Michael Pendergast Oral History, 2022/02/13

Interviewer, Madeline Shaw was joined by Michael Pendergast to discuss his experience during the pandemic.
Despite numerous barriers between job loss and financial insecurity, Michael reflected on his continuing positive outlook as he looks forward, past COVID-19. As a Prince Edward Islander, Michael was able to speak on the unique experience of living in Atlantic Canada during the pandemic and how his home became a safe refuge for his children, returning home internationally and from other parts of the country.

February 13, 2022

Madeline Shaw

Michael Pendergast

HIST9801

University of Western Ontario

English Health & Wellness

English Home & Family Life

English Music

English Race & Ethnicity

English Rural

English Pandemic Skeptics

pei

musician

songwriting

lobster fishing

funding

arts

atlantic bubble

Christmas

lockdown

family

vaccine

antivaxxers

musician

Canada

family

job loss

vaccine

Prince Edward Islander

Canada

Vaccine Stories

Holidays

02/15/2022

02/25/2022

02/28/2022

05/23/2022

02/13/2022

Madeline Shaw

Michael Pendergast

Prince Edward Island

Canada

Audio

English

00:47:32

Interviewer, Madeline Shaw was joined by Michael Pendergast to discuss his experience during the pandemic.
Despite numerous barriers between job loss and financial insecurity, Michael reflected on his continuing positive outlook as he looks forward, past COVID-19. As a Prince Edward Islander, Michael was able to speak on the unique experience of living in Atlantic Canada during the pandemic and how his home became a safe refuge for his children, returning home internationally and from other parts of the country.

Madeline Shaw 00:00
So I'm gonna just do the official introduction here. So, my name is Madeline Shaw. I'm speaking with Michael Pendergast. We're speaking remotely over the phone. Today's date is February 13 2022. We are, I guess, first cousins once removed if you want to be official, that's our relationship between between each other. And yeah, okay, so our consent, so we'll find that form. So you have read and understood the above informed consent documents. Do you agree to participate in the study with the following conditions, your name and other means of identification will not be confidential. The interview will be recorded in a digital and video or audio format, and may be transcribed the recordings of possible transcriptions of my interview copies of any supplementary documents or additional photos that I wish to share and informed consent may be deposited in the COVID-19 archive the journal of the plague COVID-19 archive and the Indiana University Library System. Okay, I understand are you understand that the following items may be created for my interview in audio and or video recording an edited transcript and summary copies of any supplementary documents or additional photos that I wish to share? I understand that my interview and other items may be distributed to the public for educational purposes, including format such as print public programming and the internet.

Michael Pendergast 01:42
Yes,

Madeline Shaw 01:43
I agree to fully freely share my interview and other items above under the terms of the following license. There's Creative Commons attribute attribute emission, non commercial share strike International and the COVID Oral History Project on all the play gear from the trustees of the Indiana University.

Michael Pendergast 02:04
Yes

Madeline Shaw 02:06
And I acknowledged I'm not expecting to receive compensation for participating in this project or for any future use of the oral history materials. I'm sorry. Yes, I request that my interview may be made available immediately or January 1 2024. Okay. And I release and fully discharge, I use the COVID archive the journal the plague year, Arizona State University, George Mason University and their employees, agents and representatives from any claim damages or liability arising from or related to my participation in this project or future use of their oral history materials.

Michael Pendergast 02:52
Yes

Madeline Shaw 02:53
Thank you so much. That is every now you don't have to worry about a printing anything off or scanning it. So I'm just to get started. So let's go back to March of 2020. I know it feels like a long time away now. But what do you recall from the beginning of the pandemic?

Michael Pendergast 03:23
Well, I recall that it's generally the time of year we would be planning a trip. Usually south, my wife Carolyn would be teaching at the time, it would be a chance to be the only time she was off. And so after Christmas, we start to plan a trip and there was a family trip planned and so seemed to happen very, very quickly. Like not just not even over the space of a week, but almost just a couple of days. And some of the members were were going to leave and then the next day everybody was not going so it's a very, very quick even though we had heard about this some virus and kind of followed was in the news before Christmas and with some some hints of it just after in the new year, I should say.

