The thermometer outside my kitchen window hovered at a balmy 10 degrees celcius. For the first time this Spring I did not find it necessary to wear a jacket and cap. There was not a cloud to be seen in the clear blue sky. Birds were singing a melodious refrain and squirrels were scampering hither and yon. Silence prevailed, no one in sight. Nary a breeze caressing the still leafless 100-year-old maple trees that adorn Grey Street North. My neighborhood literally a ghost of its traditional self at this time of year with neighbors busily cleaning up their yards and folks strolling casually along the sidewalk.
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| Pandemic?...What pandemic? |
While for the first time in weeks I felt the essence of Mother Nature's Spring, something seemed terribly wrong with this picture.
For lack of a better description, a virtual sense of guilt for having exposed myself to all this outsideness was prevalent and I found myself hoping that I would not encounter another soul from which I would be required to distance myself. Like a heavy cloud, I felt a monster hovering over me as I dared to expose myself to an environment that would rather see me isolated and sequestered. Out of harm's way.
Is this what my life has come to in the early stages of 2020, I wondered? Will we ever experience a carefree "normal" again? A normal, that in retrospect, we heretofore took for granted.
Matilda did her thing...and we reversed in haste to the safety and solitude of our home as we had come to welcome it...Be it ever so humble.
Indeed, the world feels awfully strange right now, but not because – or not just because – it is changing so fast and any one of us could fall ill at any time, or could already be carrying a virus and not know it. It feels strange because the past few weeks have exposed the fact that the biggest things can always change, at any minute. This simple truth, both destabilising and liberating, is easy to forget. We’re not watching a movie: we’re writing one, together, until the end. What ever form that end may take.
I really have no answers to any of this and struggle to remain optimistic about the future which is in the hands of others who we trust will act in the best interests of all of us. What other choice do we have?
Meantime Mother Nature, do not abandon us now. Will ye no come back again with your clear blue skies, balmy temperatures, birds singing and squirrels scampering?...And stay with us for a long time!
As you go dear lady, so we go! Ideally guilt-free and thankful for all the natural mercies you provide in unsettling times such as these.
With adjusted attitudes, Matilda and I are going to venture outside again this afternoon. To hell with that monster...!!!
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