My Alternate Spring by Janice Carter

There's a clever children's novel  by Neil Gaiman called "Coraline". A young girl discovers that she has a parallel family living in a parallel part of her home but her parents in that parallel universe aren't nearly as nice as the ones in her 'real' life. I thought about that book while contemplating this post today because there have been many times (too many!) lately when I feel as if I've somehow slipped into a parallel world myself. Those thoughts are probably mirrored by most of you, too.
    In another world, this is what my spring would look like. In early to mid-May, I'd text my daughters to arrange a visit to Toronto's largest urban park for the annual cherry blossom viewing. Last year about this time I wrote about our visit and posted some photos. Today, the park is closed and the cherry blossoms can only be viewed through telescopes perhaps, or by those living closest to the park.

   On the holiday weekend in late May (celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, except the holiday is always the third Monday so go figure), I'd be packing up for our summer long stay at Garden Island. I've written about this 65 acre piece of land at the junction of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River many times. Somehow, writing about it never gets old for me, though it probably does for this blog's readers. I'd be wandering the huge meadow in the center of the island, checking out the daffodils. My husband would be monitoring his beehives. It would be too early for a swarm, but he'd be ready for that eventuality come summer.

 



 We'd be planting vegetable gardens in the meadow and when we're not working in the gardens, we might be relaxing by the water.

 

 I'd be revving up for a summer of cooking/baking/preserving. There's something special about working in a kitchen when you can peer out a window to water or hear birds singing through a screen door.

 
 We'd be enjoying stunning sunsets that we rarely witness in the city, surrounded as we are by houses packed together.

    But because we rent our cottage (annually from May to October 31 for the past 35 years), it's considered a "seasonal rental" and therefore on the list of closed, non-essential businesses. Island residents - a close community of multi-generations of Garden Islanders (as we call ourselves) - are coping with this latest adjustment to our new reality.
    Despite the disappointments all of us all over the world are experiencing, missing out on customary pleasures are merely inconveniences and nothing compared to missing loved ones or, worst of all, losing loved ones. I remind myself of that daily, as you probably do, too.   
    My alternate spring this year will involve scrolling through my photographs for memories of past springs and summers. I look forward to sitting in my tiny, urban backyard when the weather warms up. If I score more flour, I will continue to cook and bake for my family for door-to-door deliveries, six feet apart. We have the distancing down to a well-practiced art now.
   And thanks to the Internet, I can still connect with my family for virtual hugs and blown kisses from my granddaughter.
    Happy Spring and stay well!

Janice Carter