Michael Pendergast 04:28
So the kinds of things developed and all of a sudden that was one big that was the week before just as we were preparing to leave

Michael Pendergast 04:45
and everything's shut down very quickly. And the next thing you know we were at home and listening to I think the biggest news on the island with social media was with a couple from nearby companies. nearby community who were trapped on a cruise ship, just sort of following their journey. That was how I remember was personally and then of course, having two grown children. It was a matter of there was also about their journey and they're coming, coming back to Prince Edward Island. So that was that was the initial whenever things really turned.

Madeline Shaw 05:30
And what was that transition like from like, obviously you and Carolyn kind of being, you know, having the house to yourself to then having three extra adults back in the house.

Michael Pendergast 05:45
Yeah, so two of them were in London, England. One was in Toronto. We were actually out on March 17, which was the last day that restaurants were anything was open, everything shut down after and we were actually listening to music down at a brewery in Bordeaux, France around the afternoon. And at that time, I believe that was always there's nothing about masks for washing, cleaning your hands and sanitizing. We were in a separate table. And all of a sudden that was on a Sunday. And not sure if it was the 17th The 18th Monday or the Tuesday. I was by by the next day I was I was gotten a call from my son Shane i i was planning a trip up to two throttle, which ended up being up so that was the first first one to come home. And so I was on the road early early in the morning and drove right up and we picked him up and picked up some of this year. He was moving essentially moving out of an apartment we ordered a van from my brother and we filled the van and turned around and drove right back. No I didn't even say he was getting you know there was there was definitely he was getting nervous up there. I remember that trip so then he was home and then fairly shortly after what had been up my daughter and her boyfriend were planning on staying in London, England and very quickly overnight, the residents that were staying at related to the school that he was attending. He said we can't make any promises of looking after you and so they were they were pretty much on the on a plane within 48 hours. So they arrived and we live next door to my mother in law and the best way to to keep distance was my wife Carolyn, she went next door and stayed there I stayed with Shane upstairs and Molly and Matt stayed downstairs we even had Id put up plastic between some of the spaces we've designated the house into zones so the first part was very strange because it wasn't it wasn't five of us there was only four of us but two upstairs to downstairs and over the space of really two weeks they just came to the top of the stairs and I slid a bucket of food over to them and eventually we got a little bit closer but we never really crossed we never were in the same room. They eventually came up and had a room upstairs but there was I put up a plastic sheet between hope someday I don't look back and laugh at myself for too big sheet of plastic between the between the sort of a living room and a dining room. So during the day we can use the dining room and talk to them and they'd be in the living room. That was their only upstairs room with more sunlight

Michael Pendergast 09:20
and so that was the first 14 days and Carolyn was next door so when we went for

Michael Pendergast 09:28
we're lucky to be in the country here so we have chat opportunity to walk and strong walk and I would walk you know 14 feet away from her whenever we could go for strolls woods. It was very much a sense of not we were leaving our property but was we were just in fields behind the behind our property so we open more space

Madeline Shaw 09:56
and so I guess another question would be, have you experienced any other health crisis? I don't know if, obviously this extent, but has there been anything else like in your life that has been comparable?

Michael Pendergast 10:23
I guess when it comes to health situations or family situations, usually there's there's actually an illness. And in this case, no one has gotten COVID. And you're, you're sort of up against something that you couldn't see. And you had no, we didn't know in the beginning, how extensive or how far reaching or how quickly the the actual wave would happen. And so that was a lot of nothing, I don't think there's anything like that. I've experienced health situations where you're looking after people are there, but they're actually sick. In this case, no one was sick.

