I made an effort today, forgoing the usual dance leggings and a big t-shirt in favor of a pretty sundress from Anthropologie, perfume, a braid and lip gloss. Diamond studs and my diamond rings. Surprise. I'm a girl, not a small lycra fairy.
And it works. Everyone's doing double-takes and once-overs as I attempt to charm them all into finishing the gardening for me instead of merely watching me do it. This works great on Ben, but then again I haven't seen Ben today and he hasn't seen me. Maybe if the world opens back up on time he'll work less instead of more so there's something to look forward to.
We'll get the onions and avocados in the ground at least. Maybe beans and tomatoes too. Maybe not though but maybe.
Everything else over the course of the next week definitely. We have the better part of four yards of dirt to move from the driveway into the garden and while heavy machinery would have been nice (one of my dreams is to learn to operate a bulldozer) the power of a dozen men is just as good. It just takes way longer. The power of one hundred-pound woman saw three wheelbarrow loads in an afternoon so at that rate I *might* be done by Christmas or at least one year from today.
Premier Horgan surprised me yesterday and said everything's coming back, sooner than I expected. Malls by Victoria Day, theatres by Canada Day. Groups, but small. Dentist appointments and elective surgeries. No one needs nightclubs so those can wait. But the normalcy I suddenly missed is on the horizon at last.
I asked around after most of the boys to see if they were interested in rejoining life before the pandemic, or in re-celebrating my birthday as it had to take place during the pandemic and they did not. They kind of like this, this not leaving. This everyone being here. This changed life, somewhat quieter than before. This different speed, this unusual moment in time.
I asked Lochlan what he thought and after being quiet for a moment he said he thought he might take a match later, light it and burn away the link to the mainland, that we could maybe push off at high tide and drift our point out to sea and never return again. Henry can work for Schuyler or Batman, we can have groceries and supplies helicoptered in or drop-shipped or get things by boat and it will be the best life ever.
I could point out it already is but maybe he knows.