My street is a quiet cul-de-sac. Every night at 7:30 my neighbours and I show up on our respective front porches with pots and pans to make noise. I ring a brass bell. We clang and ring relentlessly for about a minute, then wave to each other, shout good night and disappear once again behind our doors.

The noisemaking, as I’m sure you are aware, is intended as an acknowledgement and thank you to front line workers but it does serve another purpose. The first night doing this brought a surprised tear to my eye. After  a few weeks of being hunkered down in isolation it felt good to see everyone. It was reassuring to know we were all okay. 

Sometimes neighbours are just neighbours and at other times they are community. The longer this pandemic continues the larger we all need our community to be.

The very nature of this pandemic highlights the global village our world has become. Blaming and punishing serves no purpose right now. The irony is the virus has spread via community but will be defeated via community. 

A word about the bell that I am ringing. I inherited this small decorated brass bell designed to sit on an exquisitely set dining room table and be gently tinkled when the parlour maid was needed to whisk away the soup dishes. The fact that genteel ancestors of mine in Nowheresville Ontario actually used such a thing speaks volumes about what society had been like for women of means and those who served them. It pleases me to use this bell for a greater purpose. Ringing outside, it makes a beautiful noise.