Since Friday the 13th we have been at home; we have wandered in our yard and done a bit of gardening, but we have not been beyond the end of our driveway other than to put out garbage and collect our bins after it has been taken.
I was delighted to see that my little mayflower plants are cheerfully in bloom.
Today the sun came out and the day was warm….and we desperately needed to go for a walk. When we came out our front door we could hear water rushing down our neighbour’s downspout from his roof, which didn’t make sense since it hadn’t been raining since yesterday.
Paul is out in the Valley staying with his girlfriend as he waits, in pain, for hip surgery. His scheduled date was cancelled, as were the dates for many others, in the face of COVID cases. He’s hoping for a reschedule in September. He comes home once a week but, because he hasn’t been around much, we’ve all been trying to keep an eye on his place and have collectively agreed to all help if needed; another neighbour is collecting his mail and walking his yard daily.
So with an unusual amount of water coming down from his roof, Kirk was about to head up to our roof and look over to his to see what was going on when a voice form above called out “Hi Paige“.
Our other neighbour’s son was up on the roof cleaning out Paul’s drain and clearing the pooled water.
We have good neighbours in our little four unit co-op. 🙂
After a roof to ground level chat Kirk and I ventured beyond the boundaries of our property and went for a walk. It was a strange experience. The vast majority of people were incredibly friendly, everyone seemed to have the attitude of we’re all in this together, good to see you out and about, take care. Big smiles, honest and friendly greetings….and wide berths.
One positive thing about people being off work and/or staying home is that the gardens int he neighbourhood have seen a lot of tender loving care. A few doors down, our neighbour has a pretty weeping cherry blossom tree that is in full show at the moment. It was a happy sight after 16 days at home.
We walked into the Village and I couldn’t help but be curious about the grocery store and how busy it would be. Would there be line ups? What about at Cobs bakery? The butcher? The liquor shop?
It turned out that the only place with people waiting outside, well spaced and in a bit of a semicircle, was Bjorn Bar…the coffee and bakery. It’s really, really, good and everyone around here know that.
We walked around some of the side streets, smiled at two kids doing skateboard tricks and sharing the experience with their friend on an iPhone propped up against a bicycle wheel while using facetime. There were lots of cyclists out and about. Lost of residents walking their dogs.
Everyone was enjoying the warm sun….at a distance from everyone else.
On the loop back we walked by the Thrifty Foods again. I really want some whole wheat flour and some making powder. The last two times I’ve tried to get either from SPUD, and also from an instacart order from Loblaw’s, neither have been in stock.
I stood and looked in the door. Then walked past. Then I looked in the window. It didn’t look that busy, the shelves that I could see looked well stocked. I walked back to the entrance, and stopped.
Finally I said “OK, yes, let’s do it…in and out, quick, just to he baking aisle, that’s all….” We both put our hands in our pockets and slipped in past the one or two people at the two open checkouts. There were no customers standing in line, no one on the spaced squares posted on the floor. We turned into the baking aisle and were confronted by completely bare shelves where flour, sugar, baking soda, and other baking supplies were normally located.
We shrugged and turned to head back out. As we passed the next aisle I notice an end cap stocked with some packages by Bob’s Red Mill products….and I paused….they make baking powder, and wouldn’t you know it….there were three bags on the shelf!
I didn’t get any flour, but I still felt like I won the lottery with that bag of baking powder!
Flour and other baking supplies seem to be the new toilet paper. But, as long as people aren’t just buying it for the sake of buying it, the idea that more people are baking seems really great to me.
I can wait, I’m sure that some flour will become available eventually.
In the meantime, we will enjoy the things of spring 🙂
(89/365)
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