200416 wagon winter rain technology and covid.

april 16

i took the children to the dog field in my heavy wooden gardening wagon because we don't have another one!! i seriously wonder if i'm too old to be doing this! i had to ask one of them to walk on the way home and indre kindly consented to walk and then she volunteered to pull the wagon, bless her! i also had the dog in tow. 
the sky was beautifully blue, but it was cold. while we were out dark clouds began to gather and then just as we put away the wagon the first flakes of snow came down, although it didn't last.  the sun is shining again intermittently. 

i found this winter easier than some to live through. the cold snaps were short, and we had liveable temperatures hovering around 0 degrees, as well as warm blips. but now, after that wonderful taste of spring last week, i am tired of the cold and long for the warmth that means coffee in the sun, and starting the mosaic project on the porch, and the kids climbing trees and riding bikes, while fig, the dog, lies down to watch, or is he "on watch"? he's not very big but he thinks he is. he is very brave (if terrified!) in a crisis!

on tuesday, rain called me in an emotional crisis (hence the call instead of text!!). we talked for a while and i asked her about her choices, and her gut feelings, which ideas felt like a weight lifted. i was happy when her voice began to return to normal. when we rang off, she said, "thanks for talking me down off the ledge."! rain lives in montreal now with her significant other and their dog. but we text lots and talk now and then, mostly in emergencies!! and also when mumma gets tired of texting. i grew up with a phone that you actually left at home, so i sometimes long for the days of that more advanced form of communication. it was my brother who pointed out that email and texting, which they were touting at the time of his death, were a step backwards in communication from the telephone! but live telephone communication is a skill that the young may never have learned.
which brings us to the advantages that high tech has brought to this particular situation. since the pandemic was declared, march 11, and then social distancing, and medical gloves and masks, we have turned to the recently developed social media much more, to keep in touch (so to speak) with each other, and the internet retail world to do our shopping. on-line portals have opened up in all areas of retail and, i am sure, business arenas everywhere. 
for those with experience, it's not so new. for some of us, it's a "brave new world".  although websites still lose me somewhere in the convolutions of their pages and segues, i am sometimes able to order and have delivered some aquisitions. 
by the way, i discovered that it can be a highly addictive behavior: the delight of anticipating one's order and then having it arrive at one's door is an experience which, once enjoyed,  i immediately wished to repeat.
it is a little stranger now, because we have to quarantine the purchase for three days, or sanitize it for immediate use. there are re-wrapped parcels along our hall with clearance dates on them!! this or that one is due april 16 or 17, having been by then three days without outside human touch.
it is a scary new world for all of us.