December 21, 2020 - The last time I wrote on this blog was March 17th, the day after we got home from Florida. In the last paragraph of that posting, I predicted that this would be a Century year, one that we would never forget. Little did I know how true that would turn out to be. I needn't go over the reasons for that prophecy having been fulfilled, as we've all been living with the impact of the Corona Virus for just over 9 months now. And it ain't over yet, baby!

However, there are good reasons to be hopeful, despite the reports of a new version of the virus in Britain. Seems this little bug can transpose itself into something more effective in terms of transmission, but we have to hope the vaccines that have been developed will deal with it in its new form. Despite the naysayers, who abhor the idea of having their arms poked with the vaccine, we will roll up our sleeves when our turn comes, whenever that may be.

How have we been spending our time since we rolled into the driveway in March? As usual, we try to find ways to be active, so have always managed to stay busy. Gail enjoyed her kayak during the summer, and did quite a bit of biking, as we now have a terrific Milennium Trail, which is flat and rambles 43 kilometers along a transformed rail bed here in the County. We have both given time to volunteering, Gail at two of the local thrift shops, and I at the Food Bank. I played golf with three of my buddies, once or twice a week in various locales. And we always try to work in a walk most days.

In addition, Gail is back to knitting, now trying to do a 4 needle thing. And since getting home, I've been painting barn quilts. I'll give you some samples below, if I can remember how to post them.

The barn quilt project been an enjoyable process, but the basement is beginning to be over-run with the finished products. So some have been given away, and one even sold, the proceeds going to our Hospital Rebuild project. Any that may be sold will find the funds directed to the same project, probably the most important initiative in out community at present. We have the approvals for a new hospital, needed to replace a our current facility, which is aging and needs to go. Hopefully shovels will go in the ground in a couple of years. But there's still a lot of fund-raising to be done locally.

Aside from that, we wrestle with the limits of interaction with others. Christmas will be different this year, as we will probably do an outside visit with the kids in Belleville, then come home to have an intimate dinner for two in front of our Christmas tree. Hopefully we can arrange a drink with our neighbors, out on the deck, maintaining distance around our little outdoor portable fireplace. 

For any of you who happen to get an alert that this posting is available, Gail and I hope you have a good Christmas, and wish you all the best in 2021. No doubt it will be a much better year, once we get through the first few months.

Tuesday, March 17 - We're home. Got back last night, after a 12 hour drive from West Virginia. Once we saw the shining waters of Lake Erie, we decided to forego arrangements made to get the r.v. winterized in Erie, and instead forged on towards the border cross-point. We expected a considerable delay in crossing over. But you may not believe this, we were through in less than 5 minutes. There was one car ahead of us, and once he was through, we rolled up, answered 4 questions, the usual ones except "Are any of you feeling sick?". We are feeling fine, of course. Passports handed back and on we went. Not even a hand-out about what to do in view of this pandemic. Rather surprising, as friend Kathy crossed at Windsor yesterday, and got a 5 minute interrogation and info session. Not too consistent!

By this time, why the hell should we motel it when we're within 4 hours of home. So we booted it on through, bleary eyed and in some kind of zone, staring at white lines and trying to stay between them. Somehow I missed the 401 transfer from the QE, so ended up downtown and then onto the Don Valley. Wondered why the lanes were so narrow and why so much construction, until it dawned on me that I was downtown. As I say, you get into a zone, and hardly know where you are.

Anyway, we arrived in Belleville at 9 p.m., in time to have a hastily thrown-together birthday celebration, thanks to Jeff and Sharon. Even had a birthday cake and presents for the newly crowned 77 year old who looks like she's 20 years younger than that. They made a big decision to go into voluntary seclusion, given that Anna has just returned from the U.S., and thus if she is to stay there, they are subject to the same rules as is she. Not good for sister Kate, as it means she can't see her boy-friend for two weeks. The sacrifices one must make for one's sister.

