The West Commences:

Thanksgiving 2020 CE

2020 meant perfect vision to me,

until 2020 CE.

It's no longer something I wish I had

I've had it!!

I'm in my gloomy sunroom at 4:30pm on a dull, cool, rainy day in the Okanagan. But oddly enough, I feel fine. I think I'm buoyed by having spent the day washing summer and winter clothes, storing the former away and filling the cupboards and drawers with the latter. I have always bought most of my clothes in second hand or consignment shops, much to Jim's and my father's chagrin. Dad's comment one year as I got off the train from Kingston in Thunder Bay for Christmas proudly wearing a preowned fur coat, was, "Oh Jan, that wasn't even good when it was new." I hated to disappoint my dad, but his comment made me laugh. He had had a wry expression on his face as he made it, and I was old enough by that point to know that although I wasn't the perfect daughter of his dreams I was the real one who laughed at his jokes and made him laugh in my turn. Seeing my own well worn clothes again as the seasons change gives me a lift. They're still around, like old friends. It's new clothes that make me feel ill at ease. If I buy something new, I rarely wear it right away. I like it to hang around with the old stuff for a while to test its character.

The forecast for the Thanksgiving weekend, according to my iPhone, is for more of the same, cool and rainy. I've done a lot of biking and rambling lately, so staying inside will be fine. On Wednesday, I was invited to a friend's place for dinner for five on the deck. She's a very good cook, so Thanksgiving Dinner is done. I'll join Mo,John and their daughter Kim for something on the weekend, so I will be following Bonnie Henry's advice to give big thanks in small groups. Lately I have started to find her voice a bit soporific and her messages rather saccharine, but BC has handled Covid fairly well under her guidance. She states the facts, doesn't panic and rather than issuing edicts, asks people to be kind to each other. What else can you ask?

To escape the miasma from the south,and I'm not referring to the smoke from the fires still burning in California, I am reading another book by Rutger Bregman,

Humankind, it's so much more stimulating, humane and well informed than the narcissistic nonsense coming from the Whitehouse.

I'm thankful this weekend for the fact that Jay and May have found a new place. They have been searching for a while. They are back in Songdo where I had such good visits with them. They are on the first floor of a high rise, so Jay says it feels like a house more than an apartment. Their windows look out on a park and a badminton court. They are very happy with it, and I am happy for them.

So Thanksgiving 2020 is not without glimmers of hope.

Jay and May's new home