I remained sitting in the car, waiting for my husband who had gone briefly into the pet food store to bring back a large bag of the kibble that Jackie and Jillie eat. And as I sat there for those few minutes it wasn't possible to ignore the number of people who have become truly obese. Not merely overweight, but weighted by excess fat to the extent that they cannot walk normally, have difficulty exiting a vehicle, seem awkward in their gait and movement, and I was reminded of an article I read in the newspaper recently.

Referring to data that Kaiser Permanente in the U.S., had gathered using statistics gained from their own clients. Using 6,016 patients' health characteristics to come up with an answer that researchers were looking for; did, and how much did obesity affect the infection rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the general population? They produced a research paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal, concluding that those in the 40--44 BMI range have a 168 percent chance of contracting COVID-19 over what a person whose weight falls within a normal range, would have. 

If I were obese I would find that extreme vulnerability beyond worrying. On the other hand, since I'm approaching my mid-80s, I also fall into the extreme vulnerability range of contracting COVID, so there's that reality. And though I'm concerned, I'm far from obsessing about it, just taking what can only be construed of these days as sensible precautions. And in all likelihood, so too are the heavily overweight and obese.

We had decided to do our food shopping at a more leisurely time of day rather than wake up early and trot right out to the supermarket before the rush of shoppers. Reason was that we didn't need to do a full shopping and wouldn't be long in the store. And so, instead of rushing out to shop for our groceries first thing in the morning, we took our time and went out to the ravine as usual with Jackie and Jillie for our early morning tramp through the forest trails.

Where we're noticing a little bit of an acceleration of poplar leaves turning colour and falling to the ground. The colours they turn are not those of fall necessarily, which tend to be mostly yellows tinged with orange. These early-season head-starters are pink and yellow, with tinges of bright green. Hard not to notice them lying on the forest floor; they're show-offs, clamouring to be seen and admired.

We were a tad earlier than usual, so we were a little surprised to see quite a few others out at that hour, then we remembered that this afternoon, though destined not to be as hot as usual, would host thunderstorms. Much as yesterday afternoon had. And once again it had rained through the night. So, though the sky still had plenty of iffy clouds, there was also some blue, and we felt confident enough we wouldn't be caught out in a rainstorm.

We're still puzzled over the lack of apples from the usually burdened wild apple trees. So we were delighted to find one small red apple nestled between foliage that almost hid its presence. It was smaller than the leaves surrounding it. And since it appeared to be sufficiently ripe, my husband knocked against the branch holding it with a long-dead branch he had plucked from the forest floor and it came into our possession, demanding immediate attention from Jackie and Jillie. Both of whom enjoyed it tremendously, given small bites, dividing it between them.

A lovely haul through the forest trails, where on several occasions the sun emerged behind the clouds for prolonged visits, illuminating the landscape beautifully. When we arrived back home we showered, breakfasted, cleared away the dishes, and went out to do our shopping. By then the sky had turned about as dark as it possibly could with banks of charcoal-grey clouds moving through the sky and rain falling steadily. It wasn't until our shopping was done, we returned home and awarded treats to Jackie and Jillie that the first of the thunderstorms struck.