The unparalleled perplexity of EV charging has once again today topped our otherwise modest perambulation history. Though – after hugely frustrating disruption and annoyance – we were at last able to activate a charging session at our halfway point of travel earlier in the day, we learned (on a subsequent try further along at the end of our route) to our distress that we hadn’t mastered the skill.  However with the assistance of a young woman (who with her bearded beau and puppy Bichon Frisé had just charged her own vehicle aside our own), we succeeded to capture the initiative of one of several Apps we fortunately had already activated (and – most importantly – had already added funds to the account). Using our App (and the underlying map) she instructed us how to find and select the exact pump then to begin the charging process.

Throughout this twisting chapter and challenge – but entirely unrelated to our immediate purpose, I saw a small commercial van advertising a window cleaning service.  The metaphor of improving one’s view instantly overtook me. It invoked as well the universality of the application; that is, each of us – whatever our mode or direction – is faced with the need and possibility of renewal. While there may be an inarguable weight to the preservation of the status quo as well as the familiarity of all that we already know, there is a more fortifying alternative to be derived from embracing new steps though short and unsteady and sometimes upon gravelly paths.

At the end of the day  – in spite of the intervening tumult – we have positioned ourselves exactly as planned. Tomorrow it’s Prince Edward Island! The redolent image of the island recalls another late summer adventure with my partner years ago. We had swirled about the island, touching upon isolated and pristine beaches, sometimes witnessing shuddered coastal wooden structures standing tall and tranquil still bleached by the summer’s sun and wind, recalling lonesome thoughts from nowhere.