I’m sure you’ve noticed, we are now four (!!) months into a pandemic. Although lots of things have changed in these past 4 months, many others are slipping back into our lives now that we (some of us) are into the (many) stages of reopening. Stage three began here in Ontario last week. While many of us welcome the reinstated freedoms, many others are still feeling uneasy. With spikes in our provincial “numbers,” that unease can only get worse.
I realized one of these slippery slopes at the grocery store recently, the third time in one week, although I wore a mask each time. In recent months I restricted my outings to a grocery store once a week or even once every ten days. As well as the grocery store, I (gasp) went to a few other stores last week too. I won’t however, be going to any (indoor) restaurants or bars any time soon, will stick to ordering online and pickups.
To say it has been a rough four months for many people and businesses is quite an understatement. My own business, although more of a hobby than a salary-dependent business, has slowed down considerably. The heat wave played a part in that, but the slowdown is mainly due to the fact that lots of clients decided to do their own gardening while they were stuck at home.
The silver lining in a reduced workload permitted me to spend more time in my own gardens that I now refer to as Gardens4me. Another consolation has been the ability to spend more time at our family cottage. My daughter-in-law is on maternity leave, so we have been heading up there with her two children while our men folk go to work, then meet us there on the weekends. Tough job, I know. The heatwave (so far) this summer has encouraged these extra cottage visits.
Now that we are permitted to, I also am using any extra moments to spend time with my five precious grandchildren. This picture was taken at one grandson’s (far right, on grandpa’s lap) 1st birthday celebration…
As you can see, I have fully embraced my gray Sliter roots, pun intended. My dad was totally white by the age of 30 as were many of his siblings and my own. My children and their cousins are now sprouting grays too.
