September 6, 2020. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Dinner with Walt & Mary.

This year, so many common events have been denied us, such as having dinner in the home of friends. We were told to stay home and we did. Folks who were older had to take extra precautions to avoid the covid infection. And if you had underlying health issues you were even more at risk. Walt comes into that category so both Mary and Walt have worked hard to keep Walt away from anyone who might give him an infection. They have stayed home. They have walked every day in the parking lot of the school just across the street as school were closed. They have taken drives to check their listings and to just get out but their business has been done on line or over the phone and the comittees that Mary must attend have all been on Zoom. I have not seen them since I arrived at the end of June. I talk on the phone regularly and at length. But all the things I normally do here we have not done. I ususlly would pop by for coffee each week, or Mary would invite us to dinner every couple of weeks. And they always came to dinner here whenever we had company. So dining with Walt and Mary was common. But not this year with the covid. Mary called me a couple of days ago to ask if they could bring dinner tonight. I was astonished but delighted. So they arrived with all the fixings for dinner at 5:00. We chatted in the living room while dinner stayed warm in the oven. It just seemed like old times with all three of us pleased to be together. Mary cooked chicken and dumplings which we ate with rolls and a salad. As usual, Mary's dinner was delicious. She is a good cook. After dinner we sat in the living room for our tirimisu dessert. The food was excellent and the conversation was lively. And as usual, they left before 8:00. As they left, Mary commented that I was the only person they have seen for the past several months. I felt honored that they came to my home for dinner. We sat at the dining table and looked normal except I did stretch out the distances with Walt at one end of the table and Mary at one side while I sat at the other end. It was pretty special except we all acted normal. Certainly, a special event for me.