Last Tuesday, after I finished my post, I made a trip to COSTCO. This was the first Tuesday morning when seniors were allowed in at 8:00 am. I got there at 7:30 and the line at the front door was already long, but we were all keeping our distance. By 7:55, when the line was gigantic, the manager came out, welcomed us and said, sorry, but we had to enter by a different door, the one behind us. Well of course, when we turned around, the last people in the line were now the first people getting in. Pandemonium! Soon everyone was pushing and shoving to get to their “rightful” place in line. Then we realized that we were all so close together that we were infecting each other with covid 19. What difference did COSTCO make when we might all be dead in a few days? Finally someone began to laugh at the absurdity of it all and soon we were all laughing. What else could we do?
Two days ago my husband Peter called me into the kitchen where he was staring out the window. “What is that thing with the fluffy tail?” he asked. Soon the body appeared – black with a white stripe. Oops! Peter went out the back door and, staying well away, began to make loud noises. The skunk ambled off into the neighbours’ back yard. Half an hour later he reappeared, but Peter was ready with some baseballs he had found in the garage. Using his best athletic skills, he threw them at the skunk. This time the nasty creature ducked under our cute little garden shed. Oh No! An unwanted tenant!
This is our life now, where a trip to COSTCO or a skunk in our back yard is the most fun we’ve had in ages.
Or there was the day I decided that, since our cleaning lady Lucy was no longer coming, it was time to wash the kitchen floor. First I had to figure out her high-tech mop. I got the mop head fastened onto the handle. Then I tried the pedal for wringing out the mop. It took me a while to realize that there was no need to plug the pail in. Next I had to think about what cleaning fluid to use. We didn’t have a lot of disinfecting drug-store alcohol and it seemed a shame to waste a bottle of Glenlivet on the floor, so I settled for vinegar. When I was done, I was so excited about my clean floor with no streaks or splotches, that I washed the bathroom floors too!
When washing floors is the height of my day, it is a pretty sad state of affairs.
Our dinnertime conversations, usually enlightening exchanges, have degenerated to topics like hair maintenance. Somehow this was Not declared an essential service. Who is running this province anyway? Peter’s hair, often a little long, is now growing well below his collar. I’ll probably have to trim it for him, when I can find a bowl big enough to go on his head. Meanwhile my bangs are growing into waves, and my natural color, Benjamin Moore calls it Elephant Herd, is starting to show through. It’s a whole new look! We’ll be Soooo trendy when this is over.
So you can see that our lives, even in the city, are pretty mundane these days. Is there anybody truly happy? Yes – DOGS! Since everybody wants to go outside, and we aren’t supposed to travel in groups, each person wants a turn taking the dog for a walk. Family members line up at the door for a chance with the dog. By the end of the day the dog is exhausted, so he climbs on somebody’s lap. The recipient welcomes him up, desperate to hug another being, anything warm and breathing.
We don’t have a dog – yet. But by next Tuesday, well you never know…
Sue
Seventy In the City 
I just want to speak for the skunk. When we lived in Toronto, near High Park, we had a family of skunks living under the garage. The babies were delightful to watch, and the mother proudly promenaded them out in the evening. Never once did they cause any trouble. They matured and matriculated and went on their way.
Here, there is another regular, who is friends to the cats. They love to sit on the porch (if I allow them out at night) or from the window sill. We suspect a love affair between the one female cat and this late-night Lothario. He does an excellent job of digging up the white grubs and aerating the lawn at the same time. We believe his permanent residence is under the floor of the bank barn loft.
Rabies is such a rarity as to be negligible in consideration of any threat. I’ve never seen a sick animal here in 40+ years.
Maybe, you can see a place for this one in your space and your hearts. They are nocturnal, so meeting one by surprise is unlikely, unless you have a foolish dog out in the back yard at night. There is not much a skunk can call home these days in a big city like Toronto.
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Thanks Dorita, I appreciate your comments. As long as we don’t get sprayed, it can hide under the shed and keep eating the grubs and aeriating the lawn. Take care.
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Great to hear from you this week. Everyone needs to have a laugh. We can relate to your lifestyle. Have you goggled how to get rid of skunks?
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Io ahimè vivo a Verona e non ho mai visto una puzzola! Puoi chiamarla Fiore, come nel film Bambi
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