Dick's Hideaway:

Fresh air

Dick MacKenzie - www.dickshideaway.com

Last week a friend shared his thoughts with me about avoiding covid contamination. "Eat and live healthy. Spend as much time as possible outdoors."
I was reminded of my favorite teacher Miss Exley, from my grades 5 and 6 years in Vermont. She passed on her advice to sleep every night with the bedroom window open a crack to ensure we get plenty of fresh air.
I have done that faithfully for the last 65 years. The window cracks are much tighter at 35 below than when it's not quite that cold.
We visited friends Gary and Helen Farrell in Winnipeg a few years ago soon after they had moved into their new, to them, house there. As we got into bed the first night I said, "Mary, crank the window open a crack, will you."
Ah. Fresh winter air felt so good as we slept.
In the morning we shut the window and met Gary and Helen in the kitchen for breakfast. "Did you guys hear anything unusual during the night?" Gary asked.
"No," we both answered.
"We have a security system, but I don't have the instructions showing exactly how it works, but it shows that there was a breach last night in zone 5," Gary explained.
We went outside and checked for tracks in the snow. Nothing.
No sign of anything disturbed inside, either.
"I'll have to check with the previous owners to figure out the system, I guess," Gary said. "I don't even know what part of the property is zone 5."
That night as Mary and I were getting ready for bed I said, "Mary, crack the window open, will you?"
At breakfast in the morning a very puzzled Gary asked again, "Did you guys hear anything last night? Zone 5 showed another breach."
A month later we got an email from Farrells. "We have figured out the security system. Still don't know why the alarm was triggered, but it hasn't happened again since you left. By the way, zone 5 includes the part of the house where your bedroom was."
The evening sky and bright moon were wonderful last night. I spent many pleasant minutes admiring the beauty and gentle peace. For a few moments the moon shine touched down, reflecting a brilliant sheen at my feet. I wondered in awe if a friend somewhere in the world might be looking at that same moon and thinking of me.