An Ontario summer is magical!  Sitting on the patio at the golf club overlooking the Mississippi River renders an ineffable picture to the mind’s eye!  Already we are contemplating our return to Canada from our treasured Key Largo where almost every day for the past six months has been blue sky, dazzling sunshine and turquoise sea. Yet as mellowing as it has been we haven’t lost our shameless appetite for cooler air and the riparian atmosphere of the meandering waterway which dignifies and characterizes so many elements of our historic rural town and surrounding hamlets.

It is only within the past week (as our departure from Key Largo approaches) that we have revitalized our attachment to home territory.  The fervour of North American springtime has awakened us from our remote hibernation just as it has stirred the once darkened cave of the sleeping bear (though admittedly with less spectacle and extrication).  Seemingly natural nonetheless.

The anticipated beauty is but one of the former dormancies which have been aroused. Today for example I have also mechanically revived the latent consignment of certain jewelry. The stuff has been in the hands of my trusted jeweller for about a year.  To date there has been no interest in the material so it is time to recall it from its own suspension and to consider alternatives before every detail of it dissolves and is forgotten.

Reflecting the newness of springtime is the setting up of our new apartment in which we have yet to spend more than three hours. This particular extended period of inactivity has not been entirely fruitless.  During the winter we have communicated with our housekeeper, a moving agent and family regarding displacement and replacement of furnishings; and with  the property manager and the supervisor concerning window treatments and the installation of electrical outlets for EV Chargers. We still are assured to have plenty of time to consider the magnificence of the upriver view from our balcony as we muse on the precise location of our myriad of portraits, paintings and wall hangings. If I recall correctly we have only unrolled two of our Oriental and Persian rugs. This afternoon I spoke with my sister about arranging the delivery of certain family antique furnishings in her possession for our scrutiny.

Not the least of our stirring today has been to shout out to old friends about renewing congregation over coffee or a casual meal to get caught up on the news affecting us all. It is ineluctable that time has narrowed the scope of friendship so we all treat the matter with a measure of unintended gravity. Certainly the deprivation of gossip for the past six months invigorates the anticipation. As importantly it predicts the activity to cement the sinews of the coalitions. It is all told an auspicious juncture!