its song was so full of joy

One final heft and the swing was hooked to its frame, an icon of summer in place. Later, after a few other tasks were completed, I sunk down and took a deep breath. Birdsong serenaded me and a ‘peaceful, easy feeling’ washed over me. All was well with my world, at least for now. I turned my head to look at Grace and I could tell by the look on her face that she felt the same way. 

It was a glorious day… the first to reach summertime temperatures. My toes were happy to be freed from their cocoon of wool.

We cheated a bit in the afternoon and had a social distance visit with Trudie & Leo. We are keeping at least 10’ away and are careful to disinfect everything we touch. The social contact makes life seem normal.

I waffle with the idea that we are going to get it sooner or later so maybe now is good and then we’d be a buffer around Mom and Dad. I wish I knew how sick we’d get… I heard the other day that a woman I knew from work spent 10 days in hospital with Covid-19… she’s younger than me and as far as I know has no underlying conditions. So… maybe I want to hold out for a vaccine.

Today Carm and I celebrate the 33rd anniversary of our first real date - so many years ago! I was only 24, Carm was 33 so this anniversary means he’s been with me for half his life. And a good half it is! It was a good excuse to play dressup and bring out the good dishes.

Headline tonight:  1,159,430 cases with 67,391 deaths in the US. There are a total of 56,714 (55,061 yesterday) cases of Covid-19 in Canada today, with 3,566 (3,391 yesterday) deaths to date.

“A lark began to sing in the tree above her. Dortchen opened her eyes and looked up. It was such a small, plain, grey thing, yet its song was so full of joy. She could see its breast swell, its thin throat tremble. It lifted its wings, as if seeking to draw more air into its lungs. Song-notes were flung into the air, like golden coins thrown by a generous hand. All the lark's strength was poured into its music, all its joy.

Dortchen took a deep breath, so deep that she felt her lungs expand and the muscles of her chest crack. She wanted to live like the lark did, filled with rapture. She stood up, looking up at the bird through the sunlit leaves. It flung its wings wide and soared away into the sky. She wanted to fly with it.”

Kate Forsyth