Another day so beautiful that I had to go for a walk; the soft air felt like silk, caressing my arms. Soon, rain and colder. But how we’ve enjoyed these heavenly days.

So this morning I mailed my new bestie Abigail a copy of “Loose Woman;” she emailed me a short essay, and I emailed her a long one. I loved hers, the way she captures a moment and a feeling with so few words, and the way she and the reader are in the past and the present simultaneously — vivid, powerful. And she responded with praise to mine. A friend, a kindred spirit, down in Woodstock, New York. 

Here’s her most recent online essay, not the one she sent me. Uncompromisingly honest and very short.

https://oldster.substack.com/p/an-interesting-question?r=3d8wo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email

It’s voting day here. I’ll try not to check in till it matters – at 9 or later. Nerve-wracking. There should not have been an election, but I hope the Canuck electorate doesn’t punish Justin because of it. Because then we will all suffer. There are worse sins than an unnecessary election. May sanity prevail. 

Speaking of sanity, my heart broke a little today. A dear friend came over, a man in his late seventies. His younger wife is a rabid anti-vaxxer, and so he is not vaccinated. I found out their daughter, who’s 16, has never been vaccinated for anything, even as a baby, and now has to attend her high school remotely because of her vaccination status. His wife is losing her job because of hers. 

I said to him,”You’re a free agent. Just because your wife is a lunatic doesn’t mean you have to put your own life at risk. The hospitals are full now of unvaccinated people; if you get sick, you can be sure both you and she will be very sorry. Get vaccinated and don’t tell her!” 

“I can’t do that,” he replied calmly. “It would damage my marriage.” I urged him to find some sites that educate anti-vaxxers about what vaccines really are and do. “It’s infuriating,” I said, “that someone who spends 15 minutes on Google thinks they know more than scientists and researchers who’ve spent their lives focussing on these issues.”

We parted as friends. He feels he has no choice. But I see him as a man with a target on his back. If he ends up at risk, I will never speak to his wife again. 

How have vaccines become a huge wedge issue here? Trump, Fox “News” and its ilk, millions of disaffected people seizing this as a cause to rally around, because anger feels better than pain? I celebrate Maxime Bernier and his PPC, which will I pray siphon far-right votes from the Cons. But it’s sad his party of xenophobes, crazies, and anti-vaccine fanatics exists at all in this country.

Ah well. Human beings always have been incomprehensively flawed. There’s comfort out there in the real world. The sun was shining today, and the air felt like silk on my arms.