Jaycation

When coronavirus (or “stinkyface” as we call it) hit and we got the hell out of Dodge (Seoul), we parted ways for a month. Tamar and the girls went to LA to eat berries, learn about dates and do extreme amounts of gymnastics. I went to Ottawa to try and properly fix my lower back issues once and for all. 

My parents welcomed me with open arms (luckily I’m not sick) and I’ve had a really mellow and lovely time in my childhood home; having no kids for three weeks is difffferent! We can have half hour conversations with no disruptions. I can toss and turn all night to my heart’s content. Since I have three sisters, this is pretty much the first time in my life that my parents and I have spent a bunch of time alone together; turns out it’s just lots of lovely meals and chats and walks. 

My back is probably getting slightly better I think? I’ve tried quite a few things. Some have definitely helped, like a massage therapist, chiropractor and my new best friend the hot pack. Some have maybe helped, like trying CBD pills and getting ear infections in hot pools. Others not so much, like trying on back braces and trying to dribble a basketball. I got an MRI which actually looks a bit less dire than the last one. Most helpful of all has probably been the time and space to just get into a deep groove of stretching, exercises and walking.

I dreaded arriving in February but it has actually been beautiful. A couple of gorgeous snowstorms with fat chunky flakes tumbling down by the millions. Plenty of mild days which were just right for gentle walks down to the Wild Oat bakery. I remembered winter as sort of gray and dead but snow is really lovely. My sister and her kids visited from Montreal and we had a great time together. 

There have definitely been ups and downs, with some painful nights, hours wasted on Netflix while stuck in bed, and the stresses of this pandemic, but I feel quite a bit better than I did when I arrived, and hopefully it’s the early stages of a nice long smooth monotonic upwards curve. Tamar and the girls arrive today, and we’ll hunker down together and have as much fun as we can till the world sorts itself out. 

Brown’s Inlet, my boyhood park