March 29

March 29, 2020

Sunday has come down and it is a good day to get the soil ready in the garden.  Spreading the manure into the garden seems fitting after the morning news.  Trump is rambling again, I missed our fuzzy faced PM this morning, and not sure what he is doing Sundays in his self-isolation.   A true disaster looms south of the border as the numbers are mounting.  The death toll could be staggering yet it doesn’t feel real in our little corner of the world.

It is time to dial out the noise; time to shovel some more peat moss and some of the Langley’s finest mushroom manure.  Digging the dirt gives a feeling of connecting with our earth.  A feeling that I embrace, I hold onto each moment, each turn of the shovel.  A task that only last year was mundane, boring, has a reward to it that satisfies like never before. As the fragrance of the soil rises, rain suddenly comes crashing down.  It is early spring after all and time to race inside.  All four seasons have shown up today. It is time to await the sun.

We walk up the hill again, the March sun returns to warm our backs.  I smile broadly at the neighbours in their front yards.  A little girl plays on an electric Chevy truck. I like Chevy trucks and let her know.  Her parents are there, basking in the golden rays of the afternoon.  We share a brief warm smile and carry on.

The view from the top of the hill never gets old.  Brilliant snow covered mountains frame the lake below, white caps, visible from afar, are alive with the wind.  Dark clouds hover ominously to the east yet the brilliant sun warms our hearts. Recharged, we wander back down the hill, no need to hurry home.  A neighbour we have never really seen or met is carrying his ladder to fix his siding.  I stop, my wife looks at me through the side of her eyes.  In days like these I feel the need to say hello, to meet the people on my street.  I find out Roy has lived on our street for twenty years, now he’s moving back east to the Maritimes. Twenty years and we have never met.  We have now and it feels good.

I smile broadly, feeling grateful for the day.  I have connected with more people. My little street seems a bit bigger now.  We spoke to strangers who feel like friends. I hope the world uses this pause to create friends from a distance.  I look to tomorrow.  I hope.