Monday, July 27, 2020

We Four

Hapi in the pond
Yesterday four of us got together on a patio for a glass of wine. We are four women who have known each other for a few years.

One is in her 60s, two in our 70s and one in her 80s.

One is married, two are divorced and one is widowed.

Two are anglophone, two are francophone, and we all understand each other (mostly!) when speaking our mother tongues.

Three of us have grandchildren, one has no children.

Three of us have dogs, one has a cat.

We were born in three different provinces, none of us is originally from Nova Scotia.

Between us, we have probably travelled the entire world.

And we all had lots of stories to tell.

It was supposed to be a hot sultry day but instead it was cloudy and a bit showery, we tried to stay dry under the patio umbrella. A rivulet of water ran off the umbrella onto the back of my chair, my backside got a little wet.

Two female hummingbirds darted around us, occasionally clashing with each other. They can be quite fierce. Our host's dog made the rounds of the four laps available to her, she can be quite fierce too.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I've had to stop taking Hapi to the Reservoir, her love of the pond has made a mess of her undercoat, to the point that she was chewing holes in it and she had matts the size of golf balls. I looked on the internet for how to deal with that, the solution that seems most effective (and cheap!) is rubbing cornstarch into her coat and then brushing against the grain with a slicker brush. I had both on hand so it doesn't cost me anything.

She loves the cornstarch massage but hates the slicker brush, however the matts are considerably reduced in size now and further from her skin, so I can cut the smaller ones out.

I miss seeing my dog buddies at the Reservoir, I feel at loose ends the rest of the day. So when We Four met yesterday it was a welcome diversion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Starting on Friday, masks will be mandatory in all public indoor spaces. We have no Covid-19 cases at the moment, it has been ten days since the last new case was announced. A few people hate the idea of having to wear a mask, but many of us are relieved. If one person wears a mask it makes hardly any difference at all, but if everyone is wearing one, then we are all protecting each other. In September all the students from away will be back, so we have a month to get comfortable with masking up.

There are some pretty masks out there, I think it will be like wearing glasses: a necessity turned into an accessory.

4 comments:

Wisewebwoman said...

I was out as well, with family and I felt about 8 layers of stress falling off me. I totally understand your post.

Sometimes it's hard to find the sparks of happiness in a day and we humans are very social and sociable so need this vital connection. If everyone wore masks i'd be doing a lot more of it but alas, out here it needs to be mandated.

XO
WWW

ElizabethAnn said...

Hi WWW, yes I am happy that our old stick-in-the-mud premier made it mandatory. I never thought I'd hear myself praise the guy.

I didn't realize how much my daily trips to the Reservoir meant to me until I had to stop.

Rain Trueax said...

How neat that you could get together with your friends. I miss that so much and down here haven't had a chance to make new ones with the quarantine. It's important though to isolate-- doesn't make it easy. I enjoyed your meetup vicariously.

ElizabethAnn said...

Rain, it was very neat, we had a great time! Doesn’t happen often though, even in non-Covid times. I think we appreciate the opportunities to socialize much more when circumstances limit contact. I’m glad you’re safe, but totally understand the cost.