By Kelly Corkery
What can we do to support our friends and families when we must be socially distanced? Suddenly, grieving families find themselves without arms to enfold or hands to hold. No outlet is available for others to help say goodbye. We are unable to help celebrate the life of an ill or deceased loved one. Visitations and funeral services fall by the wayside, limited to 5 people only. There’s nary a goulash or hodge podge to be found.
I miss the way a good hug can instantly lift my mood. But human touch is not the only way we can build connection. Online, I see people sharing messages of love, songs, crafted tributes and even recipes to provide comfort to the grieving. Based on these experiences, here are eight suggestions for messages we can send or actions we can take to offer grief support.
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A Good Old Fashioned Phone Call-If you can get over the fear of “not knowing what to say,” sometimes there are no words of comfort, but the griever is simply waiting for a sympathetic ear and a familiar voice.
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Card in the Mail- I love getting non bill-related mail. A thoughtful card, either purchased or homemade, lets us know that someone thinks of you highly enough to purchase a stamp and Google your postal code.
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Specific Offers of Help-Omg, this. Yes, this. While many of us feel helpless and offer up the standard, “If there’s anything I can do…”taking the bull by the horns to undertake a specific task at an overwhelming time can be very much appreciated.
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Music-The gift of song has proven exceptionally powerful during times of grief and uncertainty. The Ultimate Online Nova Scotian Kitchen Party (Covid-19 Edition) is a great example of bringing people together. Or you make and share a Spotify list of songs that remind you of family, friends, and happier times.
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Memories & Photos-Perhaps you found a photo on your phone, one that captures a favourite memory, something special to you. I’m betting that the visual reminder of their loved one will also be cherished by the griever. It may bring a smile to their face or at least remind them that they will smile again one day.
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Thoughtful Gifts-This one can be a bit tricky with the fear of the virus living on surfaces. However, nothing is stopping you from dropping off some beer and snacks with some Lysol wipes on the doorstep. Include a note stating you wish you could join them, but for now it’s enough to know that you are thinking of them.
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Gratitude-I don’t know about you but all this time has given me the opportunity to reflect on how very much I value my friendships. A text stating as much is a brilliant way to say, “I miss you and we’ll be together when possible.”
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Legacies in Remembrance-In lieu of flowers, donate to a favourite cause or charity in the name of loved one. Add a new flower or shrub to your garden so you are reminded of them each year. I love saying “Hello” to the green things I planted in memory of friends and family. A Daphne for Steve, yellow roses for Ellen, Rhododendrons for my cats (Hey, we grieve pets too), Lilacs for my Mom…
Staying connected
As we go about our new normal and settle into the unsettling rhythms of a pandemic influenced world, I truly long for the day that we can all be together again. In the meantime, please reach out to someone who is grieving a loved one, is self-isolating, or maybe just missing their regular life. Let our kind words embrace those who need it most.
[Note: Kelly Corkery offers professional home & office organizing, decluttering and downsizing services as well as advanced planning. Website: A Sorted Affair; Facebook: A Sorted Affair—Organizing and Advanced Planning Solutions.
(Above: New outdoor display at Uprooted)
By David J. Shuman
[As the province starts to re-open, the Cooperator will be talking with businesses and organizations about how they’re changing and adapting as we move towards the post-Covid world.]
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By Richard Bell
HRM’s green bins have been taking a ferocious beating for the last several weeks in Lake Echo’s Mountain View Estates. Several bears, looking for a quick way to gain weight after the long winter, have been ripping and clawing the bins open to get at the tasty treats inside.
Elsewhere in Nova Scotia, people have been socially isolating to keep Covid-19 under control. But in Mountain View, they’re being extra careful about going outdoors at all for fear of running into a bear.
The Mountain View Estates Facebook page has been filled with complaints about the marauding bears, complete with photos of bears pawing green bins, perched precariously on top of bird feeder poles, and just generally being bears.
