First of all, I would ask that you follow @town-crier marketing as I am spending a great deal of time community volunteering in times of crisis and telling more stories over there.

Otherwise, this is your ~weekly look into what it is like in my neck of the woods. I like to wrap up a busy week by looking back through the pictures I took, and regale my legions of followers with a couple stories to entertain and celebrate life.

Strap on your drinkin' socks and lets do this!

First of all, I hope mother nature is not pulling this kinda crap where you are but we have had a number of third winter/Smarch weather. While it may be a deterrent to venturing outside, that may be what we deserve as we stay inside and contain the spread of this virus. As an added bonus, the yard work can wait when it looks like this beyond the doors!

When the spring weather returns, this baby is waiting eagerly for my little one who just experienced her first socially-distant birthday. I am LOVING the digital learning so many folks are doing to stay in contact with eachother....perhaps even more than before. Several conference calls happened that day with different sects of family singing happy birthday and celebrating remotely.

My bike is one I picked up for free on the side of the road while my kids have expensive and fancy ones like this beauty. Need before greed as we used to say in the World of Warcraft days!

Speaking of need, there are other folks in need of our thanks and I prefer action over simple thoughts and prayers. These are some local heroes with whom we have been able to work over the last few weeks. We blog here on HIVE and share those stories with the regular folks so they can enjoy other inspiring blog content on the blockchain. We are also reproducing those stories on the blog on our website to help complete the online presence we need as a marketing company. You can follow more of those stories by following @town-crier and giving our site a little traffic https://www.towncriermarketing.ca/blog

For the past few years, I have told tales from atop my trusty ladder as I install internet as one of my contract gigs. Death-defying tales of ladder walking and unique perspectives in this fantastic little Canadian town. With the lockdown, there have been fewer new installations and stories as the ISP has laid off many of the workers (including sales and marketing with questionable wisdom in that!) and people are just saving their money rather than ordering new services. Still, internet is extremely important to remain safe and productive while staying at home.

The buds are starting to show on the trees, grass and first flowers are sprouting and greening up, and the ladder got a little exercise. This is a typical street in a quiet part of town and I am standing on the roof of a nurse, getting the best wireless internet signal I can for her. Spring may just spring yet!

Back to Volunteering!

I am working here with the owner of one of my favourite breweries https://blackswanbrewing.ca/ and local Social Media Influencer Tracey from https://www.whatshappeningstratford.ca/ to deliver 60 hot gourmet meals to a local long term care team. They have been hit with 3 COVID-related deaths and a number of other positives within the team and residents. The spirit and strength you see in the eyes behind the masks is inspiring and we will be looking to duplicate this reward as many time as needed to give back.

Here is a delivery I was able to make for our local paramedics who are bravely doing their part to care for the community. There will be spotlights on each of the partners who helped make this happen but hit any of these web pages to get and idea of the awesome and supportive restaurants we have in this community.

• Revival House https://www.revival.house/
• Taverna Pazzo Pizzeria https://www.pazzo.ca/
• Demetre's Family Eatery https://www.demetresfamilyeatery.com/
• Fellini's Classic Italian Cucina http://www.fellinisstratford.com/

More to come at @town-crier on these leaders!

Speaking of restaurants, I can't think of a more embattled group of businesses fighting for their lives. I may have to get into some of the specifics I am seeing but having to shutter dining rooms in expensive venues while continuing to pay employees and engage with the community is a struggle. During the best of times, margins are very slim in the restaurant industry and now is the time to do what you can to rally behind your restaurants by ordering, volunteering, buying gift certificates and taking to the digital streets of social media.

I have pulled a couple of volunteer shifts in the delivery vehicle, and dish pit at a couple select restaurants and make sure to pass on the sincere thanks to the nice people behind doors like this who are supporting local restaurants.

A good deed does not always go unpunished....said nobody ever I suppose. Anyhow, I miss my time spent blogging about my experiences at these restaurants and am hearing from many who miss my Extreme-Dramatic Close-Up shots. Welcome to the edge of my plate upon which sits the best damn burger I have had in recent memory. It was the tastiest of rewards from Revival House https://www.revival.house/ after getting to pitch in and help out with their fully transformed menu and brand new delivery service.

HOLY BURGER!

All in all, it has been a busy, fulfilling and tiring week. What better way to cap that off than some back breaking labour setting up the garden for another year. You can see the garden is growing as I take up more useless lawn space with a 3x7' garden box that will probably grow carrots and strawberries this first year. I have visions of lush vegetation and lesson learning as we spend some of our socially distant hours growing veggies for us and edible flowers for the bees, butterflies, and perhaps reastaurants!

I hope you are staying active, healthy, happy and sane where you are. I hope you are sharing the breather the earth seems to be having with all of us driving less, living more. Strangely enough, there are things I am going to miss about this period. There are things I will cherish and changes I will stick with.

Never waste a good crisis!

I am honoured to curate for:

Please comment to let me know you are out there and doing well!