And now we're home. Slept about 11 hours last night, and now have the r.v. unloaded, pretty much, and the mail sorted, emails caught up, and the floor swept. What the hell do we do for the next 13 days? We've had numerous calls from friends, which are much appreciated. That will be our pipeline until we are liberated. We can still go outside for walks. Just don't come near us. We do take this very seriously, and keep saying this is like nothing any of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. We were born during WW II, but since that time, nothing has really impacted the world as seriously as this which we face today.

So we wash our hands regularly, cough into our elbows, stay away from people, and drink lots of fluids. I'm on my second whiskey for the evening as I write. I'll no doubt have another cup of tea as well.

This year will no doubt go down as the Century Year, the one that we will all remember for a long time. Many will not live through it. We will!! And life will go on, as it always has. We are truly glad to be home in our little house, safe and sound, and thank all who have followed our adventures, dull and mundane as they may have been. We will travel again. But not for awhile. So more later. Sometime. Stay tuned.

Monday, March 15 - Beware the Ides of March. These are evil times. Black clouds cover the earth. Danger lurks around every corner. Walk carefully. Sneeze into your sleeve. Wash your hands regularly...and thoroughly. Corona hides  where you least expect it.

And so we have fled the lovely climes of Florida. Last night in Statesboro Georgia was just fine, except for some weird alarm system that went off at 5 a.m. and didn't stop for an eternity. Today we were off at the crack of 8:30, and are now safely placed in an r.v. park that isn't supposed to be open, but is, here in West Virginia. Our goal is to get to Erie PA, where I've lined up an rv. dealer who will winterize the unit, as we expect there will still be a number of nights with sub-freezing temps. We'll motel it for tomorrow night, somewhere, then breach the border, with hopes they will allow us to return. How could they not!!??

Today is our dear friend Marian Ellis's birthday...so we send many happy felicitations. Tomorrow is Gail's birthday. God knows where we'll be, so we'll likely celebrate on Tuesday, with family, assuming we get across the border.

We've been in a few grocery stores in the last couple of days. No toilet paper!! Totally gone. And at Walmart's this evening...no bread. The entire section of shelves...empty. People are being irrational, yet somehow are fighting for survival against this unseen enemy. We know it's out there. We just don't really know where! So we all wash and sanitize and sneeze carefully, hoping it will save us.

Not really meaning to make light of this crisis, as it is truly dangerous, and is claiming lives in considerable numbers...just like the flu does every year. So we'll do as we're advised. Go home. Stay at home. Hope that neighbours will look after us.

More later. Stay tuned.

Friday, the 13th of March - Appropriate date for things not going as we'd hoped. We have a time share booked in the Orlando area for next week, with the idea that Jeff and family would join us for March Break. Because of the Corona crisis, that's not going to happen. With good cause, they have decided they are best not to come, given the uncertainty of border crossings, all of the alerts, the increasing number of cases all across the world, and all that goes with it. So we will head home tomorrow with Anna.

It's kind of gone crazy. We went shopping at the local Publix store this morning, and there was clearly a heightened business in the store. The large space for toilet paper on the shelves was empty. We were limited to 2 small boxes of tissues (and me with my allergies..oh well). People were clearly stocking up on certain items. One woman had a cart full of large Diet Coke jugs. Go figure. The woman in front of me at check out was quite upset with the way people were thinking only of themselves by stocking up on some products in such large quantities. The store is trying to control that, but it's difficult.

The multiple cancellations at so many venues, and all of the sports leagues, really drives home the severity of this crisis. Trump has not helped with defensive statements, and unclear policy. The left wing tribe are certainly out for his scalp, as usual. But the problem isn't much different in a lot of other countries including our own, where there isn't really a national policy in place to date. Some provinces are closing schools for two weeks. Others are banning travel?| We don't know. But all we know is we'd best be going home. If all goes well, we should be back by Monday night.

Thanks for riding along with us. We'll wrap up when home. So more later. Stay tuned.

