Did you miss me?

My how the world has changed since my last blog post. What has not changed is the reason to get back into blogging.  I feel the need to connect with family and friends as what the coronavirus continues to spread, isolate, kill families, friends, communities, countries, businesses small and large.

Personally, we all have to weigh our options and do what is best for ourselves. Scientific evidence proves that frequent hand washing, not touching your face, wearing a non medical mask and physically distancing  all help keep folks safe. Are we disinfecting high touch surfaces as vigorously as we were in March? I know I’m not but I should be. I need to work on that sooner than later.

Enough doom and gloom, time to move on to more uplifting words.

The past 12 months have been quite unique in our household in that Joe has been home, almost glued to my side! With the collapse of the oil business in this province, he was laid off. He was thrilled to have time to spend with me, our extended family, relax and perhaps even get some travelling done. This has been the longest stretch that we have not been geographically separated because of his work.

On the plus side, he has been around to help get those household chores and projects done. On the flip side, it would be nice to be able to drive myself into town for a medical appointment. He patiently sits in the car and waits to drive me home. No chance of a spontaneous shopping trip to poke around. Because he is waiting, that pressures me to rush or just never mind. I don’t shop a lot but I do like to get out in the world and see what’s what. 

The best result of his unemployment/retirement is I have an enthusiastic walking partner.  We have ventured out to new to us trails to explore what is around the corner within the greater Edmonton area. I rely heavily on the app All Trails to find the next locale.  It has proven to be very accurate and we have not been disappointed yet. Now if we could only keep these moderate autumn temperatures. I enjoy walking in winter, Joe, not so much. Add the need to mask up while wearing glasses and things get foggy very quickly. Step carefully but more importantly, do get out in the fresh air and nature as often as you can. It does wonders for your mental well being and it’s just plain fun.

Pyramid Lake 

Jasper National Park

October 2020

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