Of Oddities and Odysseys

These past eight weeks have been bizarre, to say the least. A time for conspiracy theorists to thrive.

We were essentially evacuated at the last minute from our winter home in Cuba amidst considerable uncertainty and stress. Borders were closing. Airlines were allegedly shutting down.

We came home to a “State of Emergency” here in our home Province of Nova Scotia and indeed in Canada. Forced isolation for two weeks greeted us. This has been followed by six weeks of social distancing and awkward encounters. And it is ongoing. Messages are mixed and sometimes conflicting.

Yet we have not been hard done by, and perhaps that is because we are not alone. Everyone is in the same boat – or at least the same sort of boat – whether they be in the United Kingdom, Germany, Cuba, virtually every other country in the world, or here at home.

The weather has been disappointing but perhaps orchestrated to keep us inside – if you are a conspiracy theorist, which I am not. We have found creative ways to give us a sense of normalcy.

But we do exist in limbo, as does the rest of the world’s people. For us, we wonder if we will be able to traverse three provincial border stations to make it to our summer cabin in Ontario. One wonders, what has become of our mobility rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

 If we cannot do this, it will be the first time in 34 years that we have not been able to spend a good deal of time there during the summer. Of course, we should be loath to complain about having to spend it here by the sea, where the seals keep us amused, as do the small birds harassing the bald eagle. It’s all very symbolic you see.

But our rustic cabin needs our care. It has sustained damage for the first time in all of those 34 seasons. High winds, no doubt orchestrated by those same elusive daemons, have toppled a mighty cedar tree, which crashed thoughtlessly through the large front window.

It is a difficult time to deal with repairs especially form a distance; but fortunately the kindness of neighbours has secured it against the elements for the time being.

We have, however, learned of another strange and recent occurrence in these bizarre times of weather bombs and foreign conspiracies… Our small lake, which is usually home to loons, ducks, and sometimes Canada Geese, with occasional visits by a cormorant or two, has recently been visited by another type of water fowl.

We learned this from a cottage neighbour. And this visitor has ne’er been seen by my eyes on our lake in those 34 previous seasons. It is a graceful Trumpet Swan, and one accompanied by a strange bedfellow” at that: a lone Canada Goose! 

Strange times indeed. Perhaps an omen for better things to come. Or is this just another conspiracy?