Wed., March 11 - We are now in a very large r.v. park north of Orlando, just outside of the town of Eustis. Look it up on the map, and you may find it. We came to this area because someone we met told us about a place called Mount Alma, which she said was a really neat little town. We're about 8 miles from the place, so plan to visit it tomorrow.

Eustis is a nice little town, located on a lake (Lake Eustis, wouldn't you know!) with a lovely waterfront. The town has suffered the fate of many small towns across the world, evidenced by a walk around the main core. Several empty  store fronts sadly attest to the declline of the town. Two miles out of town, near our park, are two large grocery stores and two of the drug store chains, which have obviously diverted a lot of shopping from the main street of town. In order to try to bring commerce back, the town has constructed a really nice walkway over the water along the lake front, and they're in the process of redeveloping a large park area on the waterfront. Good luck to them.

Today Anna and Gail and I walked to the Trout Lake Nature Park, and did some nice walking around a fine cypress forest. Not much action so far as wildlife, but it was a nice outing, with two very good buildings full of interesting displays. Then Gail and I walked into town while Anna headed back to the park (she doesn't handle the heat very well, and it's quite warm today). We tried to spur the local economy along by having lunch downtown, after taking a look at an anhinga nest with three little ones, newly hatched. By the time we got back to our rig, we'd put in about 12 kms on foot, so were ready for chairs and a book.

About this park. It's huge. More than 900 r,v, sites, and another 400 permanent sites. There are three sections to the park, three rec halls, swimming pools, shuffleboard, bocci courts, and a vigorous activity program. It's a small town, really, about the size of Wellington in terms of winter population. Wednesday breakfast (we didn't know you have to buy tickets ahead of time, so went home empty), Thursday lunch, Friday dinner, and entertainment quite frequently. We'll do bingo tomorrow night, as Anna got a kick out of it in Homosassa. There's no end of things to do. Good thing, 'cause there isn't much to do in the area, unless you want to head into Orlando. Is this the life for us? Categorically, at this stage of our young lives, NO! There's good spirit here, and the people are friendly, but we're not ready to join the shuffleboard brigade just yet.

It's been great having Anna along. Lots of games, jug saw puzzles, just fun having her along. Then we move to Kissimmee to our time share, and wait for the kids to show up. We've done some biking, a lot of walking, just putting in the time in pretty good weather. I've been feeling pretty well since the hospital adventure, although there are still traces of the abdominal problem, but the main thing has been big problems with sinuses. I finally got a pharmacist to recommend something that I think will work, based on last night's experience. Previously, I was up in the middle of the night hardly able to breathe. This is pollen season, and if you're allergic, it's pretty tough to deal with.

Bottom line, I think we'll head home as soon as the kids are on their way after March break. We're ready to head north. We also are sad to learn that Jan Munn, one of our good friends, had a fall recently and did some serious damage to herself. We wish her all the best during this difficult time. It's been that kind of winter. So it'll be good to get back to hearth and home.

Below, a couple of pictures of mother anhinga ( a bird similar to the cormorant) with her chicks, and a sizable water snake coiled up on an old pier post. And that's it for now. More later. Stay tuned.

Thursday, Mar 5 - The weather has returned to normal. As I sit here, we have the air con on, as Anna doesn't do well with the heat. It's breezy as well, so we decided to stick around the park today, 'specially since there may be rain later on. Doesn't hurt to hunker down for a day, although it's not something we're known to do too often.

It's been great having  Anna here. We took her to our favorite Wildlife Park on Tuesday, and spent the day there. We go every year, as it's such a nice setting, and we're very familiar with many of the creatures that live there. I'll post some pictures of our friends. We also like the park a lot because most of the residents are rescue animals and birds, well looked after and monitored for their health.

Yesterday, Gail and Anna rented kayaks and enjoyed a couple of hours on the river, chasing manatees. They saw 5 of them, including one mother with her calf, which was pretty exciting. We had also seen several at the Wildlife Center, but seeing them out in the river is even better. Last evening was even more exciting, however, as we played bingo here in the park. Gail got lucky on one game and won 15 bucks. Anna and I were shut out. But it was fun, with about 50 people taking part. We go to all lengths to keep our grand-daughter amused.

