Back in the saddle

This year and more in lockdown (or even semi-lockdown) has been a strange time in so many ways. We have become accustomed to a completely different rhythm of life and some of the things that we used to take for granted seem now to belong to such a distant past that we can scarce remember them.

It has been such a long time since we ventured outside a relatively small area at the southern tip of Vancouver Island that it feels almost as though the rest of the world has ceased to exist other than through the TV (or other electronic device) screen… which never quite feels real.

And yet…

Of late, something in Canada (and doubtless elsewhere) has shifted. A significant number of us are now fully vaccinated and here in BC things have started opening up again. Many stores no longer require masks to be worn (they merely recommend it) and the directional arrows on their floors have started to disappear. In our local store the dividers that we once used at the checkouts (to prevent our shopping fraternizing with anyone else’s) have made a re-appearance for the first time since March last year.

I am beginning to think about teaching in the lecture room again in the Fall and all of those entertainments and enticements that have been closed down throughout the pandemic are starting to re-emerge blinking into the daylight.

And now – here I am writing this post in Kamloops – an hour and a forty minutes on the ferry and a four and a half hour drive from our home on the island!

Wow! How (and why) did that happen?

Well – for that you will have to await our return on Monday. I will explain all once we are back home…

Back in the saddle? Well – certainly trying it out for size again…