Let The Sunshine In

I remember every September in grade school being asked to write about what I did on my summer vacation. Back in those days, summer vacation was usually spent playing with neighborhood kids, the odd trip to the outdoor community swimming pool or to get ice cream and perhaps a trip to visit out of town relatives. Nothing too remarkable to report to your teachers and classmates.

Fast forward to the summer of 2021, which has brought a series of events that has made this summer something to write about, but for all the wrong reasons. Ongoing COVID, blistering heat and no rain leading to forest fires in every direction and smoke hanging over our skies for days on end. Life has felt challenging with some days feeling heavy and dark.

With much written about how difficult our summer has been, I find it’s easy to forget that there is still some normalcy and even some fun happening in our days. And honestly, right now, I really need to remember what normal feels like and look for those little bits of sunshine that make their way through the smoke.

So, on a positive note and with the greatest respect for those who have suffered through life altering experiences this summer, here are some of my little bits of sunshine.

Peace In The Valley

As we watched our nightly weather report in June, we were warned that summer heat was coming – nothing unusual for our neck of the woods at this time of year. But as July approached we started hearing about extremely high temperatures coming because of a heat dome forming over our area. Not a term we’d heard before but, as it implies, a dome of heat gets trapped in the atmosphere leading to unusually high temperatures, and boy were they right.

We had temperatures in the mid to high 40 degrees (Celsius) for days on end, too hot to be outside for any length of time. Coincidentally, this happened at just about the time my husband and I usually commence our annual summer long “discussion” about whether the air conditioning in the house should be on or off and what temperature we should set it at. You see, my husband dislikes air conditioning and tolerates the heat much better than I do which leads to a merry go round of me turning the air conditioning on and he following closely behind turning it off. But this year I guess you could say even he found it too hot to handle – the annual “discussion” hasn’t materialized and we are happily coexisting at 23 degrees Celsius! Can’t wait for the polar vortex to arrive and the other annual “discussion” we have about the furnace temperature!

Oh Deer

Urban deer wandering around our city are nothing new. We see them in the streets around our neighborhood and they regularly come into our cul-de-sac to sit in the shade and munch on some of the plants. Usually when we encounter them, we stroll by, keeping a safe distance, and perhaps stop and take a picture. I never really thought of deer as aggressive or to be feared, but after I heard a radio report about a local woman being attacked by a deer while out for a walk, I made a note to myself to be more careful around them.

I did not realize how much the report of the deer attack affected me until a few weeks later when I came around the corner of our house on my way to do errands and unexpectedly came face to face with a deer sitting in the shade beside our vehicle. We made eye contact and I wish I could tell you that I calmly walked over and got into my vehicle and went on my way but alas I can’t. I panicked and ran back in the house slamming the door, hoping the noise would cause the deer to move on.

No luck, so I yelled for my husband to come back out with me to act as a decoy, which to his credit he did without laughing. After walking the perimeter of the cul-de-sac while the deer placidly sat and watched, I made it to our vehicle unscathed. I am happy to report that my husband also made it back to the house unscathed as the deer slowly sauntered by him out of the cul-de-sac. I am also happy to report that none of the neighbors were witness to this event as I think they would have been seriously questioning my sanity. And I think the deer hotline has passed the word along to avoid the crazy lady in the green house, as we haven’t seen any deer since.

A Camping We Will Go

With second and third waves of COVID to deal with and a fourth wave predicted, we were worried that a visit from our kids and grandkids would not be possible this summer. Fortunately all eligible family members were able to get “the jab” before summer vacation, and so we were able to get together. A huge positive which buoyed everyone’s spirits.

With experts still advising caution, we wanted to focus on activities that kept us outdoors and away from crowds. It didn’t take long for my husband to bring up camping as something that would be perfect under the circumstances and would fulfill his long held wish to try it out. Not being a camping type of girl and feeling very confident that he would not be able to find a free campsite at this late date, I agreed that camping would fit the bill.

Not giving it another thought, imagine my shock when he announced one morning that he had found a campsite close by, for one night a few nights hence, when we would be on our own with our four grandkids. After unsuccessful lobbying on my part to rethink this plan, it seemed we were going camping despite neither of us really knowing what we were doing. And unbeknownst to me we were already the proud owners of a nine person tent.

After hours of packing and bringing what seemed like everything but the kitchen sink, we were off to campsite #15 at Haynes Point campground, about an hour away. The campsite itself was beautiful – lakefront with our own beach and lots of room to set up. The campfire ban that was in place meant no marshmallow roasting or telling scary stories while around the fire, but given our rookie camping status, this was probably a good thing for the safety of everyone in the campground.

First order of business was setting up the tent which thankfully the grandkids had some experience in doing. It was then that we discovered, not only had we left the kitchen sink behind, but we had also left behind a hammer to secure the tent pegs. Not to be deterred, we were able to get the tent set up and using a rag tag assortment of yoga mats, lounge chair cushions, blankets and exercise mats, sorted out a spot for everyone in the tent. I have to admit that, after seeing how tight the space was, even though there were only six of us in a nine person tent, the line from a children’s song, “six in the bed and the little one said roll over, roll over, they all rolled over and one fell out,” came to mind. Rolling over during the night was not going to be an easy task!

After an afternoon and evening of swimming and paddle boarding, dinner and more swimming, paddle boarding, and skipping stones, grandma and grandpa were ready for bed. It was then we discovered that we had also forgotten the flashlight but inexplicably had brought TP which the grandkids thought was hilarious. Cellphones quickly solved the forgotten flashlight problem and as grandma and grandpa settled in the tent the grandkids stayed up playing card games, talking and just generally enjoying spending time together.

After a hot, smoky, questionable night’s sleep we packed up and all agreed over breakfast that the camping experience was a success. I loved watching the grandkids having fun, learning more about each other and strengthening those all important family bonds. In the end that made a night sleeping on a lounge chair cushion on the floor of a tent all worth it!

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

For several weeks now we have had forest fires burning in every direction around us. None of them close enough to trigger any need for immediate action on our part but causing heavy smoke in our skies. After eleven straight days of having to stay inside because the smoke was so heavy, and a husband who could only use the rowing machine in the basement for so long, we had to do something.

My husband used his trusty air quality app to find places we could go that had healthier air; the trouble was that when the winds changed, so would the air quality, which meant what looked healthy at 9am could change to very unhealthy by noon.

With COVID still looming we were hesitant about travelling, but the ongoing smoke gave us that extra push we needed to venture back out into the world. And so, with wipes, hand sanitizer, masks and proof of vaccination cards in hand we packed up the van and headed for Lake Louise to meet up with our son and his girlfriend. And wouldn’t you know it, the day we left was the first day we had had clear skies for days! That was not long lasting however, as shortly after leaving we encountered smoke again for most of our journey.

Just as we were resigning ourselves to having to stay inside at our destination, we literally came around a corner and the smoke lifted. I’m happy to report that clean air and spectacular scenery was ours for the four days we were there. And the icing on the cake (no pun intended) was that we were able to help our son celebrate his birthday in person!

What’s In Your Memory Bank?

Neuroscientists tell us that we have a negativity bias built into our DNA which means that we are far more likely to remember negative events than we are positive events. I know I won’t forget the negative events from this summer for a long time to come, but I truly am going to try and overcome my negativity bias and, as the old song says, “ac-cen-tuate the positive, e-lim-inate the negative.” And what I know for sure is that

Betty Would Love That!

We’re back from our summer vacation refreshed and ready to go! We plan on publishing a new post every Monday so stay tuned for our next one entitled “Inquiring Minds Want to Know.”