I've not been quite as perky as usual, mainly because of the inflammation issue in the lower body, and because the sinuses don't want to behave. So my energy level has been a bit on the low-side. However, I'm taking my medication, and hope all goes better by the end of the week. Not a worry!!

Oh, I also have to mention that we walked into the village on Monday, and introuduced Anna to our favorite pub, The Shed. Sat and had a drink and watched the pelicans fly by. We've noticed this year that there seems to be an increase in traffic and the number of people in Homosassa. Seems like this little spot we've come to like so much is being discovered by a lot of other people. We hope it doesn't get over-run so that it takes away from the special atmosphere of the area.l

That's about it. I'll see if the wifi here supports pictures. In some parks the photos come up very quickly, and in others they crawl to the screen. Here goes.

First guy is a little burrowing owl, a tiny little guy who lives in a hole in the ground, sometimes a tunnel that's constructed by gopher tortoise.
Next is a caracara, a very handsome bird. Then a couple of white pelicans, which we can sometimes see in Canada, particularly in southern Alberta.
Next is a wood stork, showing his full wing span to this mate. Trying to lure here into his clutches, no doubt. Then a black vulture, cousin to our turkey vultures. He's much better looking than his cousins.
On to a look at two fine looking ladies who are enjoying the park.
Next is a roseate spoonbill. His name is pretty self-explanatory. Next is a great egret with a lovely water back-ground.
On to manatees out in the river area. In the park there is a rehab center for manatees that encounter problems in the river, such as getting hit by boat props or rammed by boats. There is a vet available to oversee the health of these huge harmless creatures. And finally, our friend Lu the hippo, who has been in this park for 56 years. He has been in a couple of movies, is the oldest living hippo in this hemisphere, and just turned 60.

That's it for now. More later. Stay tuned.

Monday, March 2 -- We're in a new month, one that usually suggests that spring can't be too far away. We are finally getting out of the cold spell we've had for several days, as yesterday was quite fine. Sunny and warm during the day, perfect for biking and for sitting on the deck at our favorite roost, The Shed, listening to a very good 6 piece band and enjoying a couple of brews. Life is good when you are well.

I wasn't well on Saturday. For some reason, I had considerable abdominal pain, which started just after I got up, and increased as the day wore on. Not being accustomed to such, we finally decided we'd better get it looked into. So we phoned our insurance people, who authorized us to go to the Seven Rivers hospital in Crystal River. We went immediately, as I was able to drive,  not wanting Gail to have to do so, as it would have been very difficult for her. We have to get her behind the wheel more often to give her confidence that she can drive this old rig.

Long story short, I got great attention. I was taken to the intake nurse before the receptionist had all of my info. Into the ER, checked out by a nurse, blood taken, samples of other fluids taken, and before long, in for a catscan, if you can believe it. After 3 hours, the results came back, showing all readings good, except there seemed to be some inflammation in the bowel. Prescription issued, bill to be sent (no idea what it will cost), and home we went. I was feeling somewhat better, and by the end of the day, the pain was minimal. Next morning I felt well.

So we tested the out-of-country medical coverage system for the first time, and it came out shining. We'll see how it goes when the bill is processed for a claim, but since everything we did was pre-approved, there shouldn't be a problem. A little scare well looked after.

The good news is that our grand-daughter Anna arrived last night after a monumental day of travel. Her devoted father drove her to the airport in Toronto, leaving at 2 a.m., and after a plane ride, two city buses, a bus from Orlando to Tampa, another bus to Crystal River, and an uber taxi ride (with the driver and other passenger smoking during the drive, much to Anna's disgust), she arrived at our r.v. park. We fed her and chatted a bit and put her to bed. It'll be fun having her share our digs for the next couple of weeks.

That's it for now. No pictures. Stay tuned. More later.