The rituals of junior sport held sway, so teams took their turns, from one age level to the next, as competitions got under way.

Kids who had been itching to get on with it after training sessions that began in the blinding heat and bushfire smoke of just weeks earlier were finally getting their chance.

At Glen Park in Glenroy - as it would have been at grounds throughout the region, right across the weekend - it was back to the passion that provides the glue for our communities; families and friends on the sidelines, cheering on kids playing their part with gusto on the park.

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We all knew though that this was doomed to be a brief respite from a crisis engulfing us all, even if the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't quite reached our front door.

The overwhelming uncertainty about just what exactly will happen - in what has been a sea of information and the even more disruptive waves of conflicting "expert" opinion - has had people on edge for weeks.

On the Border, the first indications of strange times upon us came with what has been the absurdity of panic buying.

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While the federal government has vowed to target what it believes are criminal syndicates who decided to make a buck out of toilet paper, the fact is that a loss of common sense has flowed to many others.

Most just want to carry out their regular grocery run, yet are confronted with the selfishness and stupidity of shoppers who have cleared the shelves.

It might very well be that this won't end with our supermarket chains' enormous efforts to get the more-than-ample supplies back in stores.

Rather, it will be the spectre of COVID-19 infections that ultimately stop a nonsense that is especially repugnant now it has moved on to children's paracetamol and asthma inhalers.

For what is almost upon us is the real deal.

It will be exceptionally challenging, but the true strength and decency of our community will come to the fore.

It is our natural disposition, but we also have no other choice.