Foresight may be Vain

 We were supposed to have had a flying visit from the YD this week. She was to get her vacant house back and get started on the repairs and renovations needed and wanted before her return for good in July. The plan was that she (and two cats) would arrive on the weekend, she would commute into the city to get things underway and the week would end with the grandkid’s twenty-first birthday celebration.

Well, mice and men, of course. She got on the plane feeling a bit off and got off it feeling a lot worse. When sister picked her up from the airport, where she was to get the grandkid’s car and roll on out here, sister produced a Covid test and, of course, it proved positive. And so, YD is now ensconced in a hotel, sister (The efficient and caring ED) has run some of her errands, including depositing one cat here, and the house transfer has been a masked endeavour. Luckily she is a strong and tough-minded woman and has made the best of it. And we are chatting via electronics at unholy hours of the morning. But, damn!!!

At any rate, the house is vacant. The repair and renovation exercise is underway. She feels better. And sister has a whole box of test strips as she and her partner have had several bouts of Covid after travelling. It seems that with the vaccinations, the illness manifests for them as a nasty sort of cold and does not last all that long. But they are being super careful about not infecting the aged parents, especially the one with a bum lung.

About the cat. The YD’s two cats do not get along. Callie is an elderly female with strong ideas about what is due her. She went to Pakistan with the menage, had the run of a large establishment there and was indignant when the YD added a young and ebullient male to the mix. Gilgit, the newbie, would like to play and interact with Callie. Callie is not playing. And so the two of them in a hotel room, even a large space suited to keeping the Covid victim apart from others, was not a Good Thing. So, sister loaded the matriarch into her car and brought her out here, complaining all the way. (The cat that is; not the daughter).

Callie is very familiar with our place, having stayed here many times. She is presently occupying her favourite inside chair, which is the spare office chair in this room, peacefully sleeping with no active and annoying youngster trying to play. At night she prefers the wing chair in the living room, thoughtfully draped with a towel by Grandma. And she adores the screened porch. When it is not raining, that is. As it is forecast to do.

However, the promised joy is still there. The YD will be home for good in July. In time for her birthday. Rain or shine.