I really, truly, have no wish to go anywhere where I will be in close contact with anyone. I've cancelled appointments at the hospital for check-ups because I hesitate to appear there. But several days ago an old filling was suddenly missing and when I run my tongue along the two teeth between which there is now a gap the size of the Ausable Chasm, I 'grit my teeth' and will go to the dentist to get it looked after. That's what I've got to look forward to, tomorrow.

Today no appointments anywhere, which is just how I like it. Irving needs to get new eyeglasses. Although his current pair isn't that old, and he had non-glare and non-scratch features on the lenses, they're somehow well scratched and need replacing. The odd thing is that unlike me, he is careful with his glasses. As soon as the optometrist strike is over in Ontario he'll make an appointment for an examination and see if his prescription needs changing.

I suspect many other people react just as we do when it comes to making appointments revolving around their health and well-being in this time of the novel coronavirus. Contact is minimal, crowds to be avoided, masks mandatory and the result is that this area is being very well managed, with a fairly low case count. Occasionally we'll see a child on a bicycle wheeling down the street with a mask on. That's a mother who is concerned to a fault, and a child who is obedient to that concern.

Irving took Jackie and Jillie out to the ravine last thing before we went up to bed, last night. On the porch, was a single, very small -- the smallest we've yet seen -- little raccoon; earlier a pair of quite large raccoons were scooping up peanuts. If either of the two families had been around, we missed them. A few minutes later, when we were getting into bed, the sound of voluminous rain hitting the window. And it rained profusely all night, one downpour after another.

So it's a soaked landscape we have, but despite weather warning of possible thunderstorms erupting in the afternoon, we've had a bright sunny day of 22C, just perfect for a hike through the ravine. When we were preparing to go out, Jackie and Jillie tore through the  house in a wild escapade of jubilant expectation. This was well before we asked their permission to prepare ourselves to forge into the woods with them.

And so, we did, and we found the forest floor surprisingly wet everywhere. Just yesterday it was dry when we expected it would exhibit at least a bit of reaction from previous rainfalls. Conditions were such that when we brought Jackie and Jillie home and washed their paws after our hike the previous few days it took forever to get them clean. Today it was so wet that their paws were sparkling clean.

When we made our way out by going through the meadow first on our way up and out of the ravine, there were two young boys with some rudimentary gear in the creek by the output pipe busy trying to corral goldfish. None were to be seen, the water was fairly turbulent from all the rain. This wasn't their first foray and they were determined to bring home a few fish to join others they had managed to scoop up in their home fish tanks. When I see boys engaged in this kind of enterprise, I think of our own youngest when he was that age.

I was contemplating what to prepare for dinner tonight and I had two likely candidates, then settled on a savoury harvest tart. I don't make them very often, and we both like that combination of vegetables and cheese in a double crust. It starts out with gently stirred garlic and onion in olive oil, and I added some fennel seed. When the bottom crust is rolled out, in goes the cooled garlic/onion. Then anchovies, because Irving suggested we add them. Over that layer, a layer of shredded Mozzarella cheese, followed by sliced tomatoes sprinkled with oregano and basil. Then more cheese, including Parmesan this time. On with the top crust, and into the oven!