Things are happening fast around here! In the space of a day we’ve divested ourselves of stuff which quite literally has been gathering dust on the shelves for years.  Gone are our CDs and DVDs (including sadly the Two Fat Ladies). Gone are the radio/CD player with its lovely wooden speakers, the Blue-Ray disc player and the big screen television. Likewise we’ve evacuated the bedroom furniture and in the same breath arranged to replace it with new custom-made pieces. Whew! The purification process is undeniably in full swing!

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A busy day today. I went from an early morning check-up at 9:00 am with my family physician to 10 o’clock blood work at the adjoining lab followed by X-rays in the hospital at noon, then a 1:00 pm COVID nasal swab at a local pharmacy and finally a late afternoon drive to Big-Rigs Bakery at Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior.  The latter inconsistency was overtly and unabashedly for the sole purpose of acquiring a large carrot cake with mountains of creamy white icing. The exigency and shamefulness of appetite!

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Among certain people it has become a common practice annually to update one’s Apple® products – iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch or AirPods. The company facilitates the ritual by offering what appear to be reasonable trade-in values for the various products.  I assume there is somewhere a market for moderately used devices. In addition there is predictable hype surrounding the evolution of the devices to their latest rendition (though some people naturally question the depth of improvement if any). From my admittedly casual experience of technology, it is generally assured that new is better. There seems to be no limit to technological advancement.

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Today’s engineering more accurately approaches wangling than choreograph. By a series of manoeuvres we are attempting to orchestrate or finagle an objective, “an instance of obtaining something by persuasion and clever manipulation”.

The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development has defined “engineering” as: The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

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…once I’ve written enough of one of my ongoing projects to show you, I’ll send that out…
~ Jacob ~

That terse but accommodating notation – apart from a Happy Easter salutation – was quite literally the bottom line of an email I recently received from a chap who identifies himself as a writer. Or, more precisely, from a chap who had the fraternity to call me a “fellow writer”. I had told him in my opening email to him that “I consider writing a hobby of mine.” Though I doubt I’ve made an inductive leap to label him a writer. He appears to take the calling humourlessly; indeed to the point of self-incrimination if he ignores his stated objective to become a published author.

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My late mother – who was I suppose a devout Roman Catholic – was accustomed to announce with moderate conviction that the sun always dances on the morning of Easter Sunday. I am uncertain what if anything she derived from that patently metaphorical observation but she nonetheless insisted upon repeating it year after year. Religiously. Religion meanwhile is collectively acknowledged to be under critical examination; and by other accounts it is generally on the way out. Picturing the performances of those professing the Christian faith – from swinging incense lamps, extraordinary costumes, curious prerogatives for eating and drinking, and the astonishing magic of television clerical personalities – it is to my mind befitting that the questionability of it all should arise.

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It was five days ago we reappeared on Canadian soil following an absence of 4½ very agreeable and purely lanquid months on Hilton Head Island, SC in the United States of America where the North Atlantic Ocean was our outer boundary, the shoreline and pathway along which we regularly cycled and surveyed the vast distant horizon and the source of pleasing moisture and ineffable sea air that buoyed us throughout our journey there. We returned to overtake our apartment for the next six months before departing once again. During these past few days we’ve managed already to address several matters of concern. Other duties await during the remainder of the month after which things kick into routine agenda like renewals, check-ups, income tax and birthdays.

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Although I am no longer a practicing Christian – and though I would not now tout myself as a pious individual – I cannot resist acknowledging the spiritual import of Easter, the reminder of unentitled but providential beneficence. We have a lot to be thankful for.  Just getting back to Almonte from South Carolina is for me a source of gratitude. I never presume that we shall escape chance misfortune. And at my age, based upon the record of others within the same time sphere, it’s now all gravy. I’m not saving anything for the funeral.

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When I drove into the City early this morning for a ten o’clock appointment with my jeweller I could tell that people had already abandoned their professional duties in favour of the upcoming Easter Weekend which I suppose technically starts tomorrow Good Friday. It made the drive on the Queensway a comfortable one – though naturally I arrived too early for my appointment and was forced to lean against a stone wall awaiting the appropriate time to meet with the jeweller.

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When I got on the scales this morning I was surprised that the damage report was as low as it is. Not that it is low by any account; just less than I had thought woud be the case. Today is our first full day back in Canada following our winter sojourn down south.  It’s as good a time as any to start a diet.

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