Then Spring turned into Summer, and Summer into Fall

 A whole year has passed since I wrote here. The Winter was largely uneventful, the commute back and forth from the Lane to the city was unexpectedly brutal but I was able to negotiate some work from home days which made life a little easier. We moved our offices in February of 2020, but not until a couple of elevators fell in the old, under construction Maritime Centre building. The first fell while they were testing it, it rocked the entire building when it crashed with a near sonic boom into the basement. It sounded and felt exactly like an explosion. We had to evacuate down the stairs from the 12th floor, never knowing when we would meet smoke, a fireball or worse.

It was probably around this time that they posted the new layouts for our swanky offices at Nova Centre, that we were moving to in February. Which was when I realised I was losing my office and being slotted into a cubicle (along with some other mid-management colleagues.) This was around the time I knew I was getting out, Hell or high water. 

What I was not expecting was plague. But I mean, who was. COVID-19 swept the globe in 2020. We knew it was coming by February. By March it was here. My last day in my new cubicle was March 13th, when I signed my legal documents on my own new house buy in Eastern Passage. On the 17th, my agent (Chandler) and I were being somewhat COVID cautious already, not shaking hands and being aware of social distancing when we did the final inspection. Then the provincial government declared a State of Emergency and we were all sent to work from home that week. Indeed we had a partial shut down of everything. Essential services only, everyone "stayed the blazes home" and I had three months of total isolation at Loon Lane. 

(BTW, not saying that COVID happened because Martin took away my office and put me in a cubicle, just noting for the record that I wasn't there a full month.)

The three months between March and June were filled with PC Express orders, trying to make the best of it by cooking a lot, alcohol (the kind you drink), hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes. At this point we didn't really know where or how we could contract COVID, and people were even washing their produce with soaps or worse. 

Early in April, the house next door to Loon Lane (like in my backyard) caught on fire. We had to run for our lives, the only thing that saved our house was the wind direction. Even as my friend-neighbour Cathy and I sat in my car a mile away waiting for news on our homes I was sure at one point that Loon Lane was gone. I cried in the car. Thanks to a kind wind and at least seven different fire departments our homes were spared. The house in question burned to the ground. 

I spent the new few weeks always on edge, checking the backyard and looking out windows. 

About two weeks later Nova Scotia endured a horrific mass shooting. Shootings are rare in Canada, mass shootings even rarer, and unheard of in Nova Scotia. We all lit candles and said we would be strong, and we would get through it together. I double locked all my doors. Collectively, at this point, the entire province had PTSD. 

Around the third week of May there was a forest fire outbreak across the lake from us. I was driving home from a quick shopping trip and saw the smoke. I evacuated my own ass out of there, I had more than enough fire scares for one year (and by year I mean lifetime). I took my camping gear and slept at the place I bought in town. Everything turned out fine, they were able to get it under control and things went back to whatever passed for normal now. 

My rescue vessel came along in early June when friends offered me a job with their digital media firm. Things with old work had become chaotic and high pressure, with the justice system wanting digital solutions for everything overnight because of COVID. Working from home was no treat in that climate, and I recall being pinged/called on three different devices at once one day. 

I started the new job in mid-June, and this was also around the time that Government began to relax its earlier restrictions. People could "bubble" with family and friends again, we were taking baby steps toward returning to connecting with each other again. 

The transition back to private sector was exciting, but also a significant acceleration of pace. By August I landed in the ER with critically high blood pressure. To be clear, I am 100% certain I was suffering from this for most of the year, but my symptoms were becoming more apparent and so I got help. 

This was a pivotal moment for me. Even my mother said, in response to my diagnosis, "I thought you were invincible." I did too. I thought that if I got through something it made me that much stronger. But the year had taken its toll.

I try, every so often to remember the girl I was last summer. The one who rented a big ass utility van to help in the move out of Chadwick. Who thought that was an adventure (!) I remember laughing and playing 80s music in that van, and was a bit sad to have to give it back. Or even the one back in February who bought a new house sight unseen and just knew it was the right thing to do (and it was). 

So finally, yes, in early October a very large dump truck changed lanes into the side of the Civic. It was the only actual car accident I have been in, in my life. The first sign of trouble for me (as I drove straight in my lane) was a loud BANG and my driver's window exploded into a million pieces and flew into the car all over me. I never saw him coming.  I had glass in my ear. There is a long list of people who are surprised I escaped that wreck without injury, with my name at the top. The Civic is gone now, a total write off. I didn't love the car, but it was Joe's and so I was gutted for all those sentimental reasons. 

And now it's November 1st, and winter is all but here. Loon Lane is not where I wanted it to be renovation-wise for some reasons you can probably extract from the list above. We are now aiming for next Spring to have it market-ready, which I feel strongly will be a better time anyway. I am living between the two places, working from the new office five days a week, and trying to get my Invincible back. 

On the bright side, I don't have any cats driving me crazy. So there's that. And I'm writing again. 

Sanitizing the keys to the new house

The cooking marathons were easily the best part of quarantine

Made it through the winter at LL thanks to outdoor gear

Don't think I won't miss this <3

First signs of Fall early light at Loon Lane

Trying to squeeze in as much as I can outdoors before the cold comes

Shout out to all the Guardian Angels who were driving with me this day

When all was said and done, my replacement ride ended up being a Tucson which I kind of love. The deal closed on my father's birthday, which I in no way think was a coincidence.