This cold has me out of commission for today, so I have a little time to post in between shots of cough syrup and cups of neo-citran.

The visit was short, but the visit was good. It’s been a long time since the old home was that crowded (my parents, myself & my wife, my brother & his girlfriend, my other brother & his wife & 3 kids, two visiting Aussies and two dogs); in fact, the old original farm house was opened up and six of us bunked in there. With friends of ours stopping by and a constant flow of tourists looking to buy maple syrup, it was a busy place…but still relaxing.

There was a great deal of reading, napping, watching of weepie movies (none of which I did), as well as eating and playing cribbage (both of which I did with gusto). We picked strawberries, helped make a batch of maple cream, barbecued several times, and visited a distant relative (distant in the bloodline sense, not geographical; they’re just down the road) who was also home from the UK, and whose family threw a big outdoor get-together. I played with my nieces and nephew, showed our friends around some of the property (where we saw some rabbits and a pheasant…hardly the bear they were hoping for though), spent some time on the junk rock looking out over the farm and talked music with my dad. We celebrated a couple of upcoming birthdays, played frisbee with a backdrop of thunderclouds and watched people get frustrated with a utensil parlour trick.

So the weekend, obviously, was a good time. One brother had to leave early to catch a flight for work, and his wife took the kids home later that day. The other brother stayed on for a day or so before heading elsewhere in the province. Our flight had a bit of a hiccup: a lady just in front of us had a heart attack, we think, but she seemed ok when she got off the plane. Still, the pilot picked up the speed and made the fastest landing & taxi that I can remember so that a medical crew could come on board. I’m glad she was ok; the couple next to me didn’t seem so concerned (“Geez, that landing was so rough“; “C’mon, medical people, hurry up…I’m tired!”) but some people are just assholes. Whattaya gonna do?

So now we’re back. The cats are happy to see us, I’m happy to have a supply of Tylenol cold and warm soup on hand, and happy that we can relax now until December.

Peace.