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With all the August birthdays amongst my network of family and friends, it might seem that the most efficient way to mark them would be with one big mega-bash. But of course, megabashes are a no-no during a pandemic and huge gatherings are not really my thing anyway - I can only take them in small doses and that doesn't really allow time to socialize with everyone I'd like to!

I was reading something recently about pandemic-era weddings and how for many couples, the need to hold a smaller celebration can be a blessing in disguise (with masks compulsory!) They mean less stress, less money and more time for getting on with getting a life. And possibly fewer hard feelings on the part of anyone who may have felt excluded - since after all it was down to circumstances beyond our control!

With funerals perhaps the situation is a little different - unless you happen to have nine lives, you kind of only get one chance for a final farewell, though I guess cemetery visits and memorial services and the like are still a thing. There's been a bit of a trend towards drive-in or drive-through services but I'm not sure to what extent they're catching on. They also require ready access to a car and driver.

Today we actually got to celebrate the 5th birthday of our youngest grandchild. After weeks of barricaded bridges and checkpoints, the Quebec government recently allowed outdoor gatherings of up to ten people from a maximum of three different households. So off we went for a backyard barbecue with our daughter's family of five and a couple with their 21-month-old daughter. We hadn't seen any of them in person since March 8!

It was a slightly different, more subdued sort of celebration - no serving of chips or other munchies from communal bowls and the birthday girl had all her candles on one cupcake, while the rest of us each got our own separate cupcake (made with rainbow-striped cake). Groups of lawn chairs were placed so as to promote physical distancing between households. But we had a chance to catch up on each other's news and see the new chicken coop and the weather actual held better than it has at her previous backyard parties, which have sometimes been plagued by rain or extreme heat and/or humidity.

I'm finding I have a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards the various stages of re-opening as well as the discrepancies from one region to another. Part of me wants to just give up and say "Well, if I can't be completely free to do all the things I'd normally do, I'd rather just forget about it for the duration." Another part of me says "I'd better try and do EVERYTHING they're allowing now because in a week or even just a few days, they may change their minds again and thrust us all into solitary confinement." The grandchildren were moaning a bit about the new at-school-normal. So many rules to follow! All work and no play! And so on. When the schools first shut down, I remember wondering whether one day, kids would regard a detention as being a treat rather than a punishment. With all the new protocols in place, it doesn't sound as if that will happen any time soon!

It was great to see everyone again, but it would be nicer still if we could get a clearer timelines about what to expect when. It's going to be a strange summer.