Early morning weather didn't present a very auspicious outlook on the day when we left the house for my day-after assessment of my eye after yesterday's cataract surgery. It was a chill 4C with a brisk wind and darkly overcast. On yesterday's drive to the eye clinic we had seen a flock of wild turkeys, today there were Canada geese, like the turkeys browsing on National Capital Commission land close to the RCMP stables. The forest alongside the Eastern Parkway following the Ottawa River is coming to life again. There are quite a few weeping willows along that drive and they're already lush with green, though none of their companion deciduous trees appear anything like ready to begin leafing.

 

 

The weather had its effect on the river; it looked dark, menacing and choppy. It's quite swollen, the water level noticeably higher than usual. But there's no more ice or snow to be seen anywhere, and that's real progress. The drive was uneventful. The clinic was busy, but I was seen speedily for a change, and the examination went well. Although the surface of my eye is swollen still, all other indications are excellent. By next week's follow-up examination I should be returned to normal. And I'm already taking advantage of the change; my vision has improved; colours more crisp and there is greater clarity in that eye.

 

Instead of driving right home we drove over to the Byward Market. We haven't visited it in well over a year. And even in that relatively short length of time there have been astonishing changes. Ottawa is on a construction spree. As well, many of the century-buildings have been given new facades. Unhappily, many of the little old shops that we were familiar with from years back are no longer in business. The magazine shop was, though, and Irving picked up a few of the otherwise-hard-to-get art magazines he's interested in. 

 

Only one of the specialty cheese shops was still in operation, and it's under new management. Irving wanted to get a jar of the fish roe he was accustomed to sourcing there, but it was on back order. He did manage to pick up some specialty cheese he's unable to get anywhere else, so the trip wasn't a complete failure. The streets directly in the market were fairly full of people; the area is a favourite with tourists.

 

When we were finally back home again, two frantic little puppies greeted us hysterically, but they calmed down eventually, and once a little pan of post-breakfast scrambled eggs was prepared for them they had forgotten their panic and settled down to wait while we  had our own breakfast; a late-late breakfast we took our time with, catching up with the newspapers.

The temperature began to rise, and the sun emerged. It was turning into a lovely day, after all. (I can hardly believe how crisp print looks now, following my eye surgery!)

 

So we gathered ourselves for an afternoon hike through the forest to take advantage of our leisure hours and the weather. For the first time I shed the cleats on my boots. Irving had done that days before when there was still ice on part of the trail system. I finally felt confident enough to do the same. Jackie and Jillie had been reminding us that we haven't yet been out, so they were more than prepared to commence with their daily patrol of the trails.

 

The forest floor is well on its way to drying up, not nearly as muddy as it's been for weeks. It seems to us that it used to take much longer for the transition from winter to spring than it does now and the drying-up period also took longer. No complaints whatsoever. 

 

We weren't the only ones anxious to be out in the fresh air, exercising our limbs, appreciating the day. Some of Jackie and Jillie's friends were out as well, and there were times when a friendly congregation surrounded Irving, urging  him to divest himself of the burden of carrying around cookies they could just as easily relieve him of.