Madeline Shaw 11:10
And so on that note, too, because I mean, in comparison to other experiences in the country, and I mean, globally, as well, like PTI has had, very, I know, has a very different experience. Whereas as you know, for about two years, there really wasn't any cases, and we've been able to keep the pandemic out. So over, you know, not even just smarter 2020. But how has that affected your comfortability or those around you? Did you were you comfortable in spaces around people, even though you knew like there wasn't really any COVID around?

Michael Pendergast 11:56
Well, I, it didn't take too long to figure out that we were getting information on the we knew that we were in a different situation than other provinces, other places. Being an island. And of course, islanders always have to be proud of, they can always, it's always better here, right? than anywhere else. So that went along with the narrative, follow the same narrative. So that wasn't, because we were always saying how beautiful it is here and how wonderful the lifestyle is. So that was one aspect of it. In terms of being around people. Being not just an entertainer, but also a singer, I mean, I, and also an entertainer whose children, I've had every anything that can come from mucus and dental, and I've had it all, I am not, it was I wasn't worried about COVID and dying of COVID, that's for sure. But at the same time, I realized that it was something that could affect people over a longer term. And there were extra maybe long term effects and not something I certainly wasn't interested in. I'm more personally, I'm more of a risk taker wouldn't bother me to be around people so much, but I was also living with living with parts of members of the family who are more or more nervous about it. And so you have to you have to follow, everybody has to be the same on the same page. The end of the COVID is actually more interesting for us at the end, but the last two months is almost more interesting the first two months because we have a health situation with palliative care with my mother in law next door. And so that has caused us to be since before Christmas, and beforehand to be extra careful. Mingling or meeting other people, even family members. So that's really the first time that I've noticed I was able to mingle with family members more so and we had a lot more free space and time. No, it didn't. It didn't I wasn't bothered by that. I found I was bothered more and then towards the end of the period, just because I miss sort of dropping by meeting some of my seeing some my family member five other members of the family and brothers and sisters. And it's just been less contact because of that situation every now.

Madeline Shaw 14:49
Yeah, it's interesting, whereas your experience is almost inverted to where, you know maybe people in Ontario obviously, you know had months of isolation and locked down, and they weren't able to go anywhere. And Pei did have that kind of mobility and then for you, in the last, you know, two or three months, you've had that experience. And so it's, it's both very similar. And, you know, but just a more delayed, I guess.

Michael Pendergast 15:23
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a taste. I know, it's, it seems to me that it's only a shadow of what other people have experienced. So even though there I know, of people in the island who didn't leave their apartment or house for for a year. And that wasn't the case with us for sure. Yeah.

Madeline Shaw 15:43
So I do want to ask you a few questions specifically about you as a musician, and just so how, so how has the pandemic fun, you know, on a broader scale between 2020 to like, contemporarily, how has that affected the music and larger arts community of PEI?

Michael Pendergast 16:07
Yeah, so we've had I mean, music and entertainment is very much hands on. So unlike painting or, or sculpture, ceramics, or a lot of non arts and crafts. So when we're in the theater or music realm are definitely different. It's been quite I guess, in the very beginning, I, I instinctually, thought to myself, maybe it's because I had a little bit of new a little bit of the history of the Spanish flu. I thought to myself, you know, I had to survive here for two years. This is me this is before they announced any government aid or sometimes off, find a way to I was actually looking at my savings and say, Well, how can I divide them so I can spend some use these savings. To to get through, in my mind was two years. It looks like that's just about right. Maybe a little longer, but that was hoping it would be shorter. was still a lot of talk about the summer while the summer season, which is a big season here for entertaining. Still, some talk about that. But I was a total Wipeout. And then the next summer was I wouldn't even call it a half a summer. I mean, we worked more than we were entertaining here and playing with some more entertainment going on than almost anywhere. Anywhere else we've, we've had, I was on a school tour on the first in April or May. I was on the school tour. So things have kind of come down at that point. And they were opening up. But then the summer was quite closed, and it was kind of back and forth. Last summer was was on and off July, June was actually decent month because of some of the funding that was taking place for tourist activities. And

Madeline Shaw 18:18
So was that provincial funding?

