It's like Jello

Again, it's been ages since I wrote a blog, and I am sure my followers have forgotten all about me. 

But when life takes you on a trip, regardless of your own desires, there is nothing to do but travel and pray that you arrive safely.

My life this year is a bit upended. I had wanted to be published again, or at least under contract, but it was not to be. And I realize now that the way it has turned out, partially my own fault, partially not, it was for the best. Sometimes, we don't have the reserves for writing, and we need to recharge. 

So, while I am recharging, we are downsizing our home. And in that process, I had a dress in the back of my closet. I hadn't worn it in decades. It was a bridesmaid dress, as I had been one at the last minute for a friend whose own bridesmaid backed out. I offered it on a local buy and sell for $10, but in the space of a short time, a woman was interested in it as her wedding dress. It was cotton candy pink.

Then, I remembered something my own daughter-in-law did years ago. She was marrying my son and still had a wedding dress from her previous marriage. It's actually harder than we all realize to sell wedding dresses. Brides want new ones, or ones that have meaning in their lives. So my daughter-in-law offered to give it away. 

Many brides to be came by to try it on, but like that glass slipper, they were a bit too big for it. Then, one day, while I was sitting at her home with her mother, chatting because my daughter-in-law had to pop out for a minute, the doorbell rang. Another bride to be. We directed her to a bathroom, and a minute later, she came out wearing the dress. 

It fit perfectly. But she burst into tears.

Aghast, both of us jumped up to embrace her. Her tears were tears of joy. She was dead broke, on her second marriage, and as a single mother, she had no money for a dress, let alone a wedding. To find a gorgeous wedding dress that fit her tiny frame was a Godsend, and she couldn't stop crying. 

I never forgot that incident. It touched me. The casual act of giving away a dress suddenly became a lifeline for a woman who wanted something nice to wear to her budget wedding. 

Today, I gave away my bridesmaid dress. It fit the bride to be like a glove. (reminding me of how small I used to be!) and I can thank my daughter-in-law for giving me such a good example to follow. Her act may have been casual, but it meant so much to someone else. The dress today meant so much to the woman I met. My own little casual act. So you never know what small thing you do will mean to others. 

There will be some of you nodding. And others knowing how important your small acts of kindness can be. You never know what is going on. You never know what will happen. 

Kindness is like Jello. And there is always room for Jello.

Well, so much for getting stuff done during the pandemic!

I haven't written a blog post in over two years, and I don't blame anyone for giving up on me. 

When the pandemic isolation started, I had grandiose plans of writing, editing, advertising my books, and even cleaning my house. Yet, one week in, after we had gone away and were ordered to quarantine, my hubby was starting to pace, and I couldn't stand it. We started to do things together. It was too early to plant the garden, so we would walk up and down the lonely road on which we lived and collect beer cans. 

HOT TIP! Want a good investment? Buy stock in Bud Light. We collected $40 worth, and at 5 cents a can, that was a lot of cans. 

As I was saying, my plans to get things done went out the window. Instead, we walked, talked, cooked, and did everything but the mental list I had created.

And now, two-plus years later, the world has changed, we have changed, and my blog recorded none of it. 

But I did do a bit of writing. I had one proposal rejected and the other is still pending. But this last one, whose conflict was pumped up by some of my helpful writer friends, is a keeper nonetheless. I managed to get its first draft written. After isolation ended.

I also did other things. I went glamping, toured the Carolinas, and checked a few things off my bucket list. In the coming days, if you stay with me, you're going to journey with me to those wonderful places. Here's a hint of what's to come. 

A crazy set of stairs

What is he planning to do?

Or, more interestingly, where is he going?

Glamping, anyone?

Palm trees and wild weather!

Tell me what you did during the pandemic isolation. Did you get your list done? 

I see the finish line!

Our last day of quarantine looms ahead. In some way, it's been like a vacation. Or a stay-cation, and there is a part of me that didn't want it to end. I wonder how our outgoing friends are doing, and whether they snuck out early. Probably.
We biked up a lonely country road this morning, battling the ever-present wind on our way home. We counted beer and soda cans along the route. One must have a challenge, you know.  

