Odds & ends

• We've been out for a few more walks lately. HOLY CRAP, I AM OUT OF SHAPE. :p  :(   Hoping to make it a regular habit again, now that the weather is (FINALLY) trending a bit milder, and build up our time and stamina. I have been saying this for the past four years since we moved here, and now that the roadwork in front of our building & townhouse development construction behind us is (mostly) complete, there are absolutely no excuses why we can't do it. There are some lovely quiet, leafy streets in the subdivision behind our condo building where we can walk (away from the main road, albeit it is far emptier/less busy than it was, pre-COVID). If/when we do encounter another walker(s) (usually someone out walking their dog), one or the other of us just moves off the sidewalk and onto the boulevard until we've passed a safe distance away. 
• When we head outside for a walk, we usually walk down the stairs to ground level (I wear my winter gloves & if I have to use the rail, I usually balance my wrist on it instead of grabbing it) and then take the elevator back up when we return. (Dh would take the stairs back up too, but both my knees and my lungs are not up to climbing up four flights of winding stairs at this point...!) On return from our most recent walk, when we got on the elevator, there was already someone inside, coming up from the lower level parking garage. He nodded and moved into one corner, and we slid into the corner opposite/furthest away... he got off on the second floor and so we had the elevator to ourselves for most of the trip up. (I suppose we could have just waited for the next elevator...)  I said to dh as we got off on our floor, "You know, I think that's the closest I've been to another human being besides you since mid-March!"  
• We recently passed the four-year mark of our move here. (You can read about the move and various aspects of our condo life since then in posts tagged "condo living.") I've lived in enough different places in my life to know there is good and bad everywhere;  it's up to you to make the most of things. Condo living has its share of annoyances, but then so too did our old house and neighbourhood. It also definitely has its advantages. I'm still not enamoured with the community where we now live, but overall, we both love the condo, and we love being closer to family (even though we sadly can't visit them right now).  I was dragged here kicking & screaming ;)  but overall now, I have few to no regrets. 
• One annoyance (especially evident this past weekend, when we had lovely weather and everyone was outside and our balcony door was open):  revved-up cars & motorcycles peeling out as they zoom up & down the main road past our building.  The noise was ridiculous, and it went on for hours. I've seen several stories in the media about police making record numbers of arrests for speeding (50 km or more above the speed limit), drag racing and stunt driving on local streets & highways. The roads are emptier with more people at home and fewer people out driving, and it seems some idiots just can't resist acting like idiots...  :p 
• It wasn't just me, either:  a couple of other friends were posting on social media this weekend about noisy neighbours and not being able to enjoy some peace and quiet in their own back yards. It's been a very looonnggggg winter, even without COVID-19 & social distancing (Sunday was the first time the temperature went above 20C since October 1st! -- 7 months!!), and I guess more than a few people are going stir crazy (and more than a few people's nerves have been worn thin...!).