We spent our time in the company of trees

 Absolute Grace
Photo
8 x 10 inches
Barbara Muir © 2020

We are home now in Toronto, and are so delighted that we had a
wonderful time away from the pressures of work and our life trying 
to navigate a pandemic in Toronto.

It was a very strange vacation — our hotel room turned into our 

momentary home.  As the only food available in the hotel was the 

morning cold breakfast, we came prepared with a cooler full of food, 

and all the supplies to make our own cold food if we needed it.  We 

were very grateful that we had a refrigerator, and a coffee maker in 

the room.  

We didn’t go out to restaurants, but we did get take out meals —quite 

delicious.  But the strangest aspect of the trip wasn’t the food, it was

not meeting people.  One of the reasons we’ve always traveled has

been to meet people in casual settings.  I don’t mean that we plan to

meet people — of course we do at art openings, and I love that.  I mean

that we’ve always enjoyed the occasional encounters at a coffee shop, 

or restaurant.  Those interactions did not happen. People rarely even say
hello as they walk by, or if they are sitting at a socially distanced table. At 

the moment everyone is suspect.  And we’re all behind masks.

What we did do that was lovely was search for green spaces next to water —

the Ottawa River, the Gatineau River and we discovered lovely parks, and 

even wild space overgrown with beautiful flowers at the end of a 4 kilometre

long cul-de-sac. 

This is one of many photos I took of the magnificent trees we saw along the 

way.  We missed the people so much, but we loved the green spaces.  

I'm very grateful to my brother and his wife, for being the people we did

see, and they were a complete treat.