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Showing posts with label #social distancing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #social distancing. Show all posts

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Social Distancing - Day 27

 It's Easter weekend and a different weekend then we are used to. Easter with my mother this year involved a phone call as I walked along a path on the edge of the city. The wind was icy cold - strange for this time of year. What remains of winter couldn't melt away today, still too cold.

But back to that phone visit. It's strange to only share phone calls especially today. It would be better if we could at least see each other. Unfortunately, social distancing happened before I was able to set my mom up with Zoom or Skype or...  And, I'm not so sure if she's into me seeing her as she talks. Yesterday, she admitted to hanging out in her nightgown longer than normal. After all, there's no one stopping by.  I have to admit that the temptation to wear something so ugly that it's comfy or staying in your house coat for half the day looms. I mean, why not, there's no one that's going to catch you being lazy. There's not even the threat of a bottle drive crew knocking at the front door. The street is almost empty. No one, except another neighbour walking her dog. From the back, no one except the children down the easement jumping like crazy on their trampoline. Back to the front - no one except the neighbour's children dropping a homemade card in the mailbox. Okay - that was an assumption based on the card. I missed the delivery so I couldn't even wave at them through the window. But I can appreciate the thought behind the card every time I look at it.

The path I'm walking now winds for miles along the outskirts of the city.  It's become a favourite means of meditation and exercise these last weeks. So far, there's no social distancing required - it's empty, of people that is. Today, I did see a trio of robins and a
squirrel. I also had two kindly dogs bark at me. I gave them a quick hi as they remained safely distanced behind their fences and I continued on my way.

The playground equipment in an empty park caught my eye. The swings and teeter totter had caution tape across them and a barricade was placed in front of all of it. That just made me feel uneasy.  I left the park and headed toward the street and the easement beyond. Before I got there I saw one woman jogging, we did a polite across the street dodge and went on our way. Me turning to walk down the empty easement. It's rather eerie. Yesterday at least when I reached the end of one block, there had been the family walking down the street. I'd waited until they were on the intersecting street before heading down the next easement. I even waited longer than necessary but mostly because of a small boy dressed as a - I'm not sure, but I'm guessing, gopher. It was a full furry body suit, brown and covered everything including his head - I'm assuming that it didn't cover his face but I didn't get that close. I wanted to ask in the worst way, what he was pretending to be. But - the social distancing thing. Thus, I can't tell you for sure what animal he was pretending to be but I'm betting he was at least warm.

So after today's almost 4 kilometre walk, I think that I can cross my televised exercise crew off the list. After all I walked and it is Easter. Time to enjoy the rest of the day.

But before I close, I'm sharing this picture of the morning sky. It was gorgeous. There was no other word for it. It was a crisp blue with the clouds cutting across in a way that really could and should, have been painted.


Happy Easter!









Take care, keep safe!

Ryshia


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Friday, April 10, 2020

Flashback Friday - Skydiving 101

Today is Flashback Friday and also Good Friday. Wishing everyone an insightful and blessed day no matter what your beliefs.


Today, I'm going back in time to a post a friend wrote for me after her first experience skydiving. As I'm writing right now a story that involves a few sky diving incidents, I thought this was a great post. Especially, as I have never sky-dived and have relied on some of my friend's "expertise". So sit back and enjoy the story - I know I will.  Ryshia



Oh My God I Can Fly
by June Botkin

So what possesses a person to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
No one in their right mind would do such a thing!
Well I did and it was an experience that has no words to truly express the feelings of flying.

So, here is the story of a jump that changed my life and made me stronger and more determined to enjoy life to its fullest and keep challenging myself to push beyond the safe and known into the unfamiliar and scary places we don't like to go.


Just to get away from the rat race of work I headed to Oahu with a friend to lie on a beach, read books and just relax, or so I thought.  There were no thoughts in my head about skydiving I just wanted some quiet time.  I had never been to Waikiki so had no idea what to expect, beautiful weather, a great view of the ocean, beautiful flowers and peace and quiet.  However, everywhere I went I saw brochures for tandem skydiving on the North Shore and a long buried desire started to stir.  I dutifully picked up and read pamphlets and brochures on what to do and where to go, but kept coming back to jumping out of a plane in paradise.

For years now I thought that I would do this at home in Saskatchewan, over the prairies, when I was ready!  It was just one of those things that sticks in your brain that never goes away and you know at some point you will do it.  There was one particular brochure that I kept coming back to and re-reading the article about a tandem jump and looking at the pictures of the peoples' faces as they flew through the air.  Next I was checking out Skydive Hawaii's Website and before I knew it I was planning my jump.

Yes I did write out a Last Will and Testament.  I even wrote out my code status should something terrible happen.  My hotel was right beside the International Market so I headed there to get more information and possibly book a jump.  I spoke to a tour faciliator and before I knew what was happening I was on the phone to Kevin and booking a jump for Friday, April 16 at 9 a.m.  Fear began to grip me and I started thinking what in hell are you thinking, you could die or break a leg.  But deep down I knew this was something that I had to do.

North Shore - Courtesy www.pachd.com
My travel companion who had lived on the island was willing to get up early and drive out ot the North Shore and offer support but there was no way she was going to be jumping out of an airplane.  Friday morning came way too early; I have a small coffee and a bagel and begin to prepare for this insane experience.  Of course all that could go wrong, does go wrong.  My friend for whatever reason gest lost, which makes us late for my scheduled jump time, so I call Kevin and push the time out.  Next we run into a rain storm with strong winds as we crest the mountain to look down over the North Shore.  The white caps on the ocean are huge but I am determined not to chicken out, but fear is beginning to grip my heart and I am questioning whether I should go through with this especially now that I have written my Will.

Finally we arrive at Dillingham Field.  There are only a few people there to jump and 85% of them are women.  I speak to the owner and find out that there is a front moving in and that there would be no jumps today, did I want to rebook for tomorrow?  The thought crosses my mind that I can get out of this, I can say I tried, but the weather did not cooperate, but I know that is not what is going to happen.  I rebook for April 17 at 8 a.m. and begin filling out the liability paperwork.  At the bottom of every page in big bold black letters is the statement:

Skydiving is a high risk sport.  You could be injuried or die!  

My friend and I leave the airfield and head off to do some sight seeing, but really my mind is only on one thing...the jump.



Does she do it?  Personally, I'd be concerned if there's any validity to the term "scared to death."  Continued next Flashback Friday...    Ryshia




Take care, keep safe!

Ryshia


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Thursday, April 9, 2020

Social Distancing - Day 24

It would have been nice to begin at the beginning - when all this started. But what day was that? Our lives have been shaken up and spun around. And, with all the craziness, blogging was thrown under the bus for the last few weeks of March and the first week of April. But, it was during those times that social distancing and isolation became the new norm.

So here we are:

An Easter Bunny from Easter's Past.
Day 24

Day 24 is rather an iffy number. But I'm using that number as an approximation as to how many days I've been social distancing. I was being careful before that but I can't pin a number to those earlier days.

Day 24, begins counting from the day that my MIL, affectionately known as Ma D, went into lockdown at her care home.  That was the day that I lucked out and saw her that morning. Because that afternoon, the lockdown was implemented. I don't like the idea of a lockdown but I know that it has to be done. It's been phone calls since than and reminiscing about the good old days.

Our conversations begin like this:

                        Me:  "How's it going. Whatcha doing?"
                        Ma D: "I'm reading the paper."

And so it goes from there. For Ma D lives in a world where television does not exist and hasn't since her first signs of dementia. Computer technology was something she somehow missed even though she would have been middle-aged when those first Commodores hit the market. So, we are left with her daily newspapers, daily phone calls and, of course, the awesome staff who keep her safe and keep her routine unchanged. I miss seeing her but while that could be made possible by the staff with an iPad or computer, I'm not sure that introducing foreign technology would work right now. So we stick to the telephone.

What do I miss in this new world.
1. Giving Ma D a hug.
2. Sunday breakfast with my mom.
3. Friday breakfast with friends.
4. Starbucks and Tims coffee dates.
5. Visits to the library.

Hmmm - Some Organization Is In Order.
The list of what I miss is long and I won't bore you with the details as I'm sure you have your own list. Despite that, it's not all bad. Here's, while not ideal, what I look forward to in my new - social distancing mode:
1. Telephone visits with my mom.
2. Telephone visits with Ma D.
3. Updates from my writer group on Facebook.
4. Coffee dates by computer or phone.
5. Visits to my backlog of books in the downstairs bookcases, now called, the library.






And here is the smile for the day. 

A Canadian couple from Saskatchewan get off the plane in a foreign country where they are asked where they are from, they answer:

"Saskatoon, Saskatchewan"

The other man turns to his friend and says:
"They don't speak English."

So, if bad jokes could fix anything...




Until later. 

Take care, keep safe!

Ryshia


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