One of my daily routines, rain or shine, is grocery shopping. Natasha brings home the bacon, so-to-speak, and I love to cook the meals. The walk is a pleasant one. You can’t avoid getting to know some fellow shoppers.
One, a dapper and feisty lady with a pushcart always says a friendly “Hi Sailor!” to me. I guess because usually I’m wearing a cap related to ships and far-away places. Here's a picture at the helm of "Ocean Explorer I":
Irina is her name. She came to James Bay village long ago from Russia, via Saskatchewan. (One of the many 'old European’ immigrants who live around here.) For the last couple of weeks, she did not show up on her regular outings. Yesterday I learned she passed away, “gone over the horizon”. The way we all have to go, sooner or later. She looked as if there was still stamina in her, the last time we spoke. You never can tell, can you? This made me think, as I often do, how we seem to take life for granted. Since you’re on the Internet I came up with more meanings for the acronym of the world wide web “www”: World-Wide Wait [at least for those of us not on highspeed connections], and What? (the cause) Where? When? (of our demise). I’ve had three very close calls myself over the years, and relish each moment of being here. Should we not all? Life is precious. Bye Irina!