Michael Pendergast 18:21
I believe so. Yeah. So funny goes through arts, not art, some tourism associations. And so I found had some shows this in different gigs for May, June, actually, decent month. And July, was sort of a white boat. And then August was was good. And then September was very good. So And mind you. I also was doing some, some other work on the side to sort of supplement supplement you to the music work I was doing but also the some of the, the the government and what they call them the some of the programs, government programs that were paying checks that were coming. So yeah, it was kind of combination, but we have a movie where we have been entertaining and playing, saying it's been it's been ongoing which is different than most other places. Yeah.

Madeline Shaw 19:30
And I mean, so would you would you say like the Atlantic bond bubble was really a benefit to the entertainment and music industry in PTI?

Michael Pendergast 19:48
It was. I mean, like, for example, last summer, I would say the bubble. I may have gotten a if I look at that four month period Maybe I don't know, if it was maybe a third of what I have my normal business. So I mean, I'm thankful for that. But if you boil it down, it's still not, it's not that exciting to lose that income. But it's, it's better than in some places where they've couldn't play at all or, and they had a workout with funding and workout, so you could still work and be still funded as big as you are still you're not making 50% of your regular income. So, I mean, it's, it's been partially from government help, and partially from doing my own side work. And partially from still being able to play it's, it's I haven't, I'm not financially, it's been a it's been a big hit, but I haven't had any really financial trouble.

Madeline Shaw 21:06
Um, and I am curious about, you know, you mentioned that, you know, you had some other work experiences, I guess, over over the course of the pandemic, and how did that come about? Was it through word of mouth where you knew someone needed an extra hand in a certain job field? Or did you find something like that online? How did how did those opportunities happen

Michael Pendergast 21:31
It was really a word of mouth and it was accidental actually, some of the work that I did was accidental from the beginning is part of hard to find people to do certain work especially in trades and and so sometimes it was family members that were still so those were like one off days or a couple of days here and there. But some of the work that I found in the trades was some happened accidentally to begin with, but then as you as you work for someone, they password on someone else and the customer down and it's been fairly steady. And I've wanted that kind of work. I just finished a job actually for seven day job and basically lucrative helps to continue keep everything keep the machine well oiled.

Madeline Shaw 22:25
And I know there was a spot where you were doing a lot a little lobster fishing. Was that the first time you ever went in did that?

Michael Pendergast 22:34
Yes. So I haven't been that many times but have a note enough times to feel confident in the work. Yeah. In fact, I'll this because of a couple of different circumstances, one being that work hasn't really come back some of my entertainment work and also because of health situation and in the in my wife's family, because related to mum to one of the workers on the boat serve owners. Captain, I've agreed to go in June and the whole the entire sorry, not June, in May, in the whole month of May. So I'll be actually taking that I'll be doing a half season full season for a full half season. So yeah, I mean, I'm pretty confident to be able to get on there and be able to do the work yeah, so that's that's quite interesting. I would I was really humming and hawing whether to take full season but the halfway this was June rolls around. I'm I'm ready to start some of the June work. I want to be at my best right now. But actually, we're working well, because may will pay for it in the shortcomings in June and then July through July and August will be much better month.

Madeline Shaw 23:54
And so the lobster fishing season in Prince Edward Island, so is it two months so you're saying half season is May so yeah,

Michael Pendergast 24:04
we're starting a little bit early study end of April. They're gonna start a couple of days early. Two months. So traditionally, your lobster first landing is on Mother's Day

Michael Pendergast 24:20
May 1. So that's a big dating on. Take your mother out of lobster.

Michael Pendergast 24:28
See them off to plan.