Enter the Department of Lands and Forestry
There have been so many complaints that the Department of Lands and Forestry has entered the fray in a partnership with HRM, recruiting residents of Mountain View Estates for the Bear Resistant Green Bin Trial. The trail is a full-scale field experiment to test whether there are any green bin locks capable of withstanding a hungry bear. HRM bought 35 test locks, and L&F bought 140.
Several weeks ago, residents received a letter asking them to participate in this one-month experiment. Some participants would get “bear-resistant” locks for their green bins, while others would not get locks. (L&F will be giving locks to the non-lock group at the end of the experiment). The experiment requires that both groups fill out a daily questionnaire on bear sightings and the state of their green bins.
In an interview with the Cooperator, Jeremy Smith, the Wildlife Technician for the Jeddore office of the Department of Lands and Forestry, explained the origins of the Bear Resistant Green Bin Trial, and the department’s over-all approach to managing bears across the province.
“We do a lot of education to get people to get rid of attractions that cause bears to hang around,” Smith said. “If we can get people to clean up these attractions, we usually have a high success rate at keeping the number of nuisance bears down.” Attractions include things like green bins, bird feeders, and people intentionally leaving food out to attract bears.
“There are 350 homes in Mountain View Estates in three-quarters of a square kilometer,” Smith said, “so bears don’t have to go far to go from house to house.”
“There’s no such thing as a bear-proof bin,” Smith said, “just bear-resistant. If it takes a bear 45 minutes to get in to a bin, the bear has to figure if this effort is worth the reward. So far, we’re had good success with one of the locks. The bears smash the bins around a bit, and then move on. If we can prove these locks are helpful, that gives HRM’s waste management personnel an incentive to include these locks.”
If a bear becomes too much of a nuisance, Lands and Forestry has two options, either relocation or putting the bear down. “Relocation isn’t a great option,” Smith said. “Bears will travel large distances to return. And bears are very territorial, so a relocated bear may get injured by other bears.”
Smith said that putting bears down was a “last resort. We do have a
partnership with Feed Nova Scotia, so the bear gets processed into meat, and distributed to people who will eat bear meat, so the bear isn’t wasted.”
Smith said that reports from the first week suggested that the locks were having some positive effect, but that the final results won’t be available until later this summer.
Photo Credit: Keri Ettinger
Welcome to the Cooperator's COVID-19 Resource Page
This page has a list of resources about living with the COVID-19 pandemic. Given how rapidly things are changing, we need your help to keep this page up to date. If you know of anything that you think would be helpful for us to post here, please email [email protected].
We are especially interested in expanding the Local Groups list. All levels of government are engaged, but they can only do so much. Working locally is the best way to make sure that we take care of everyone in our communities.
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You can read the entire May 2020 printed issue of the Eastern Shore Cooperator online (in case you haven't gotten your copy in the mail yet!). We are pleased to announce that the May issue will be arriving shortly in the 14,000 homes along the Eastern Shore and up the Valley--
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By Karen Bradley
Last month, we shared the importance for local and rural economic development to arise from the region’s women and youth. The East Preston Empowerment Academy (EPEA) is one of the Eastern Shore’s community-based programs created to foster the development of skills and employability for young people, women, and others on the western side of the Shore. EPEA has a strong mission statement, “to empower and equip members of our community with the necessary skills, tools and confidence to fulfill their lifelong dreams.”
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By Mary Elizabeth O’Toole
In the last issue, Jim Turner described some of the organic farm strategies he uses at his Nova Bluewater Farm in DeBaies Cove. This month, we continue the story with more about the growth of the farm.
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By Wyn Jones
Two very different issues are demanding that the residents of the Eastern Shore take immediate notice.
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Editor’s Note: The Sheet Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce and Civic Affairs asked Sue Henry to make a presentation to the March 4, 2020 Chamber meeting regarding the announcement that the Whale Sanctuary Project was going to Sherbrooke/Port Hilford rather than Sheet Harbour/Mushaboom. The construction cost of the project was estimated at $20 million, with annual maintenance between $1 million and $2 million. The Cooperator is printing her talk at length because Henry engages with some of the perennial issues dealing with the often painful difficulties of negotiating conflicts between proposals for new developments and strong local opposition to such proposals.
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