunshine, the arrival of spring and the explosion of pink and white blossoms everywhere.

People were behaving differently, too. In neighbourhoods where residents are usually too busy to stop to talk – they bustle to their cars and rush off – boulevard conversations were breaking out. Small clots of people, carefully spread out to obey the six-foot social-distancing rule, lingered to exchange the latest coronavirus news, and maybe catch up on some personal news as well. John and I were part of several of those conversations. Neighbours or local acquaintances we hadn’t seen for months were outdoors – at leisure, available and eager to chat.

A break in the routine may explain the sense of festivity; historians have written about the excitement at the start of the First World War, when the world order shifted and young men couldn’t wait to sign up for their great adventure. Today, many parents have switched to working at home, and their kids’ spring break has been extended indefinitely, so there’s a sense of being in unprecedented times. As for the new boulevard congeniality, people may be casting more enthusiastic eyes on their neighbours given that cancellations of regular events and activities have left many with time on their hands.

 But I suspect that the crowds in our scenic playgrounds and the small knots on the boulevards may also be signs of the natural drawing together of people in a crisis. Along with the dread of what’s to come is also a recognition of who we’re going to share it with.

In some areas of the world, the coronavirus has prompted authorities to ban people from going outside their homes. With residential streets this empty and this beautiful  in Vancouver, I think an argument could be made that any potential risks are outweighed by the mental-health benefits of  just being out there. 

Sights and smells like this fragrant purple daphne seem like a good antidote to stress and fear..

Another reason why just being outside has to make people feel better.