Madeline Shaw 24:32
I think it was planned that way. And then Carolyn's birthday and everything, you know, she would like some lobster.

Michael Pendergast 24:41
I guess mother's days little later on. The first is Kelly's birthday, so maybe I'm making that up. Carolyn's gonna get some lobster either way. That's right. The mother of my children has always served for Mother's Day on her birthday. Yeah,

Madeline Shaw 25:01
Okay, well okay, so I do have some more questions. Um, one second. I'm

Madeline Shaw 25:15
sorry, I'm just reading through my notes. Um, so since since the pandemic has started and obviously, you know, PTI really has taken quite the hit since December. But more broadly, has there been anything that you have missed or that locked down and like our little mini lockdowns has affected? Like, is there anything that you emotionally feel like you're missing out on?

Michael Pendergast 25:50
I think I was in a mindset where, you know, I really rolled along and tried to try to enjoy the time the time off and the downtime is in the in the in the actual business of entertaining I've been. There are times of the year I've worked so hard. I guess even even in my downtime, which is usually the winter I call it the downtime while I was still working three and a half days a week in preschools, which takes a lot of energy and doing seven to 16 or 17 Shows a week. And then the weekends. I mean, it was very rare to get a free weekend before sometime in November. And then you've had very, very few weekends where that was free. It might be only one show or might be two shows or maybe a birthday party or something and I've gotten quite busy. I probably have my best year to two years before the pandemic rappelling my best two years ever. terms of income. And that's without CD sales because the CD sales have gone to the wayside completely sell CDs anymore. They used to be a huge part of the business. Yeah, so the mean the business is good. And I, I kind of prepared myself to say I thought I'd roll along and just come out the other side. And now that we haven't, we don't see the other side yet. The hardest for me was just this last. Last shutdown I just found it. It was tough after Christmas. Or just before Christmas. I had to show them a Christmas show that was sold out and it was I was in the middle of Christmas season. One night I was both playing and the next day the show was canceled and you know there was a solo show and I'm just to be on stage I mean you kind of forget how much you how much that's a part of what you do. That's the emotional part it's not you know, then all of a sudden does not work as much as you miss that the performing the the lock in that paid rope where there's actual faces and people and you have to try to make them laugh and connect with them and and i i found it hard when when that was canceled as discouraging losing the half of the Christmas season especially because I hadn't planned on any of the other labor that I was doing. I hadn't made a plan for that because I thought the Christmas season would be enough so there were a couple of weeks there was pretty quiet

Madeline Shaw 28:24
and I mean I'm sure too because um you know, I I know I think Christmas the Christmas season this year especially was a little bit quieter than I mean I know 20 or 2021 was as well or I guess 2020 was as well but this 2021 Christmas felt a little

Michael Pendergast 28:50
Yeah

Michael Pendergast 28:52
I actually had a I mean this this Christmas 2021 was actually the we're actually Christmas shows that we're doing last year I didn't have a season this year there was a season but then of course it got cold

Madeline Shaw 29:09
so um, I also would like to ask the you know, the vaccine came in probably less than a year ago now maybe like eight months ago, especially to PTI and so how has how has that affected your output or perspective to the pandemic or have you How do you feel about the vaccine?

Michael Pendergast 29:36
Yeah, well, I mean, I I think it's discouraging sort of the social upheaval that is taking place. Personally, I'm in zero problems with vaccines and I, I probably enjoy get my, my needles more than anybody else. I just enjoyed going out and getting them and being part of that process. And I was a little late on the second one a little later on the second one because I waited for my seasons. And I was worried about reactions in reaction that I was playing a lot in August. So I waited till September. And now it's very similar, very positive experience. But I find that since then, it's gotten quite negative. I guess. I've been talking to some, as they say, anti vaxxers. But I'm, I'm I tried to hire someone. And as soon as the mandates came in, I tried to hire someone to play and they said, This packet problem and I was abroad, I cant, hire anybody who's not vaccinated.

