
It’s the late afternoon here in this small town on the Canadian prairies. It is sunny and relatively warm. I woke up to a temperature of +2 degrees Celsius. The garden tells me that there was a faint touch of frost on some of the leaves. I guess I could say that summer is officially over and that autumn has made an entrance. The strong winds of the past few days is appreciated by the farmers trying to harvest their crops which appear to be abundant and of high quality, bumper crops in their terms. We went for our usual 5.5 km walk when pressed for time this morning. Because of the wind and the single digit temperatures, we wore three layers. It is going to take some time to acclimatize the weather shift.
By the time we got back from our walk, the temperature reached double digits. I went to work taking corn off the cob so that my wife could can it in pint jars for the winter. This will be the first winter in our home since the winter of 2006-7. From our vantage point, we assume that we will be home bound for the next two winters waiting for the new normal to hopefully settle. Because of this intention, we are ensuring that we can and freeze garden produce, including produce we get from local Hutterian gardens. At least we will eat well.
The corona virus pandemic is forcing a lot of changes on all of us. Some of those changes are good, and some are not so good. For naturists, it has meant a more solitary existence. Home naturist is likely the norm for most. Non-naturists are also taking advantage of social distancing and working at home to forego the need to wear clothing. I haven’t gone to my home naturist club this year despite paying my annual fees. I just didn’t want to risk meeting up with old friends who may or may not be carriers. After all, at our age, we are most at risk. It is enough to have my safe and sacred space called my home and yard.
Because of the pandemic, I have done a lot of improvements, including a privacy fence that has long been needed. As a result, my non-naturist wife is less nervous when I am in the yard while nude, which is most of the time when our neighbours aren’t present. Another project is going to happen relatively soon. We are changing out the wood fireplace for a gas fireplace. I am allergic to wood smoke so we haven’t used the fireplace. Now that we’ll be home for the full winter, a fireplace will be a welcome feature. Once that project is finalised, I will likely post a photo.
The pandemic is impacting all of us, psychologically. I shut down my previous site because of a depression that COVID-19 exacerbated. I retreated just like I retreated from contact in the outer world with social distancing. Now, as I have achieved more balance, I find myself ready to be willing to risk being vulnerable and exposed.
How are you responding to the changes in yourself in relation to people face-to-face and online? I am listening and I care about what you will have to say.