If I leave the house at all on a major holiday in summer, I do it in daylight and on foot. I lived in downtown Ottawa for decades, and more than once barely escaped getting trampled in the massive crowd that assembles for the Canada Day fireworks on Parliament Hill. Now I’m too old and rickety for such shenanigans.

My agent in Ottawa has told me not to waste my time on a house-hunting trip until my buyers have sold their house. In Ottawa, he said, it’s such a seller’s market that an offer with a sell-the-house condition will be ignored.

So that gives me a bit of breathing space, whether I want it or not.

Next challenge: hiring a mover.