April 7

April 7, 2020

Each day is starting to meld together.  I am working in the morning on the computer, in the yard in the afternoon.  Today the lawn was ready for a haircut, so am I, but the only thing getting cut is the grass.

My awesome teenager is headed back to her mom’s today and I have mixed feelings.  Relief in the pressure being off to entertain her, educate and appease her.  I feel sadness because I will miss that cellular mass of frustration and love.  I have many mixed emotions as I see her leave, guilt at not having done enough among many other emotions.   I hope her mother has more success getting her out of ‘Coronabreak’, I wish her luck.

I talk on the phone to friends more than I have in a long time; making connection with people is a welcome release.  It is impossible not to talk about the situation in the world, the lockdown, Sweden, Spain, Trump… it is all so annoyingly repetitive and yet seemingly unavoidable.  Conspiracy theories come to surface, China started it, to what gain I am asked, I laugh, world domination?  Bill Gates is working on a vaccine; he must have caused the virus!  Crazy theories; with enough plausibility they could be real.  I guess in a few months we may know the truth.  Another frustrating thing we all have is the lack of a timeline, is it weeks or months?  It is nice to talk to people to vent, to laugh.

Tasks that used to be a chore become rewarding.  Instead of a big walk, today I will cut the grass and get my walk in behind the mower.  In no hurry I see a neighbour across the fence. We stop the day and enjoy a beverage together, happy we now have time for such things.  Everyone used to be so busy, we never had time to just stop and have a visit over the fence.  We will remember the spring of 2020 when Covid 19 stopped the world and we took a collective breath.  With a sense of satisfaction I review my efforts and smile at the freshly cut lawn.  Another task complete.

My energy level is high so I suggest we ride our bikes to get sushi and go to the lake for a picnic.  A date in the covid era; a bike ride, Sushi, a single tall can of beer and a mini bottle of wine from the liquor store.  The sun is dropping below the horizon so we modify our goals and decide to sit in a park and look at a view of the lake.  We are grateful for our choice not to do a monster ride first time out on bicycles.  We watch the sun set, enjoying a subtle red sky overhead.  I howl as I see the full moon framed by the snow-capped mountains. It won’t be many more days until the snow is gone and our valley heats up.

Pushing ourselves, finding muscles we forgot we had, we ride our bikes back up the hill to our home.  Exhilarated at the effort I manage to arrive at home without stopping to walk the bike or even to rest.  As spring rushes into the Okanagan I look forward to more bike rides, to more connections.