We also made up a grocery list. Remember when I told you we could live until last summer on our pantry items? Yes, it's true, but after a while, one gets a craving for something uncooked. I thought we had no fresh veggies in the house, only to discover hubby has finely shredded the last of the cabbage and been sneaking it into everything from frittatas to soup. Sneaky.

This morning, after our western sandwich with cabbage for brekkie, we reorganized our grocery list into two categories. One for the things I will get, and the other for hubs. He wants to get all the sale items. It's a thing he does to make him feel better. I get to pick up the Poise liners. Apparently, hubs didn't want to do that. 
 
We played our daily game of crib. Hubby decided to concede to the greater player, but I reminded him that he didn't give me the game, I took it, fair and square. Yes, I won. Gracefully.

Tomorrow is our first day of freedom and it will be my last blog entry in this series. I thought I could pull off a funny post each day, but while I haven't had any difficulty, it hasn't always been funny. I've had to cancel my trip to visit my kids, commiserated with others who had wonderful plans, prayed for those whose health is not good, all these things, and more. I've napped while 'reading' my Bible, and I exercised to dance videos. I still want to finish the proposal for my novel, a painting I need to do, and some weaving that I started. 

But as I watch the world go into lockdown, I wonder if I will get it all done.

Day 7-12

Okay is Day 7. I think. The days run together. It might be later, but it doesn't matter because I'm combining the next five days into one boring blog. 

 via GIPHY

Each day was a repeat of a repeat. We got up, we ate breakfast, we dug through the freezer to pick something out for supper, we went for a walk, we came home, we ate leftovers for lunch, we exercised, read, showered, watched the news, had supper, watched TV and went to bed. 

Even to an introvert like me, who thinks of this isolation as a balm, found the routine a bit much. 

Then something happened.

The two neighbouring provinces shut down. Yes. We cannot go into Nova Scotia nor can we go to Prince Edward Island. 

 via GIPHY

To put it into perspective to you south of us, it's like you live in a rural area and must cross the state line to get groceries and medicine, but they just stopped you. Your doctor and pharmacy are just a few miles away and you're not allowed to get there and your prescriptions are running low. 

We spent the morning on the phone trying to sort things out. 

I know this blog is supposed to lift you up, but I can't lie and say it wasn't tense for a bit. We had planned to get some groceries, too. Man cannot live on lentils alone. At least the man in my house can't. Believe me, it's hard to live with him with all those lentils in his system. 
That reminds me. Add Beano to the list. 

 

One last thing. 
I was scheduled to go out west on April first. I have had to cancel it. It breaks my heart not to see the kids and grandkids, but I can't risk giving them the virus (from the airplane, cus I am sure I have safe right now). Or worse, bringing it home. 

So that was our life in the last few days. 

One more day. Just one more day.
 via GIPHY

Rediscovering the world around you

Day 5

I have finished my income tax, edited my proposal, lost some weight, drank enough water to fill a bathtub and cleaned my house. In fact, my house has never been this clean. The day is clear and sunny. Outside beckons me.

We're going for a walk, my hubby announces. Now, I need to preface this. We live in a rural area. There are more cows and cats than people. So, it's not hard to go for a walk and not meet another living soul.

But that wasn't the case today. As we headed out past the end of our very lonely road, we did meet another living, breathing creature.

A dog, at the end of our road at a very quiet farm. The farmer was nowhere in sight, but the dog trotted out, tail wagging, acting as if she was thankful the world had not gone to pot.

 

We didn't break the news to her. And she happily chose to accompany us on the trip. 

The world beyond the road is only just starting to awaken from winter. The top layer of snow had melted and was hard enough for us to walk with ease across the fields. The channels cut through the bulrushes on the marsh are still frozen, allowing us an easy path to follow. We watched a pair of mated eagles build a nest. 

 

Can you see the eagle to the right of the nest?

When we got within a few hundred yards of them, one wisely moved away from the nest, while keeping its eagle eyes on us. 

And a bonus in the walk!  Hubby found three buckets! I'm thrilled beyond measure. Wow! Buckets!

Still, the day is good. The dog continues to walk with us, just happy to check out her world with humans. Hubby and I clocked 10,000 steps on our Fitbits and incredibly, we found a single footprint on the channel. Who made it, we wonder?


 

So, our day ends with us thankful. We still have loads of food, a house and home, and our health.