Rural Routes, Blog Version

So….

“…with a needle and thread,” my dad used to say.

Well….

“… a deep subject,” he said.

I have been thinking about Mom and Dad since finding this Mother’s Day card in a trunk filled with other memorabilia. I first found the card when going through Mom’s things more than a dozen years ago. It was her first ever Mother’s Day card, given to her when I was a week short of my first birthday.

Mother´s Day that year fell on May 8, which also happens to be the birthday of my youngest child, no longer a child in anything but my mind. In my mind, he will always be my child.

Finding the card again was a bit like uncovering a treasure hidden for safekeeping.

So…

Well…

What else is there to say?

Life is different these days, one Groundhog Day after another. Forget the days of the week. There is today; today is every day. Yesterday… or am I thinking about the day before that? it is hard to keep track.

Tomorrow is today, with hopefully warmer weather.

I have been participating in Zoom virtual meetings and webinars and attending virtual book launches and musical performances.

K is getting a wee bit tired of my murder mysteries on TV and I have watched more of his favourite reality series than I really want.

I do crossword puzzles almost every day and have completed several jigsaw puzzles. I have repotted plants and read many books.

K and I take turns with twice-daily dog walks and I am extremely happy that the mud has pretty much dried up. For a while there, each walk had to be followed by a dog cleaning, which neither the dog nor I enjoyed much.

The Canada geese have been back for a long time now and we have seen several nests filled with eggs as we go for our walks. One evening I saw the neighbourhood groundhog again. (I don’t know for sure that it’s the same groundhog I used to see last year. But I’m happy to believe that it is or could be.) And the deer gather in increasing numbers. Nature has a rhythm that soothes.

Þetta Reddast

When I was in Iceland several years ago, I first learned about the Icelandic phrase ´Þetta reddast‘. It is touted as THE standard phrase heard in the country, a creed by which the people live.

It is somewhat overblown, I think. When you speak to Icelanders about the phrase, the response is similar to the response a Canadian might give to a visitor´s mention of “eh” or “I’m sorry”. Oh, that. Yes, we say that here. But perhaps not as much as the media suggests.

‘Þetta reddast’ means ‘It will be OK’.

Yes, Icelanders live on a volcanic island with a history of violent eruptions, but Þetta reddast. It will be OK.

It is a hopeful phrase and, as the poet said, hope springs eternal…

Yes, we are living in the midst of a worldwide health crisis and life has been turned upside down.

Þetta reddast.

It will be OK.

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