It was like Christmas this morning! That bounding thrust to get up and get going! Another balmy summer day! Without dwelling upon the impetus we immediately launched ourselves onto la route précise for a rejuvenating bicycle ride throughout the neighbourhood.

There is amidst this spirited design an alteration required, an adjustment to new objectives. The awakened manifestation of glee is a sudden transformation from moody and worrisome. Contemporaneously there is an evaporation of those niggling themes which have unconsciously subdued the past year of pandemic. It is an unforeseen release of pain. Or a relief, a sudden distance or removal from obstruction.

The intolerance of the mind for simmering restraint is undeniable. But that doesn’t mean one can simply walk from it.  It’s like a garlic odour that lingers even after removal of the herb. It is a toxin that courses through one’s thoughts and dreams.

So as much as I value a visceral response to whatever is before us I am nonetheless provoked by the keenness of the lingering bitter flavour to adopt by way of concession to logic that the immutability of some of life’s features doesn’t restrict the commercial dynamics of blunt acknowledgement, spirited modification, soulful resolve and perhaps some gambling between the inner and outer schemes of the Universe. I mean, who’s to say? It’s one thing to calculate that death and decay are inevitable; it’s another to carry on unhindered before that dreadful day.

Bill Blair, the federal minister of public safety, took to Twitter to announce the extension of the border closure. He tweeted that “Our number one priority as we fight #COVID19 is keeping Canadians safe. In coordination with the U.S., we are extending restrictions on non-essential international travel and with the United States until July 21st, 2021.”

Le me see, how did I begin? I had a bowl of apple sauce this morning for breakfast.  Onto it I squeezed the juice of a small lemon.  The taste – though tart – was perfection! It is with that same clarity and simplicity that I seek to complement my other personal nuances. We cannot expect to have escaped every complaint in life. Yet equally we can insist upon relishing what we have escaped.