Michael Pendergast 30:42
They can't come to shows and I just it's I find it a sort of a discouraging,

Michael Pendergast 30:51
discouraging issue. Certainly a lot of our people. And even if we're all on the same page, even, there's some those are this friction and arguments just from the tension of it. Even though we're all on the same side, we said, what are we arguing for, we don't believe in the same thing. There's different ways, different twists and turns I mean, I, I, I really don't have much of a problem personally with people who haven't had vaccine doesn't bother me and throw me off or leave people with a choice and uphold their right for choice at the same time as I actually had an opportunity with a group that I'm involved into, right on the open letter. And because I realized how an anti Vax was an anti Vaxxer, inner kind of a movement inside that inside that group inside that movement. And I, it's kind of upset me, because I know that the way that's the fact that hospitals and maybe that's more of a policy decision, but the way that it's affected, especially a family member who's unable to get medical, and really needs medical treatment, and is unable to get that's been delayed. And it's really upsetting to know that people are in pain and waiting, we wait long enough for, for our procedure, the major problem already and then have to wait longer and for people to be in pain, and probably are people dying. Because because hospitals are being used, or at least being prepared for this. Especially when we have to get some of our medical services on Pei, we have to leave to go to the provinces. So because of that, that makes it even more difficult. That's very upsetting.

Madeline Shaw 32:45
Yeah, and I mean, um, you know, it's such a balance of, you know, you work in a community of artists, and it's all very collaborative between, you know, those who, you know, or company you are like the sound guys, and then to have, you know, what, like, I don't want to give a percentage, but like, you know, a small percentage anyway, that are not able to contribute anymore because of the mandates. And that must be, you know, it's it's, it's hard to be in the middle of, I guess.

Michael Pendergast 33:22
Yeah, I mean, I guess, people in different walks of life. Different. I think it's affecting a lot of people. And that's just one thing or one element. I mean, we're getting to the point where he say, everybody knows someone in the family, extended family that has a problem with vaccines. It's a major.

Madeline Shaw 33:50
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, where where do you go from here to write like, especially with, you know, you you talk about, like the tension that there is between, you know, people right now, I don't know how to move forward.

Michael Pendergast 34:07
Yeah, you wonder, when everything at a certain point. They can't. You can't have a policy where we walk around showing ideas. I guess you can, but I don't think in our sort of national national character, we were that we're able to go along with it. To a certain degree, and I mean, I mean, I'm, I'm sort of skeptical of not affecting, skeptical of entertaining and some wearing masks, but pretty much it's very much

Michael Pendergast 34:47
for show and a lot of ways. We'll know more, you know, 10 years from now really when we study

Michael Pendergast 34:56
things now let me just question mark is gray stone own masks. To make any difference in actual difference we wear them and we we are trying to be and we have islanders are principled islanders are, are pretty civic minded, neighborly and we follow rules. So hasn't been really a lot of friction that way here. But at the same time, he's just, you know, just I guess I just, I just want to sort of be a good neighbor and follow. I don't want to cause more frictionless. I'm certainly not pushing the boundaries I just put on there. They say put on a mask, I put this on, go get a needle, um, I'll visit all of you there,

Madeline Shaw 35:46
stick my arm out.

Michael Pendergast 35:49
Just keeping the peace. But I you know, I don't want to spend too much time questioning whether what makes that much of difference or not? Yeah. Because at this stage, you know, we're just hope that things will change and then like pandemics do they have they come and then they all of a sudden they're gone? That's the word we're studying. 100 years later?

Madeline Shaw 36:10
Oh, absolutely. And I mean, you said even at the beginning that like you have, like a decent understanding of like the Spanish Influenza, too. Right. So, you know, event, you know, at some point, the influenza was lessons and COVID Hopefully it will be the same, right?

