Off To A Rip-Roaring Stop

Off To A Rip-Roaring Stop

We finally got a break from the rigid Canadian travel rules and took the show out to Chicago, Davenport, and Clear Lake, Iowa. 

For the record, I’m completely in favour of these careful measures. 

As I said in an earlier post, getting into the US is no more of a problem than usual. Work permits, visas and new this time, a face-recognition photograph instead of fingerprints at the beginning of each tour year. 

However, returning to Canada would have required an enforced fourteen-day quarantine and a series of Covid tests.

New, more relaxed rules have been brought in. For example, if you have proof of two vaccinations, have a negative Covid test within seventy-two hours of your return, and fill out an internet app, you are exempt from the quarantine.

The shows went well, particularly when you consider that we’d been off for seventeen months.

But the laissez-faire approach to Covid control in some areas down there is disturbing. Even with a fourth wave gaining steam, the authorities in Illinois and Iowa had eased the mask and social distancing requirements. We have a similar situation in western Canada.

Our audiences were seated just as they were pre-covid. Very few wore masks. One of the things people do to express appreciation at a concert is cheering. A gazillion tiny droplets of saliva are ejected, causing low-pressure areas and localized thunderstorms of bacteria, viruses, beer, and snacks.  

Despite this, we had every intention to return Aug 6 and resume our tour. But life, fate, or God rolling the dice intervened. 

I’m not naming names, but a certain member of our entourage fell Monday evening and broke his wrist……..

Okay, stop badgering me! It was Gord, but you didn’t hear it from me. 

He’s going to be fine, but the August shows are postponed. We’ll start up again September 15.