whew, and back again

Now I am in the bad habit of telling the back end of a story, then the front end, then the middle. Let me start at the beginning.

My luggage didn't get checked through my transfer...grrr. It's about 400 degrees with the humidex and all I have are jeans, fleece sweater, sneakers and one tee shirt. Sure I know better ...pack clothes in the carry on! One trip
to Value Village, borrowed shoes, gifted toothbrush and three days later I had my luggage.

We feasted on bbq flying fish (my favourite), fresh fruit, lots-o-drink and the evening is complete with good friends lots of stories and music into the steamy spring night. What a great welcome back.

The timing is perfect, with luggage in hand I leave my gracious friends and hosts and hoof on down to London for my daughters graduation. Naturally we have a spa day booked, my poor feet haven't seen the sun in a very long time, never mind feeling the squishy coolness of grass. Sushi lunch completes the afternoon before we grab some groceries.
Once home we promptly discover we are locked out of her townhouse! No need to panic, dinner is in the trunk, steak for the barbie, and salads. Conveniently her neighbour has left her door unlocked so we borrow the needed dishes to have our meal while the landlord finishes his meal before trekking in with a spare key.

The graduation ceremony is well attended with glowing parents and relieved students. After taking this picture of Katie in her gown ( I caught up with her at the snack table) she asked a man to take our picture. As it turns out he is the President of the college and was accompanied by the "official" photographer, who in turn took a picture of the three of us. Eeek where will this turn up? I do not know.

The trip back included a detour to Oakville to dine with Lisa and catch up on the gossip! Her daughter has her own garden marked by Winnie the Pooh!

Once back in Barrie we go our separate ways, I off to spend time with family. The most relaxing day is to come. We go to the park, pack a picnic, (one that doesn't require a pot and stove) and spend the day photographing and catching up on each others lives. Another birthday party, lots o shopping and getting reacquainted with family teens! Oh how could I forget the special sense of humour my sisters children have? Lefty (my nephew) and I bonded again over our leftiness! The fair colouring of my niece was the subject of many beautiful photos, some of them a surprise left for me on the camera!

Special note; as I add pictures it occurs to me that I love the landscapes of Ontario, from the beautiful rolling hills to the colourful patches of farm land. I am surprised that the noise, the pace and the yellowish light all took some adjusting.

Since I'm homeless I head off to another household to finish out my vacation. This one includes small children. Jordan and Joshua. Jordan is five years old and created the salad pictured above. His theme was 5. So there are five leaves of lettuce, five carrots, and five pieces of cucumber, all resting on a nest of salad dressing.

This final week includes wrapping up my shopping, stepping on and off the scales as I adjust the weight in each bag ( the airline would love to get more money from me I'm sure...) more sushi and of course martinis.

Each night is pre-booked and Monday means a meal with a dear friend who makes the extra effort to meet up after work. Hanging out at the bookstore and strolling around the bay. Yes open water for my thirsty eyes. Tuesday garden shopping and planting, Wednesday more good food and Thursday just hanging out for Friday is an early start.

As time was generous; Katie and I spent time shopping for shoes, perfume, cosmetics, coffee! Yes coffee! I shipped some home and carried on the rest. We cleaned out the stock at the grocery store!
Life seemed pretty normal, driving around on errands without the stress of time, deadlines, traffic and the nasty drivers didn't faze me once. Once in a while it occurred to me that this was surreal, soon the trip would end and once again the miles would separate us.

Travel day came quickly. At 3:00am the alarm alarms me into confused wakefulness. The service delivers me to the airport, the transfers go fairly smoothly. Only on boarding the final leg of the trip does it occur to me my camera is missing. I dash off to security where it is secure and is kindly handed over after careful verification. Now for the much anticipated return to the island.
Naturally it doesn't occur to me that lugging 100lbs of luggage up to the tree house apt may pose a problem...until I stand before it. Perhaps bagging the contents into 30 bags and making a dozen trips would be best? Alan rescued me and kindly lugged the luggage to the top.

Home over the bay. Surprises await. The bay shines with open water; shades of blue, the sun brighter than ever, the tundra green and decorated with new summer blooms.

Alan returns after work, dog is trotted down the hill to home again and all is right with the world.


(The photos are in no particular order and were taken by myself, my sister Kelley and my daughter Katie.)