Michael Pendergast 36:30
Yeah, and what's not less than this, there will be there the or the After Effects. Like I mean, that Spanish Influenza killed in my grandmother's mother. She had to become the mother to those to our brothers and sisters. And that changed her life and the change. There's has to be repercussions. How things happen. In the same way as this is a major. There's a lot of a lot of upheaval, especially now as time wears on. And you wonder how people are going to sit when they do shows and we have we've crammed so many people in such small spaces. Again and again and again to get that experience of having music and all sweating and yelling and singing and clapping together and creating that experience. How are we? How long will it take us to get back to that? Where people want to sit right cheek to jowl with complete strangers. All I know is I'm gonna be shaking hands. I'm not gonna be Washington. I'm gonna wait I'm not gonna be Washington. Dies I'm gonna shake every hand. I want to kiss all the babies that's how you become one of those huggers.

Madeline Shaw 37:51
Who doesn't?

Michael Pendergast 37:53
The opposite way

Madeline Shaw 37:55
more extreme very touchy feely.

Madeline Shaw 38:03
Mom and Emily will love that, by the way. Hug them so tightly.

Michael Pendergast 38:11
Your mother just laughs every time her hugger

Madeline Shaw 38:17
Yeah, and her face all scrunches up to

Michael Pendergast 38:22
uncomfortable chap enjoys it.

Madeline Shaw 38:24
Yeah, exactly. more reason to do it even more, right?

Michael Pendergast 38:27
Uncomfortable hugs like for your husband? You

Madeline Shaw 38:32
know, Emily hates it even more than mom does. That's why I'm saying like, especially along with give it to her. All right, well, I think unless there was anything else you wanted to talk about, more generally about the pandemic. But beyond that, that's kind of all of my questions for this afternoon.

Michael Pendergast 38:56
I suppose the last thing I probably would say is that I really tried to focus on positives that come from spending a lot of time with family. A lot of time, and of course, that's our unique experience. I mean, a lot of people our experience has been, you can't see your family. I came to imagine that. But one thing that bothered me was just in this last couple of months was not seeing my own brothers and sisters as much, especially the ones closer and but in terms of my own immediate family, my family and we had two houses next door here and then son and daughter or what? Two are still living here, and then my son's changed stem rows for five minutes away. And so it's been a unique experience. I mean, I don't know where they would be. And we've experienced this and then with my grandmother and allows now palliative care but at home and we're there every night and spending time with her I'm in the system. This is all the time that it just makes time seem so valuable. Yeah. And that means the pandemic is added to that, you know, it's made it less complete, you don't We don't even have a choice. It's not like, well, how much time can we spend what we have time, that's all we've had.

Madeline Shaw 40:13
And I mean, I think to in your situation, it really, it's, you know, your the house and the home base that you have between yours and your mother in law's house is totally invaluable, where it has become a place of refuge during like such kind of global climate where, you know, obviously, two of them were in England, and then che was in Toronto, where you know, it, it is like a safe refuge that you've that you've in Carolyn have created, which is really incredible.

Michael Pendergast 40:48
And then leaving to go, I mean, even going to into a different house, or two houses, it's different than being in your house all the time, the same rooms. Yeah, it's just a different, it feels different to be over there in the spare bedroom. sitting down and reading there than to be reading the same book here, with the different lighting or the different, you know, feel of the bed. And it's just nice to have that variety. When you can't go anywhere else, you know, our tea, go and eat, there are two, you know, like her table set up and TV is totally different than what we have here. As one thing we got was cable, and we never had cable. And we got cable because it was some special pick him up and we have cable now. We never had all these numbers that has to do with the penalty, but it's just interesting that now it's made for different use different use of spaces. Anyway, I mean, I will I hope to look back and say I had a very positive pandemic experience that I actually grew as an as an artist. And I know he didn't, because you, you, you, you judge that in the simplest form, it's by not by at the shows that you did, but by the songs you wrote, because songwriting is a big part of what I do. That makes my entertainment unique. And I have material that I would have never had access for sure. 100% I was much more prolific, prolific, so I'm hoping for a positive look back, you know,

Madeline Shaw 42:24
and I guess on that note, um, what, how were you inspired in your songwriting during the pandemic? What, what inspired you?

