I have been sick for the past few days – it started off with a normal cold but after flying in from the West Coast late on Thursday night, it has gotten far worse. Not only am I coughing up some rather ugly looking phlegm but I have a bit of a fever that gets much worse at night. These fevers have produced some interesting dreams/hallucinations.
I “wake up” feeling very hot and sweaty and damp. I immediately try to remember where the control is for the electric blanket. I can’t find them, which is not surprising as I don’t have an electric blanket. But the search goes on for some time (in my half waken dream state). I get more and more frustrated as I can’t figure out how to turn off the heat.
I then get into an interesting debate with myself/another being. I insist that I am real in that I have arms and legs etc and that the world around me is real. The bed is real as are the furnishings in my room. The other part of me argues that nothing is real - that while we do exist, it is a being without form. That we all live in a world where our existence as we imagine it is exactly that – our imagination. I have this partial imagine in my mind – millions of bubbles drifting in an otherwise empty space – each containing an entity – the bubbles touch each other – bumping gently and for a time some of them stay connected – but each bubble creating its own world.
It is hard to explain in the cold light of the morning but in the middle of the night, as I toss and turn, trying to find some way of arranging the pillows so that my sinuses can drain, it makes absolute sense to me – we all exist in isolation and we all have complete control over our environment.
Which gets me to the point of all of this. Why can’t I make this damn cold go away?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
jet travel
It seems somewhat surreal being on the West Coast without having to work for it. While flying consumes far less time - it is not nearly as interesting. One can only people watch for so long before it comes a bit boring.
Surprisingly cold on the West Coast - not cool- down right cold. No snow but lots of frost on the ground in the morning until the sun melts it away (that's right - there is sun here - lots of glorious sun. From my son's new house I can see the mountains in the distance - quite nice.
Has been a great Xmas holiday so far - got to attend the live Nativity play (including fire works) on Christmas Eve with my grand kids, open stockings with them in the morning and have lots of time to go skating and tobogganing. As well got to play with all of their new toys - there are some pretty neat toys out there.
Then after a few days at home to visit with my mother, brother and sister, I flew out here for a week. Was even allowed to "babysit " with my grandson for a few hours on New Year's Eve while the "young ones" went out to a party.
Can't imagine a better holiday - except of course if I could do it forever - going back and forth between Duncan and Sudbury - wouldn't need a place to live.....
Surprisingly cold on the West Coast - not cool- down right cold. No snow but lots of frost on the ground in the morning until the sun melts it away (that's right - there is sun here - lots of glorious sun. From my son's new house I can see the mountains in the distance - quite nice.
Has been a great Xmas holiday so far - got to attend the live Nativity play (including fire works) on Christmas Eve with my grand kids, open stockings with them in the morning and have lots of time to go skating and tobogganing. As well got to play with all of their new toys - there are some pretty neat toys out there.
Then after a few days at home to visit with my mother, brother and sister, I flew out here for a week. Was even allowed to "babysit " with my grandson for a few hours on New Year's Eve while the "young ones" went out to a party.
Can't imagine a better holiday - except of course if I could do it forever - going back and forth between Duncan and Sudbury - wouldn't need a place to live.....
Sunday, December 19, 2010
On the road again (heading east) #13
I was not even sure how to get out of Wawa. I had been there before but I had no conscious recollection of how I had left. It had been dark the night before when we had driven in and I had not been paying attention to such details. Why would I? I knew I had drive to Sudbury. That morning as I stomped with anger and frustration up the road towards the highway, it was dark and cloudy and windy. It was one of those morning that reminds one that fall is going to come sooner than one would like. I was pretty sure that I was going to get wet at some point that day.
Lots of vehicles drove by. Most of them were pick-up trucks and none of them gave me a second look. After standing at a rather poor spot just outside of town for quite a while, I decided to walk a bit further down the road. It looked as if there might be some sort of gas station/restaurant where a some of the trucks that had passed me by were turning off to. It wasn't much of restaurant but there were a lot of vehicles including some big trucks stopping. More importantly there were some reasonably wide shoulders and good sight lines. It did not look as if there was anything better further down the road, so I decided this was where I would make my stand. Visions of spending a couple of days on the outskirts of Wawa kept flashing through my mind. It was good that I had things to think about as I was there for a few hours, but finally a car did stop and I got in gratefully.
He was an retired engineer - at least I think he was, he said so - but I don't think he spent a lot of time in that field. I think he said that that he had never really liked the field. As a matter of fact, in spite of the fact that drove from the outskirts of Wawa to Sudbury - I got to know, at least in some aspects, very little about him at all. In other ways I got to know him quite well. But part of problem was me.
When I got into the car I was still pretty upset at being abandoned by my previous driver and rather than me appearing reasonably normal - polite and interested in my driver, I went into a rant about what had happened to me. I must have sounded like a flaming lunatic. My driver later said as much. In fact he was so concerned that when I asked him how far he was going he just pointed down the road and indicated that he wasn't going too far. I must have freaked him out. However I did calm down and by the time we got to Sault Saint Marie we were getting along fine and he did tell me that he was going to Toronto.
In keeping with the strangeness of the past few days, this ride had its own peculiarities. My driver was going back to Toronto to deal with some real estate issues. he and his wife own some rental properties and their commercial tenants were about to go bankrupt. He needed to sort out some of the mess in terms of rent etc. There was also a case of them being sued because someone had fallen outside of their building the previous winter. In all honesty I am not sure where he actually lived. I think he lived someone within the general Toronto area, but if that is the case he never said why he was in Northern Ontario - they may have had a cottage up there, but that seems to be a long way to drive just to be on a lake. I will never know if his reluctance to talk about the physical details of his life was because of my rant upon entering his car, or if because he was generally careful about what he disclosed. He did mention that he had picked up other hitchhikers who had had significant emotional problems so perhaps he was just being cautious.
