Judging by the gaps in my posts here, it’s probably obvious that I’m struggling with the summer thing. I love summer, but it’s a challenge to fit in my writing work with the kids home. There are kids swimming lessons, kids sports practices and games and tournaments, play dates, and relatives that come for a visit.
This region of the province, Muskoka, is considered vacation land or cottage country, so the population doubles in the summer. They’re all here to relax! The whole atmosphere becomes vacation! party! chill! this event, that festival, the must-attend annual celebration, the new cool location.
Not that I pay attention to all of that. But it’s there.
The kids…the things to do…it’s all good; I just have to figure out how I fit my own stuff into it.
And I’d better figure it out. I’ve got another book project to complete.
(Speaking of distractions, in the midst of typing this, I just saw a bear in my backyard!)
I saw this slug today. Definitely not unusual considering all the rain we’ve had. But apparently this year the slugs are getting so confident, so bold and so sure of themselves they’re…
… hitching rides to your garden. Sheesh!
(No kidding, this slug was on somebody’s car in a parking lot when I saw it. I didn’t make this up.)
I’m in Home Depot today wandering down an aisle when an orange-aproned older gentleman says, “Can I help you, ma’am?”
I am tempted to say no thanks, because I’m not in a hurry (and I hate being called ma’am–I don’t think I’m that old yet), but I get the sense he’d rather not be putting together whatever it is he’s been wrestling with so I say, “Okay. I’m looking for some cow manure.”
He says, “Well, for that you should get yourself a cow.”
Ha. ha. Not laughing. That can’t be the first time he’s said that, right?
“Yeah, I know,” I reply. “But that’s, um…not happening.”
So I follow him down the aisle where I get to choose between the cow variety and the sheep variety. It’s even advertised as “no odour”! Woo hoo. There’s the premium brand and the discount brand. Since I am only trying to help along my up-until-now pitiful patch of rhubarb (Who the H can’t grow rhubarb!? Me apparently.) I don’t really want to make this an overly complicated exercise. I point to the cow stuff that’s on sale and say, “Thanks, I guess I’ll take this then.”
He offers to carry it to the cash for me. Gosh, that was nice. After my “Thank you, have a great day,” me and my manure went home.
This past weekend saw me far from home. I went on a six-hour road trip for my son’s lacrosse tournament. I did not grow up with rep sports of any kind, so having kids who by times travel for their sport is a new thing for me. Costs aside, I’ve decided to embrace the madness.
I mean, if I’m going to have to go to towns or cities within the province that I’d not necessarily actually choose to visit, I figure why not make the most of my time there? There’s gotta be at least one interesting thing in most of them, right? This weekend it was Cornwall, Ontario.
So we hopped in the car and started on our odyssey. What a cool drive. We started in our granite outcroppings and boggy forests and lakes, drove through rolling forested hills, and on to the Ottawa valley with its flat farmlands. Fascinating to see the land change. And then we were there (only two major bicker sessions between the kids, yay!).
Check out this bomber out front of the place we stayed at! That’s the St. Lawrence River in the background. For scale, a nine-year-old is about as tall as those bushes.
Too bad the bomber’s also a pigeon perch.
Spent Saturday in an arena. But before the gold medal game on Sunday we had some free time. Yay! I went to jail. Here I am behind bars.
That cell was rather cramped. Lucky I was only visiting. The Cornwall jail, which was in operation from 1834 until 2002, is now a museum. It was quite an eye opener for us all. I’m not sure which we all found most fascinating, the graffiti all over or the replica gallows from the days they hanged offenders in the courtyard. Or maybe it was the story of the bodies still unaccounted for that were buried in that courtyard.
Right after that it was off to lacrosse for the final game. After the weekend’s tie, win, win, win, the Hawks lost this final game by two. They did themselves proud and took home the tournament silver medal. Congratulations!
Then it was the six-hour drive home. We pushed through pretty quickly, because it was Sunday and the kids have this last week in school. Nor was I looking forward to driving during peak deer/moose roaming hours. We did stop for a break at my fave picnic spot on Golden Lake where my daughter found this dragonfly in the water.
Jumped back in the car and finished the journey. Only one deer sighting, and it decided not to play chicken with me. Phew!
Too bad the bomber’s also a pigeon perch. 
That cell was rather cramped. Lucky I was only visiting. The 
Jumped back in the car and finished the journey. Only one deer sighting, and it decided not to play chicken with me. Phew!