RESTARTING THE ECONOMY

We did our part to try to restart the economy yesterday.  We rebooked optometrist appointments that had evaporated in mid March along with everything else, and headed off to the city for the day.

And by that I mean the whole day.  Our appointments were scheduled for 8:50 Manitoba time.  That’s right.  You do the math.  But, if your eyes are giving you trouble and you need to see what’s up the choice between 7:50 am next Thursday or a more reasonable hour sometime late in July is obvious.  The alarm clock went off at 5:00, we pulled out of the yard at 6:00, and were right on time to don our masks and be properly socially distanced for the next two hours.  Even with losing an hour to Daylight Savings Time, we still had a whole day ahead of us to revive the Canadian economy. 

And believe me, we did our part.

The first order of business was something to eat.  Our first restaurant meal since ... Valentine’s Day.  While we were there for the food it was unmistakable that the atmosphere had shifted since the last time we had been out: staff in masks, every second table unused and the customer traffic sparse.  Thank goodness the scent of food cooking managed to cover the smell of ever-present hand sanitizer and disinfectant.  I sure hope that the people in charge of my investment portfolio thought to diversify into Lysol and Clorox wipes.

Next on the agenda was shopping – everything from building supplies to underwear.  It had been a long long long time since we had set foot in these stores.  And it’s now way harder to do that than it used to be.  They say that they’re ‘open for business’ but the trick is to find which door they have actually opened.  For some you can just walk right in like in the olden days, but most reserve the right to count heads.  In order to regulate their customers they are enforcing an ‘in’ door and an ‘out’ door.  Unknowingly I managed to park as far away from the ‘in’ door as possible at least 89% of the time.  It’s my newest superpower.

Once we made it inside these hallowed doors we were presented with the dreaded bottle of hand sanitizer.  The English language does not have adequate words to express how much I hate this stuff and being told that “This kind is great!  It smells just like watermelon!” does not enhance my experience.  In a way though, it does have a positive effect on my hand hygiene; when forced to apply it I go directly to a washroom and use soap and water to get rid of it. 

Once past the sanitizer barrior it was off to the races.  Well, actually, it’s more like a labyrinth.  Arrows on the floor to show shoppers which way they should be travelling ... signs reminding folks to move single file ... ‘X’s six feet apart to keep us away from each other.  It was as if we all had to relearn how to drive our shopping carts – you know like what it’s like after the first snowfall in the fall?  There were fender-benders and rear-enders going on all over the place.  I’m more of a meandering type shopper.  When I go to Canadian Tire I don’t need to travel the auto parts aisle so I skip whole sections which always seemed to have me going the wrong way on a one way street.  It was more relaxing out in the real traffic as we made our way to the city limits.

Glad to report the day was a success, though.  We both have new glasses on order, I have refreshed my summer clothing choices, we will be able to keep the thieving birds out of our strawberries, and there are a couple of man projects that can be finished off now.  Plus, I have three more plants because the garden centers are closing down for the year.  I’m sure the Canadian economy enjoyed a slight up-tick because of our efforts. 

You’re welcome.

MOTHER NATURE NEEDS A REPAIRMAN

The day started out nice enough.  It was warmer than I expected when the dog and I stepped out onto the deck to survey our kingdom – that’s what we do while I drink my second cup of coffee.  I soak in the sun’s warmth, check to see if my planters need a drink, and maybe deadhead a few of my petunias.  Turbo, on the other hand, checks the horizon for uppity coyotes.  It’s his job and he takes it very seriously.

As I said, the temperature was quite pleasant and there was a nice little breeze which I was glad to note.  I’ve been trying to weed garden and the flies and mosquitoes have been a real nuisance.  I only had a few hours left at that job so I should get out there while the getting was good.

I did not consult the weather app on my phone for what the future might hold.

Time means nothing when I’m weeding.  I went out after my coffee was done and worked until my stomach told me it was time for lunch.  As usual it was on Manitoba time but I decided to eat early and get back out there.  The pleasant breeze had picked up a bit but nothing crazy.

 

The crazy part happened while I was enjoying my taco salad.

Subconsciously it must have registered that a hurricane had blown in.  I don’t remember actually making a decision to not go right back outside, but I kept finding trivial, puttering jobs to do in the house; fold laundry, tidy the kitchen, text the carpenter who installed my new kitchen drawers that they needed some sort of adjustment.  When I got down to emptying the dehumidifier in the basement I knew – the chances of me working outside again today were somewhere between ‘slim’ and ‘none’.

Is it just me, or does it seem that Mother Nature’s prairie fan seems to be on the fritz?  There isn’t a single setting that seems to be working correctly.  The on/off switch is broken – the wind never seems to stop.  The oscillating option swings around wildly, one day from the east and then a day from the west and then the south.  The days that it blows from the north I can at least work outside because our windbreak lives up to its name.  Her wind machine also appears to be stuck on the ‘high’ setting.  If it wasn’t for the fact that we all hope it will blow in some rain I would love to find the power cord and yank the plug out of the wall.

An hour or so ago I mustered the resolve to go out and see if I couldn’t just finish weeding that one last row.

 

I couldn’t.

 

But I did take a walk around the yard to apologise to all of my poor plants tipped sideways in the wind, holding on for dear life.  I promised them a drink if the wind’s velocity ever went down far enough to allow water to fall to the ground from a sprinkler.  Some of my freshly transplanted ferns are actually broken.  The deck is covered in sticky hummingbird juice because the feeder spun its contents out all over the furniture out there.  The birds were looking for something to drink so I gave them some more but tethered the feeder to a deck post to prevent the sugar shower from happening again.

 

The trampoline has come very close to liftoff a couple times.  I told the dog he should go lay on it to hold it down.  His face can be so expressive at times.  Loosely translated his answer was ‘no’.

Not one mosquito was encountered on my walk although, come to think of it, there were a couple of blurs whizzing past my face.  At 60 kpm that might be what a mosquito looks like.

The weather app on my phone just gave me a heads up that there would be rain in the next 24 hours.  That sure would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.  Mother Nature’s watering system doesn’t seem to be working well either this spring.