(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

As you can imagine, the ongoing pandemic has made me quite restless. So far, we’ve dealt with it by walking briskly for more than an hour every day. While we often follow the same route (as we know it’s about 6 km long), we sometimes wander off to avoid the sun. We’ve really gotten to know our neighbourhood, and soon began recognizing people who were also walking on a regular basis.

The other thing we’ve noticed is how it is home to much more wildlife than it used to be. There are definitely more chipmunks, and at least as many squirrels, but most notable is the explosion in the rabbit population. Bauder Crescent might be the official name, but we now call that street Chemin des Lapins.

We also walk at Lemoine Point (a nearby conservation area) from time to time. Most of today’s pictures are from Lemoine Point. The wildlife population there is exploding too…or, more likely, they have been overfed and have lost their fear of humans. The squirrels and chipmunks are incredibly brazen: you just have to pause for a second and you are swarmed by rodents looking for food.

Lemoine Point is home to deer and wild turkeys too (I took some deer photos in this post from a few years ago), although we didn’t see any today. Hopefully, they have not become dependent on humans like the squirrels and chipmunks have.

As stores are slowly reopening (albeit under significant restrictions), we are trying to spend more time downtown so that we can support our local businesses. Kingston has a beautiful and historic downtown; I hope to include some pictures of it in my next post.

As for travel…by this time of year, I would normally have decided where I’m going for my winter holiday. While I don’t think I’m ready to completely rule out an early 2021 ski trip, and I want to support those who work in the travel industry, I have to be realistic. Any trip will have to be a last-minute decision.

A significant barrier is going to be the quarantine situation (both at home and at the destination), and it is simply not possible to predict what that might be in 8 months’ time. Even within Canada, quarantine periods are required for travel between some provinces. A 14-day quarantine at the start of a vacation, followed by 14 days at the end, effectively rules out any kind of long-distance leisure travel for the time being.

Stay tuned for more on Kingston!