The wildlife's back, again

We're having another lockdown imposed upon us, here, so may only emerge from our houses for the sake of some essential requirement. A takeaway coffee from a coffee shop seems to come into that category because those places are still open, as are the small food shops and bakeries. I bought a latte in a paper cup from a new place on Dalhousie this morning (first opened on December 31st last year — imagine!) and, lifting my mask intermittently as I walked back home, drank it in small sips, rapidly cooling.

Whenever the outside world grows quieter, as it's doing again now, the wild animals and birds come out of hiding. During lunchtime today I watched woodpeckers, tree creepers, juncos and chickadees competing at the birdfeeder. The smallest ones, the chickadees, are by far the most impolite, ganging up on the other birds and shooing them away.

After a day and evening of international Zoom meetings for both of us on Monday, Chris and I urgently needed fresh air. We went for a walk in the dark and were rewarded by the magical sight of a lone fox running around on the frozen Rideau River, below the Minto Bridges, leaving a straight line of tracks in the snow.