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Every day my priorities are changing. I no longer care about the stock market or how much money I have in the bank. We’ll be out April 10 with The Senior Times and we’ll be increasing our distribution to apartment buildings, condos, and residences and decreasing distribution to outside places that we are no longer allowed to frequent. And don’t forget, there is always the print edition on line with all the ads in place just like the real thing!

An Israeli man walks his dog via drone (source: Facebook) pic.twitter.com/tLt5VVD94u

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) March 19, 2020

I understand that many people are not as fortunate as I am. Remember all those restaurants we used to frequent? Now our favourite waiters are suffering. Go to “Montrealers create relief fund for laid off restaurant workers” and donate whatever you feel you can. Think of it as tips for our favourite waiters. I’m thinking about the ladies at Snowdon Deli now and wondering how they are doing. Some are my age and seem to have been there forever. I’m sure you have your favourites. Think of them and help make sure they can buy groceries, hygiene products, and medication at this difficult time.

So if I no longer care about money, what do I care about? Keeping my family and friends safe. Painting. Keeping up with my friends and family on email. Petting the dog.

Irwin is going through 50 years of clippings and letters. He sits patiently in his office all day making piles of what to throw out and what to keep. Will I ever need this review I did of this jazz musician in 1989. Should I keep my job application letter from 1963 when I applied for my first journalism job to the Sherbrooke Record? You guessed it. He’s keeping it!

I’m trying to paint every day. I’ve never painted every day. I’ve never had time because of my teaching and journalism career.

I don’t know what I’ll do with all the paintings when they’re done. I don’t think I’ll run out of canvasses for a while or paint because before this crisis, I was a bit of a hoarder when it comes to paint and canvasses. I never thought I’d use them all up.

Painting is a world unto itself. You get lost in it and forget about everything. The time passes quickly and then it gets dark and the light is no longer good enough to paint. I should have painted this morning but I was so busy getting caught up on my emails that I put it off. Maybe I’ll post the paintings I do during this period.

Let me know if you have a passion that you’re involved in at home. If you paint, share your work with us on theseniortimes.com. Send me your photos of your work in large format as attachments to barbarasmoser@gmail.com

Pets are a special source of pleasure during this period of self-isolation. Or at least a good laugh. Rufus is quite confused about his parents not sleeping in the same bed or even the same room. He gets to go out for walks more and he’s happy about that, but he seems more irritable, showing his teeth in a less than comforting way, when I pet him too much.

If you send us photos of your pets and how they entertain you during your stay at home, we’ll publish them. They may even make the print edition. Send all photos as attachments in large format. Now is the time to share and laugh when we can.