virtual visits

Headline tonight: There are a total of  5,655 (4,043 yesterday) cases of Covid-19 in Canada today, with 60 (39 yesterday) deaths to date.

I was thinking today about my great grandparents who settled in the wilds of southern Alberta in 1913, far from any sizable town or city. Social isolation must have been a big thing for them with no internet, telephone, or other way to easily communicate with others. I wonder how often they gathered with neighbors when the winter raged on. A new generation lives there now, and in some ways they are more isolated than ever as local family farms are sold to giant companies letting old farmhouses crumble.

I must take strength from them. Not that I particularly need strength, but gosh, I’d love to have some people over for supper!

We did have virtual company last night. Kirsten, Shawn, and the girls joined us for some cake after supper last night. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I’m starting to feel more comfortable with these visits over the internet. There are a myriad of apps that let us connect in this way - imagine 10 years ago when the technology wasn’t there. 

Anyway, we talked for almost 1 ½ hours! It was a wonderful time.

We got the dogs outside before it started raining. Spike pottered out to the field with us and was happy to be hunting with Adia… until she went crazy dog and zoomed him. He gets mad and leaps after her, jaws snapping. He’s getting some exercise, but I’m not sure how much fun he’s having.

I’m getting reminders from my calendar about our cruise that we were supposed to be flying to today. They are disturbing messages from another very distant reality.

This afternoon we had another ‘visitor’: Olaf dropped in for a quick hello and a few laughs. We met up again after supper for another 1 ½ hours of fun! I’m getting the hang of this virtual visiting and hope to catch up with some friends soon.

“You never really know what's coming. A small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drown in its monstrosity.”

~Alysha Speer