Life in the Times of Social Distancing

 Hello again.

Thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement. This blog is going to have a “Now” and “Then” feel to it.  Sometimes it will be about insight I have on current happenings, and sometime it might just be silly anecdotes from the bumpy back road that has been my life.

When I started this blog, it served as a casual daily report from the road.  Ten years ago, on April 10^th I set off, by myself, on a two month 8000 mile road trip across the southern part of the U.S., up the East Coast into New England, then Quebec and Ontario, before going back into the U.S. and my then home, California. 

Well, much has happened in those ten years.  After living in the States for thirty-two years, I am back living in Canada.  It was always my dream to move to a small town, buy a quirky old house and walk everywhere.  So in 2017 I moved to Stratford, Ontario, a not so small town (pop. approx. 35,000) about 70 miles/100 kilometres from Toronto.  It is everything I hoped for, old house, wonderful neighbours, walking distance to downtown and all the theatres.  That’s the big bonus; it’s a theatre town, home of the Stratford Festival that runs from April to November.  Normally

To all my friends in California, yes, there is life outside of CA and I do miss good Cal-Mex food, beaches and boutique wineries.  To all my friends here, thanks for taking me into your lives.  So, here I am in Stratford, happily building a new community and looking forward to new adventures.  Even this can be an adventure with the right perspective.

These are not normal times.  The theatres are dark and silent.  We, like people everywhere, are staying in our homes… social distancing, self isolating, sheltering in place.  All this new language has come into our lives. Covid-19 has brought the world we know to a halt.  The upside is we are all in the same boat.  It is a great equalizer..  I won't tell you it is easy, some days my mind becomes a bad neighborhood and I shouldn't be there alone.  I try to focus one day at a time and only worry about things I can do something about. 

I live alone so my challenge is to amuse myself every day.  Luckily I love to cook and putter, and here’s some of what I am doing:

• Three ingredient day.  Everything in every meal had three ingredients.  Except for the dessert, which was a major fail, it went well.  Try it.
• Theme days – pick a theme, any theme and make it the focal point of the day.  I did a 50’s day… found a 50’s radio station, danced around the house, made 50’s food – mac ‘n cheese, brownies…
• I would like to say I am catching up on my reading, but I would read all the time if I could under any circumstances.
• Other?

What I really miss is banter, wit, social debate.  Living alone right now has challenges, feelings of isolation, being dependent on others, and hours to fill.  I keep putting things off, thinking I can do that tomorrow.  Yesterday I had an insight, maybe I'm worried about running out of things to do, so I do nothing. I look forward to daily chats on the phone with someone; especially friends that make me laugh, or think.  For me, because I’m an introvert, the whole ZOOM thing has no appeal; however it is a godsend to the extroverts.  

With lots of time to think I have been focusing on gratitude.  Having been raised in a liturgical faith I was taught a prayer, as a child, the "Our Father" and there is a line in it, "Give us this day our daily bread."  I am very aware of that concept now.  Every day I stop when something nice happens and acknowledge...this is my daily bread... a neighbour who brings me groceries, a random conversation with a friendly stranger across a street while walking the dog, a phone call from a friend or an email from a friend I haven't heard from for a while.

Would love to hear from some of you out there, how are you coping?

There is a comment section below, please leave comments there.  If you want to continue following my ramblings, click the follow button, bottom right and that will keep you connected, if you're not tech savvy, email me and I will create an email list for future blogs.  For those of you on Facebook, I will post it there.

Hi, it has been awhile since I have blogged.  Strange times, strange behaviors.  And that is what I want to talk about.

These are strange and precarious times. And we will all react in a way that, at the moment answers some need we have, to be seen, to be heard or to be connected.  This is not a time to judge, to censure or correct, this is simply a time to be kind.

Many if you are fortunate to have families or significant others. Bravo, however, many have not.  Many people, especially people of an age, are home alone and their minds are wandering around on strange turf.
Thanks to Social Media we have have a window to expressing ourselves as never before.

I ask that you all became patient with whatever.  Some will post with multiple warnings, news flashes, cynicism, memes, hugs, pass ons, etc.  If this is not your cup of tea, then simply ignore it.  However, if compassion clears you to recognize that some of us, me included, are feeling isolated mildly to extremely frightened, then reach back.  Call friends who live alone, send funny texts.  But, please don't judge.

Science tells us we need many hugs on a daily basis, find a way to send those to shut ins, elderly neighbors.

I am fortunate to have amazing neighbors, yet I have my moments.  Will I ever meet my new great granddaughter? Will I see family members who are across the continent?  Late at night, these thoughts ramble through my head.

So, please, be kind, love one another.

I'm back, there will be more

e.e. Cummings wrote a I hold your heart
I hold it in my heart
I hold it forever

I hold you all in my heart.

Heading home...Got there

Note to self, no photography while driving.

The Rock formations, however, were amazing.

Switzerland, move over and give way to Utah

The long road home, just me, some SUV's and the truckers

Woke up in the morning in Evanston Wyoming, and like a horse heading home to the barn, I knew it was time to go home. There was no where I wanted to stop, or stay, and the idea of sleeping in my own bed was very enticing. So off I went, picked "U is for Undertow" from my playlist and hit the road. What a gorgeous drive it was the amazing mountains, topped with snow, the craggy rocks with a wide range of colors, from rusty red, coral pink to the palest of pink ribboned through the rock formations. It was never boring. What a great architect God is.

