Out of Order

Out of Order

“Gallantly offering his hand, Lord Guillam assisted Lady Veronica from her velvet lined carriage….....

Out of order! This should have been from the blog post written on March 8! Instead, I quite blithely went to a movie, wrote and posted for my blog a movie review of the period piece Emma. I completely forgot the ‘G’ from CHALLENGES leaving, quite insensitively, poor Lord Guillam and Lady Veronica in the limbo of 'The Cloud'. Oh well, they’ll just have to wait for some other time. There are more important things to write about today than Lords and Ladies. 

An interesting interaction I had today. I was unable and unwilling to shake hands with a new acquaintance. How rude is that!? However, with COVID19 invading not only the world but our personal spaces, habits of a life time developed over generations have been sorely challenged. Leaning my head on my hand when reading, holding my two fingers over my mouth when listening intently, wiping my eyes....the list goes on. So I set about developing a list for hand shake alternatives (research over the internet and maybe a bit of my own imagination

1. Fist bumps ~ they’ve been around a long time. But what if the bumper or the bumper hasn’t washed their hands front and back!
2. Elbow taps ~ that kind of looks like some kind of a square dance move? 
3. Toe or foot touches ~ puts me in other a vulnerable position. My balance isn’t all that great anyway, so if the other party’s balance is off - or they’re just feeling mischievous - I could be headed for the pavement, sidewalk, tile………whatever is underfoot.
4. Hand to the heart ~ looks a bit patriotic to me. The message may be lost
5. A single wave of the hand ~ now that could make one look quite regal. I’ve been trying to perfect that royal wave for years.

Lost to our human connections are beautiful hugs and welcoming handshakes. Yes, we do need to be very cautious in this really scary time, but don’t let the scare create a further loss of human connection in this chaotic, crazy old world.

Included is a photo I’ve taken of the memo at the Walk-in Clinic I go to here in Victoria, British Columbia.

Keep well everyone!

“Chaos is merely order waiting to be deciphered.”
~ José Saramago, The Double