Departure Day

Well the day has finally arrived. Departure day. Today I finally make my way out of the city that I love to go to the countryside I love - Salt Spring Island. My daughter lives there with her partner and his extended family. There are three households on the property - we will be isolating from the rest of the family and hunker down the quarter we are on. One household has a baby on the way any day and a toddler, and the other has two elderly parents. There are dozens and dozens of chickens, 3 goats, 3 cats (including Nash) and one dog. We will not get lonely. 

Preparing for this day has been exhausting. I had planned the trip a month or more ago as part of my regular monthly visit to the farm, and my daughter and her partner were going to take a mini-vacation from the farm and I would look after things. First they looked at a jaunt south of the border here, but then that didn’t look like a good idea. Then a Victoria visit for a night or two of hotels and restaurants. Then that was not a good idea, and now it is not an option. The plan was to head there last Wednesday, a week ago. We all know how that got derailed with my hospital admission occurring on Monday. I was discharged on Sunday. I have been gathering my medications, changed while I was in the hospital. The doc wrote the wrong script, so I have to go back and get that today. The drugstore where my scripts are does not carry the diabetic supplies that I need so had to go to yet another drugstore a couple days ago. Ya da, ya da, ya da. 

I have also been reorganizing the RV a bit, cleaning, laundry, defrosting the fridge, that sort of thing while my medication and supplies were being sorted out. I packed away my newly purchased work clothes. I won’t be wearing that on the farm at all. I will be getting dirty daily! Farms are not a clean place to hang around in bright skirts and dressy tops. I have had to pace myself as I am not back to 100% just yet and the amoxicillin has been kicking my digestive tract in the gut as usual. Today is the very last pill. Thank fuck. I want to feel good again. I want to go outside. 

I started making daily videos and tried to post here but the file was too big. I have had issues all day yesterday trying to post the day’s video in a variety of ways and only just now got it to post on Facebook. So that has to work itself out as I was more than irritated with the technology fail. I did not however, throw anything. I will be making a post once I finally get to the ferry terminal and park. My goal is the 1pm ferry, but I have a lot of stops to make along the way. First is the gas station, fill up my tank, fill up a gas can. Gloves all around. Then off to a different gas station for propane - need both my on-board tank filled and my 20lb tank topped up. From there I head to the RV Park to dump my grey and black water tanks, get rid of all my garbage and recycling, fill the water tank. From there my last stop before the ferry is a grocery store for the last of the stuff I need to make it through a month of isolation. It is a marathon, not a sprint, and so I need to pace myself to make it safely to the farm. 

I have self-isolated here in the RV since my discharge from hospital. I went out once to the drug store and that is it. I have been alarmed at how many people are still out and about. From where I sit in my RV, I can see Hillside Avenue, which has been busy day day and night it seems. The buses travel along here too. Most of them have been empty or have one or two people on them. There are parks down the road from me and people have been streaming past. This worries me. The school is down the road from me too, and I worry they are at the playground aka germ factory. Metal and plastic surfaces abound...I get it though, wanting to get outside. People have gone from going to work and school everyday, spending time outside was a part of life. Now we are meant to stay home and self isolate with our household. I miss my daily walks. I would typically paint rocks the night before, spray them in the morning while I am getting up and ready for the day. Then I would go for my rock walk to Tim Horton’s, hiding my rocks along the way. Now the rock hunt is on hold, and we are meant to stay the fuck at home. I am staying at home. I do not feel comfortable out walking around with other people passing me on the sidewalk. Not only am I still pretty weak from being ill, I cannot afford to get this virus. I have medical issues that would make it very difficult for me to recover from it. I realize others feel differently and take their family out for fresh air each day, bike riding, or walking in the neighbourhood. I do not wish to do that in a city. I will be more than happy to do it on the farm. On that note, time to get on with the day. Cleaning up the last of things, packing up the RV for travel, grabbing a shower and hitting the road. Stay safe everyone.