Where were my eyes yesterday?

It’s coming up on a year since the pandemic began and, oh, how our lives have changed. No theatre, no art galleries, too few times with family. You’re left with asking people what they’re recommending among Netflix offerings. The Dig, with Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes tops my list. As for Ozark, after sitting through too many bizarre plot twists and grisly incidents, we abandoned the series early in the second season.
But there’s a whole other world out there, one that’s always been around, we just haven’t paid as much attention as we should. The moon is a prime example. I once drove at dusk to a parking lot near Lake Ontario to watch the rising of a so-called super moon. And from time to time paid attention to the crescent moon, just because it was such a sliver in the sky. Now, I’m always on the lookout for the next phase, or discovering the name of the full moon. Last month’s was the Wolf Moon, so I was told, named after wolves foraging for food.
Then there’s the sun. On Florida’s Gulf Coast, people gather every night on the beach to watch the disc of the sun sink slowly into the water. There always seemed to be someone playing the bagpipes. But that was just a holiday thing. These days I know the exact time of every sunrise and sunset and will position myself as often as possible to see both or either on any given day.
No one was sadder than I to miss the December 21 “great conjunction” of Saturn and Jupiter, the first since mediaeval times. For several days before and after the magic moment, it was always cloudy so I missed the reuniting. Other reunions of a sort occur when I call someone I haven’t talked to in months. I always come away feeling better. I hope they do, too.
As for walks, now I never miss a day. In the woods with moose prints in the snow. In a park past the statue of Edward VII. On semi-deserted streets in Toronto. I recently discovered the iPhone I’ve had for two years has an app that’s been counting my steps whether I cared or not. Now I care! I haven’t hit the 10,000 steps in a day sought by aficionados, but one day last week I reached 9,309. It’s like I’m in training for I know not what. So, yes, I’ve learned a lot about cases, lockdowns, variants and antibodies. But I’ve also learned a lot more about life and how to live it.