So, how are you doing?
Most people I speak to, FaceTime or Zoom say they’re coping with the pandemic reality nearly three months in.
But there’s also something fresh in the air: a sense of hope. Maybe it’s the spring weather and all the Leasiders who have committed to planting Victory Gardens. What, you haven’t started yet? Well, it’s time to get digging. Spring is finally, definitely here.
How’s your fitness holding up? Janis Fertuck shares her experience doing online yoga classes with her favourite studio, Prashanta Yoga, which introduced a “Nama-Stay at Home” program. Holly Reid devotes her cycling column to e-bikes, which are giving all sorts of riders that extra push to make cycling a regular part of their (new) routine. Even humourist Terry Fallis, who has the “Lockdown Blues,” has started running in the morning.
During the pandemic a number of entrepreneurial individuals and businesses have stepped up to make our lives easier. Take Leaside’s very own Mask Man, Darren Sampson of NovoMask, who started creating stylish face coverings on April 10 while out of work from COVID-19. Now, more Leasiders are smiling (under their masks, of course) as they don these fashion statements when shopping, at the appropriate physical distance. You can read more about Darren’s venture in Glenn Asano’s Business of Leaside column in this issue.
Hope – and a sense of optimism – is surely in the air. More and more Leaside businesses are cautiously reopening with new safety and hygiene protocols in place. There’s never been a more important time to support local enterprises as they take tentative steps to stay in business, serving us, in a COVID-19 world. They deserve a collective, virtual hug. So, put on your mask, get on your e-bike, walk over, and say yes to Leaside’s local businesses.
