Spring thaw

Good news from the sick house in Corbridge. Caitlin messaged this morning saying she felt much better today -  "I feel like a switch has been flipped or something." 

We've urged her not to rush, to keep getting as much rest as she can. She also told us yesterday that, although she had a not-great day, she was pleased to notice she could smell food. So maybe she's coming out of it.

Nothing about Bob, who admitted yesterday he was getting a little disheartened at his seeming inability to bounce back from this. Patience, guys, patience!

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The river is still high and rampaging. I wasn't down in Harris Park today so I don't know what's going on there. The CBC posted a video showing it still badly flooded in the middle of the day, although we thought it looked from our windows as if the flooding had subsided some. 

I did run to Gibbons this morning. The path was under water at the bottom of the hill going into the park. I back-tracked to Oxford, crossed the bridge to Gunn St. and ran up to the park that way. There was no way past the flooded section, so I ran up Grosvenor to St. Patrick and walked home from there.

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I drove over to the university this afternoon - but ended up having to park at the north end of Gibbons. All the residential streets between the park and the campus are No Parking zones, which I'd forgotten. 

I walked over to the campus, thinking there might be some good shots of the river there. There weren't - or I wasn't feeling sufficiently inspired to see them - so I walked back to Gibbons and shot a few there. 

It looked as if the flooding of the path I'd noticed in the morning had receded and the path was now clear. Lots of animated student types on the paths - spread out across the path, of course, mostly unmasked. 

The geese seemed excited too, making a lot of noise. I witnessed one stand-off between two males. One on shore, with his mate waddling beside him, was going berserk, screaming at one in the water, stretching his neck out aggressively. The one in the water was shouting back, but apparently wasn't going to come any closer. He eventually drifted away with his mate after briefly spreading his wings threateningly. Turf war?

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I turn 71 tomorrow: surreal.