Michael Pendergast 42:36
Yeah, so one thing that happened was I have never applied for an arts grant and my daughter suggested and encouraged me to apply for an arts grant. So I just had sort of a notion that, you know, if I, I never wanted to apply for an arts grant, because I didn't want to rely on grant money, because then they might not be there the next year, to be part of my business, but actually apply for an arts grant, which allowed me to write a particular type of song bilingual songs, and music. I mean, out of the six songs, I'm using two of them, I've used two of them fairly extensively, which is that's a high rate, Song songs, I have songs that I might say, once a year, I've spent I spent two years writing a song, I think, once a year or twice a year. But this is so that that was very, very positive exploration of culture, for educating culture. That was definitely would not have happened. And other songwriting? Well, I mean, you mentioned lobster fishing, and then some of the other work I've done. I've had songs that are related to, to the work that I've done. And you know, there's nothing like doing a recitation or a song about being out on the sea, and fishing. And when you've actually done it, instead of just writing in, you're sitting in your living room, imagining what it's like. So, that's definitely a positive, it's nice to be able to share the experience of that and use that as part of the storytelling that sort of buttresses that the songwriting so that you can introduce it and say, Well, I've been there. It's amazing. It's an amazing experience. And this is what I would do here. This, this is, I want to put you out on the water. I want to put you there for a couple minutes.

Madeline Shaw 44:36
Yeah, well, I mean, I guess, um, when you do and when you are back on the stage, and you're reflecting back on the pandemic, you do have a lot of things that you can pull from or a lot of like life experiences that you created, right, like, you know,

Madeline Shaw 44:52
yeah. And the funny thing is, but one thing I can't imagine I don't want to recommend The actual emotional experience, social experience of the COPE of the actual COVID. And it's like you want to forget it? Yeah. As soon as possible. That's what makes it different. Right? So like I feel my father died in the roadside is passing. I don't want to break anything that you mentioned. It's just such a downer. And even the death is better than at least the something noble about this this was this pandemic was like, the most like the most least something that couldn't make any sense of it. You know, some people have done they don't have any. And some people die. And some people don't. They haven't, but they don't die. And and some people haven't they don't even know they have it. I mean, it wasn't much for those conspiracy theorists who thought maybe it was manufactured somewhere. I made two well, it didn't do a very good job. An awful twist, the buyer, I guess, makes it a good buyer. And as a virus as viruses gone, it's probably probably good for a virus that's making, you know,

Madeline Shaw 46:11
so good. It's yeah, unpredictable and untraceable, right.

Michael Pendergast 46:15
Just the ones that just kill you. They just have those of these just wants to come back to see a node. This one was very sneaky. I think it's definitely, definitely move on. Just forget for at least a few years. Married?

Madeline Shaw 46:33
Yeah. Well, I'm sorry for rehashing any of the Yeah. Yeah. Please.

Michael Pendergast 46:49
Oh, all get so much your father's placed to Super Bowl party.

Madeline Shaw 46:53
That's right. I think he has a nice 30 years age medication. Exactly. Well, Michael, I appreciate all of this. Thank you for this great reflection and conversation.

Michael Pendergast 47:11
None of it seems very useful, but make something

Michael Pendergast 47:15
don't worry. It has been. Okay. All right. Take care. Yes, you too.

Madeline Shaw 47:22
And we will see you now. Wow.

Michael Pendergast 47:25
Yeah. Hopefully by the summer I'll be back.

Madeline Shaw 47:28
Yeah.

Michael Pendergast 47:28
Okay.

Madeline Shaw 47:29
All right.

Michael Pendergast 47:30
All right.

Madeline Shaw 47:30
See you