When not looking at my feet and trying to avoid ice today, I saw some sights that made me smile including some balloons, a snowman with an icicle crown, a garbage can eating a spider, and a very Canadian mitten.

After being in quarantine for two weeks and being housebound because of the cold weather, I was finally able to go for a walk this morning. The temperature got up to 0 Celcius (32 F) with a ‘feels like’ of -5 C (23 F), and I was more than ready to see the streets again.

I saw a few dog-walkers, some roofers, three house siding workers, and a couple of guys trying to get a car started. Mostly, though, the sidewalks were devoid of people. There was very little car traffic, and when drivers saw me trying to cross an intersection, they stopped for me.

The intersections are the hardest parts of a walk in my neighbourhood because as the snow melts it collects at the ends of sidewalks, then freezes at night. Some of those puddles of ice can be two feet wide. Because of my past experiences with falling, I am very cautious and try to go around them, but that is not always easy.

So, even though I am not yet back up to my full stride and pace, I thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors in the sunshine this morning and I didn’t fall over!