IT'S BEEN QUITE A YEAR

 POST # 446

March 16th, 2020.  It seems like such a long, long time ago.  That date marks the very last time that I crossed the land border between Canada and the United States.  The journey was taken aboard the Amtrak Cascades train, which up to and including that date, operated a daily service between Vancouver and a variety of points south.  I still remember talking to the conductor as we approached my stop in Mount Vernon.  He told me that this was the last train for the foreseeable future.  And here we are almost exactly a year later, and his words still ring true.  There hasn't been another train since that time.  In fact, there has been no public transport crossing the land border. 

Fast forward to today, and the situation hasn't improved on that front.  It is amazing what we take for granted until it has gone.  Crossing the border has been one of those examples for me.  Back then, all I had to do was decide between the train or the bus.  Freedom of movement is becoming a thing of the past, and I suspect that it isn't going to get better any time soon, as the talk of vaccination passports is now being mentioned in the media.

Now I suppose I could sit here and whine and complain about how my life has been impacted by this past year, but I am only a single soul out of 7.8 billion, and I am very sure that there are many others who have had way more things to deal with since March of last year, than I have.  Perhaps this is just another opportunity to count ones blessings, which is something that I like to do on a daily basis.  I always have many more blessings than complaints.  

Perhaps it would help to think like a dog, say, Dora-dog for instance.  She has spent another year on planet Earth, and as far as I can tell, from her point of view, this year is the same as all the ones in the past, at least since Mary adopted her back in 2018.  She has human company on a daily basis.  She has her own yard to go play and run around in as she chases the resident squirrel.  She gets to go for a couple of walks every day, and aside from her regular meals there are plenty of treats to munch on, and at the end of her day, she gets to settle down into a warm and comfortable bed for the night.  If we all could take a few moments each day to appreciate how dogs look at life, then maybe we would be more thankful for what we have, in spite of the current restrictions that are in place.                                                  

After a good walk, a swim in the channel, and a role in the sand, life couldn't get any better as far as Dora-dog is concerned.  Covid?  What Covid?

Yes, it has been quite a year indeed.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer