Most mornings, in the little town where I live in Ontario, I jog out on the leafy main avenue that runs along the Lake and then back through to downtown where we live. I do a few miles, very slowly, easily passed by determined men who are so lean they look like animated cadavers, and those confident young blondes, who seem to prance by, pert noses upright and silky ponytails swinging in the sunshine.
But I have to rest today, since yesterday morning, I stumbled off a curb and fell in front of a huge red MAC truck. Fortunately, the driver had stopped the vehicle just as I caught his eye. So no real harm done, except to my left knee and shin, both have which have suffered sudden encounters with the pavements of Oakville and San Miguel before. But I have an open hour to pass this morning, so I thought that I would spend it writing while I ice my leg. Why do I think that this incident is worth writing about? Well, it is the only significant event in my otherwise quiet life. Yes, given the 14 day quarantine and then self imposed lockdown, it has been so quiet here in the two months since we returned from Mexico, that finding myself like a squirrel flattened on the road is the only thing worth mentioning. Sigh.
I normally write about our travel adventures, Ben & me out in the world, exploring, discovering, eating, doing all of the things that are fun for us in our lives. I spend the better part of my year researching and planning our travel: for 2020, we were to spend five intense days of frenetic fun in New York City, a serene fall week in Vancouver just because we had never been there as a couple, and of course, winter weeks and months in our lovely home in the beautiful colonial mountain town of San Miguel in Mexico.
Now, I spend hours on the phone with the (surprisingly) friendly folks at the Air Canada contact centre, trying to undo all of the bookings we did so far in advance to save a few bucks. What is an evoucher vs an ecoupon? Change of itinerary or just change of plane? Who gets to cancel your flight, and what does it mean when the government does it vs. the airline? Conditions that require you to book within 2 years but travel whenever, or both book and travel whenever you like? What are those prepaid tickets worth in reward miles if you choose to convert them? Who knows? Those same friendly folks don’t and I am sure that they get sworn and yelled at regularly by irrate, red faced customers who are not nearly as organized, calm and polite as Ben & I. (He figures that in all situations when dealing by phone with unpleasant issues, assume that the person on the other end of the line is just trying to do their job, does not really want to piss you off by adhering to obviously irrational company policies over which they have no control, and that taking the extra time to engage them as a human being with some small talk and jokes is a good way to have them feel good about helping you out. What a novel approach. And what a long winded sentence.)
All of us are now moving carefully and slowly out of our country wide lockdown, and that feels very positive and hopeful. But my little accident made it quickly apparent that my behavior post-pandemic will have to change. It might be called a gift of evolution, that as humans we can adapt our behavior to new circumstances so quickly, especially when our survival is threatened: frequent handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are, or should be, second nature by now. However, it seems that just as I got used to seeing more foxes and hearing more birdsong on my lonely morning runs, I now have to adapt to other, more menacing competition for my attention. Be well friends, and don’t forget to look both ways. I enclose some photos of lovely spring and early summer gardens.
m
Love your cheery floral shots and so sorry about your booboo. Ice and wine. Ice your knee and drink the wine. Stay safe and keep well,Sherry
Oh Cheryl! You were so lucky that truck stopped, or was stopped! Be careful.xx Here in downtown TO, it seems like everything has been open forever. The streets are full of people, mostly young, none of them wearing face masks or practising social distancing. It’s a nightmare to navigate and I find myself walking down the road half the time trying to get around them. Fiona and I do social distancing walks down through the Evergreen. rick works and the same thing goes on there, but we persevere, in the interest of exercise and some company.Its like navigating a minefield, hoping not to step on one of those bombs. Miss those peaceful, crowded days of oblivion in San Miguel.Meanwhile John had knee replacement surgery last week at Mount Sinai and is slowly and whiningly recovering.. But he did have a Covid test beforehand so,at least for now, all is negative! Take care and love to you and Ben. Elaine xx❤️
>
Lovely thoughts!
Very sorry to hear of your fall, the knees take awhile to heal. Love all the flowers, cheered me up🌹. You and Ben have been on my mind recently, getting ready to send you an email to see how you were fairing during the virus. San Miguel has introduced phase 0 as of June 1st, but our case numbers are jumping. I am still sequestering! SMA is doing a good job of COVID 19 education, shutting down and planned re-openings must have a health certificate. Face masks and distancing are constantly talked about, yet not everyone adheres. Will send you a separate email…hugs, Raven
Hi Cheryl: sorry about the knee, but glad you and Ben are safe. We are staying home mostly and doing the same. A little running too.
As my mother used to say, “The pavement flew up to hit you!” Kind of scary, and please give yourself a couple of days to absorb the trauma–which might seem a bit melodramatic, but you had a scare on a couple of levels and it can leave a residual effect. I too have been doing my little forays back into running (i.e., sllllowwww jogging) and I find myself forced onto grassy, bumpy boulevards chock full of exposed tree roots waiting to trip me up–all due to the dance of “Who’s going to veer first off the sidewalk to keep the requisite two metre distance?” Runners are definitely lower in the pecking order than walkers., I’ve found, thus I move first. Your photos are lovely–the Oakville Lakeshore is so beautiful this time of year. Thanks for sharing. xo