winter is a- comin' in

The last few days have been a little rough, mainly because of broken sleep and colder weather. We used to think nothing of slipping out of bed to have a quick pee, but now it takes two of us to accomplish this solitary function: I have to transfer Wendy from a semi-horizontal to a momentarily vertical position while I dance with her a step or two from bed to commode then back again under sheet, eiderdown and blankets. She's light as a feather now, 70 pounds if that, so easy to dance with; but her shrunk shanks have very little muscle strength and it saddens me to behold when I recall her plump thighs and shapely calves of former times. And once back in bed she rapidly goes to sleep again, thanks to a bolus of her sedative tranquilizer; but I don't, perforce I must sleep lightly in case she needs me again, so no sedative-tranquilizer for me. Last night we had our first skiffs of snow, just a few flurries really but enough to cover rooftops. This morning it feels colder because it looks colder, although a glance at our indoor thermometers shows it's actually not any colder in our apartment, steady at 20-21 C - it's not quite all in the mind though because I can actually feel the icy blast of the wind as it whistles though the crack by the balcony door which still has its summer screen. It's time to put the storm door on, yet another sign that winter will soon be here. But the sun is shining, there's still plenty of colour in the trees. They will keep their leaves again this year until well after November 9, the anniversary of my arrival in Ottawa in 1969. That year there wasn't a leaf left on any tree anywhere and I remember feeling depressed at the thought of the long winter ahead, worried too that I'd made a big mistake uprooting Wendy and our three children from Edinburgh where we were so happy and life was so good in so many ways. Happily, time soon showed that coming to Ottawa was no mistake, far from it, indeed it was the best decision we ever made. This feeling is reinforced whenever I observe or reflect on the excellence of the team that cares for Wendy with such competence and compassion. What good fortune it is, to live in a city where such superb care is provided when she needs it!