Silly me, I did not know that there really was a lake at Salt Lake City. In all the movies I have ever seen, it just shows the salt flats, so I had assumes the "lake" was in name only. on and on I drove, stopping only for gas fill-ups, and snacks. The miles just flew by and before I knew it I was in the Bay Area. Probably the most harrowing part of this entire journey was the last 30 minutes on 680. I thought that would be the true irony of this trip, getting into an accident in the last thirty minutes.

Anyway, at 7:15 on Saturday night I pulled into my parking, 7926 miles, 30 states and two provinces later, to be greeted by my wonderful neighbor Liz, who had stocked up my fridge, and Calvin who helped me unload the car. Quick snack and into bed, ten hours sleep. Went to church this morning, something I missed on the road, my fantastic community at South Hills. Will take a couple of days to assimilate the whole experience and will do a recap.

i-Podding Through Wyoming

I left North Platte, Nebraska this morning and headed west into Wyoming. Since I was in Montreal, I've been having trouble with my radio / CD player and have not been able to listen to any book on CD. Thanks to Cornelia, I now have the use of her extra i-pod and it make the drive and the time go by much better.


Western Nebraska reminded me of a time when I was sailing out of the Bahamas and was surrounded by water, only it was like a sea of green, rising and waning. Today I went by Boot Hill in Ogalala, and (this is for you David) the largest Cabela Store in the US...their headquarters is in Sidney, Nebraska then into Wyoming and once again I was blown away by the architecture of nature...buttes, craggy rock formations, snowy mountains, rolling hills. I had planned to stop in Cheyenne, however, when I got there, the air was rife with the stench of the local oil refinery, so I drove on, and on, past Laramie, also disappointing, I went by the smallest town in the US, Bufford, with a population of 1 and I simply got caught up in the beauty of the scenery and Michael Crichton's latest book, The State of Fear. As a result, I ended up making myself stop in Evanston, rather than give into the temptation to go onto Salt Lake... I know I would regret it and feel it tomorrow. I am torn though, between taking my time and pushing to get home.

So here I sit on the Utah border, enjoying a good beef meal...it is Wyoming... and planning an early night. Stay tuned.

From Des Moines to North Platte

Spent today driving through Iowa and Nebraska, and was pleasantly surprised. I always thought it would be like driving through Saskatchewan. It is very different. Iowa had gently green hills, and most of the trip trough Nebraska was along the Platte River, as it meandered from one side of the highway to the other. For years, I have read books that referenced the Platte (Lonesome Dove, Centennial, and several others) and now I have gotten to see it up close. I decided to stop in North Platte, after driving by the birthplaces of Ronald Regan and John Wayne as well as a Pony Express office, and went to see Buffalo Bill Cody's park and fort. This is really the heart of the old Wild West.

Walking across the Platte - it is very shallow

Buffalo Bill and his Fort

another view of the Fort

Buffalo Bill's buffalo

I must admit that I am starting to slow down and find I am limiting my self to 6 hours a day and more breaks..... just a few more days and I will be home.

On to Wyoming tomorrow

Back in the USA

After driving the back roads of Ontario, I got to the Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia and had to ace one of my great fears....heights. I do not like them, and do not like driving on the edge of anything. The Bluewater Bridge spans the river between Canada and the US and goes up VERY high:( As usual going over the border takes time and I was stuck on the bridge, while semis rumbled by in their special lane, shaking the bridges, and me in the process. At one point the front of my car was in the US and the back was in Canada. Finally, after about 45 minutes on the bridge, I made it down and through customs and was on my way to Lake Michigan and Benton Harbor where I stayed the night. then today, I made it to Des Moines.

My count to date is - 6200 miles and CA, AZ, NM, OK, TX, AR, TN, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, PN, DE, NJ, NY, CT, MA, VT, NH, QUE, ONT, MC, IN, IL, IW - 24 states, DC and 2 Canadian provinces. And now, I am headed home. It has been a great journey, and I will be glad to no longer live out of suitcases. I do have it down to a science, though. I developed what I consider my "one night stand" bag with essentials for the motel stops, so I get in and out lightly. I am still undecided where I will go tomorrow, through Nebraska, or up through South Dakota. I will let the weather decide for me.

Small Town Life in Ontario

Yes folks, to buy beer in Ontario, you go to The Beer Store

All other alcohol is sold at the LCBO-Liquor Control Board of Ontario

Canadians are very green.

Besides making good use of the wind, the water and the sun

they package without plastic.

Mike McDougal, my Brother Glenn, drink in hand,

and my friend and sister-in-law, Rosemary in orange

at the Thornbury Annual Lobster Fest. Yummy:)

For the last Week, I have been living my small town dream... the one where I live in a town so small, you can walk most places. So it has been early morning long walks, reading and napping outside in the gazebo, and lovely dinners , mostly prepared by Rosemary, who is a wonderful cook. On Glenn's 70th birthday we went to the Dam Pub, by the dam, and celebrated with authentic English pub food.

I was lucky to be in Thornbury for their annual Lobster Fest and was treated to a magnificent feast of not one, but two lobsters that we washed down with a good white wine. About 1500 hundred people show up for the town's annual fundraiser at the local arena/community center, and the party starts at 5pm and goes to the wee small hours of the morning. The next morning, many cars were still in the parking lot, one PT Cruiser was there for two whole days until someone picked it up at the end of the day. They obviously had a good time.

I was not able to get on the Internet much as the cable kept going out, so I just kicked back and rested up for the big trip home. Still undecided on my route.