So we woke at six this morning to prepare for our biweekly grocery shopping expedition. It feels like an expedition. We leave Jackie and Jillie in the doldrums as usual, complaining piteously at being left alone in the house that becomes a prison when we're not there with them; its comfort transformed into an alien and cold place of misery, to hear them out. But off we went, to arrive at the supermarket at seven, when they open the doors, wipe down the shopping carts and allow only the elderly to enter and shop.

It all feels so strained and strange. Even after four months of this, it's difficult to credit that it's happening, much less that it is required to remain healthy and alive, to avoid coming in contact with threatening surfaces or others who might be nursing the virus internally, eager to escape the confines of their host and make you another unwitting breeding ground as it multiples endlessly and seeks to infect as its mission in life, ending yours.

Wearing a mask is anything but comfortable. It is confining and peculiar to the extreme. I find it difficult to breathe properly. When I feel like touching my face I must restrain myself. Haul out a tissue to dab at a moist nose? Forget it. My husband has adjusted to this new reality far better than I have. His resilience and good nature buoy me.

For the most part, the shelves were full. Selection was good. And it was noticeable for the first time that prices had risen, substantially in some areas, principally vegetables. To be expected. Unexpected is that Dove soap now is sold in packs of three, at the bargain-basement price of $4.95 a pack. There are still some sales every time we venture out; today it was olive oil. We practically had the store to ourselves. Yes there was a handful of other seniors, but it's a large store, and we seldom came close to anyone else.

The Food Bank isn't picking up donations often enough, it seems. The large enclosure to deposit offerings within was packed full. It seems that people are more generous now, more committed to ensuring that when they shop they remember others whose financial condition doesn't permit them to enter a supermarket and buy produce needed to remain healthy, without worrying about the cost.

After breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen we headed out to the ravine with Jackie and Jillie. It was still relatively cool at 22C, with a cooling breeze. The sun had finally come out from under the low-ceilinged clouds we've had so much of these weeks. On the forest floor as we meandered about, taking our time, we noticed the raspberries are already beginning to form.

Most of the forest's old ash trees had been subject to a terrible blow the last few years with the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer. There were so many dead trees their condition was considered a danger to people passing by on the trails, and three years ago the municipality had sent their parks crews into the forest to cut down dead trees adjacent the trails, removing the danger of treefall and injury or death to the unwary. The trunks were left where they fell, as should be, and now, out of and around the stumps the ashes are doing their utmost to revive themselves, heroically reclaiming life.

Elderberry trees, which the last few years have been establishing themselves alongside the creek at the bottom of the ravine and elsewhere, among the pines, spruce, fir, oak, birch, beech, yew, sumac, hawthorn and so many other species, have been proliferating. And they're now in flower, a pretty sight.

And when we had completed our circuit for the day, turning our direction back toward home, we realized that very few people had been out on the trails. We hadn't come alongside any others at all, in fact, and my husband speculated that because tomorrow is Canada Day and everything will be closed, the community has picked itself up and gone out en masse to shop.

At home, we spent the usual enjoyable spin-about the garden, taking stock, and while at it, photographs because I cannot resist seeing the results; bright, perky colourful flowers flaunting their beauty in the garden. It's a time for Jackie and Jillie to wind down too, sauntering about before we all head indoors, as the heat of the day begins to mount.