I say he didn't talk about about the physical details of his life, that does not mean that we did not talk about other stuff. He said that he had anger issues - he knew that because his wife had told so. They were involved in some sort of rather strange therapeutic conselling process that sounded like a money grab. It was something to do with the suggestion that our eternal anger evolves from how our parents treat it and we need to deal with that issue before anything else can be deal with. Sounded rather Freudian and at the same time rather cultish. We had a long and interesting chat about this kind of stuff. I suppose what was so remarkable about my driver was that in spite of the fact that he was very much into this "treatment process", to the point that he was thinking about pay what seemed like a huge amount of money to be trained as a"therapist", he was very prepared to hear other suggestions as how to cope with stuff.
I talked to him about my practice of every night before I go to sleep to think about the day and then giving thanks. Something that I have done for much of my adult life - even on those days when life has been horrible. It makes it so much easier to forgive people, and the world in general for the "slings of arrows of outrageous fortune" that occasionally rain upon our heads. He liked it and I think he will do.
He got me to the turn off near Sudbury, let me out, and I thanked him not just for the ride but for the help in calming down. As he was my last ride - my thanks to him was in fact a thank you to every one who had given me a ride. Twice on the way back I had met drivers who had given me a fresh perspective, a reminder of why I do what I do.
I am a hitchhiker. Oh I do many other things - I am a dad and a grand dad, I teach, and I spin and weave. I an adequate carpenter, plumber and electrician - but hitchhiking defines so much of what I am. For a few weeks every year, I shed my possessins, or at least most of them, and go out on the road to meet people, to trust people, to gamble that my view of the world is the correct one. So far I have been right - the world is a good place with people who will trust and help out a stranger on the road. Can anything be finer than being reminded of that?
Lots of vehicles drove by. Most of them were pick-up trucks and none of them gave me a second look. After standing at a rather poor spot just outside of town for quite a while, I decided to walk a bit further down the road. It looked as if there might be some sort of gas station/restaurant where a some of the trucks that had passed me by were turning off to. It wasn't much of restaurant but there were a lot of vehicles including some big trucks stopping. More importantly there were some reasonably wide shoulders and good sight lines. It did not look as if there was anything better further down the road, so I decided this was where I would make my stand. Visions of spending a couple of days on the outskirts of Wawa kept flashing through my mind. It was good that I had things to think about as I was there for a few hours, but finally a car did stop and I got in gratefully.
He was an retired engineer - at least I think he was, he said so - but I don't think he spent a lot of time in that field. I think he said that that he had never really liked the field. As a matter of fact, in spite of the fact that drove from the outskirts of Wawa to Sudbury - I got to know, at least in some aspects, very little about him at all. In other ways I got to know him quite well. But part of problem was me.
When I got into the car I was still pretty upset at being abandoned by my previous driver and rather than me appearing reasonably normal - polite and interested in my driver, I went into a rant about what had happened to me. I must have sounded like a flaming lunatic. My driver later said as much. In fact he was so concerned that when I asked him how far he was going he just pointed down the road and indicated that he wasn't going too far. I must have freaked him out. However I did calm down and by the time we got to Sault Saint Marie we were getting along fine and he did tell me that he was going to Toronto.
In keeping with the strangeness of the past few days, this ride had its own peculiarities. My driver was going back to Toronto to deal with some real estate issues. he and his wife own some rental properties and their commercial tenants were about to go bankrupt. He needed to sort out some of the mess in terms of rent etc. There was also a case of them being sued because someone had fallen outside of their building the previous winter. In all honesty I am not sure where he actually lived. I think he lived someone within the general Toronto area, but if that is the case he never said why he was in Northern Ontario - they may have had a cottage up there, but that seems to be a long way to drive just to be on a lake. I will never know if his reluctance to talk about the physical details of his life was because of my rant upon entering his car, or if because he was generally careful about what he disclosed. He did mention that he had picked up other hitchhikers who had had significant emotional problems so perhaps he was just being cautious.
I say he didn't talk about about the physical details of his life, that does not mean that we did not talk about other stuff. He said that he had anger issues - he knew that because his wife had told so. They were involved in some sort of rather strange therapeutic conselling process that sounded like a money grab. It was something to do with the suggestion that our eternal anger evolves from how our parents treat it and we need to deal with that issue before anything else can be deal with. Sounded rather Freudian and at the same time rather cultish. We had a long and interesting chat about this kind of stuff. I suppose what was so remarkable about my driver was that in spite of the fact that he was very much into this "treatment process", to the point that he was thinking about pay what seemed like a huge amount of money to be trained as a"therapist", he was very prepared to hear other suggestions as how to cope with stuff.
I talked to him about my practice of every night before I go to sleep to think about the day and then giving thanks. Something that I have done for much of my adult life - even on those days when life has been horrible. It makes it so much easier to forgive people, and the world in general for the "slings of arrows of outrageous fortune" that occasionally rain upon our heads. He liked it and I think he will do.
He got me to the turn off near Sudbury, let me out, and I thanked him not just for the ride but for the help in calming down. As he was my last ride - my thanks to him was in fact a thank you to every one who had given me a ride. Twice on the way back I had met drivers who had given me a fresh perspective, a reminder of why I do what I do.
I am a hitchhiker. Oh I do many other things - I am a dad and a grand dad, I teach, and I spin and weave. I an adequate carpenter, plumber and electrician - but hitchhiking defines so much of what I am. For a few weeks every year, I shed my possessins, or at least most of them, and go out on the road to meet people, to trust people, to gamble that my view of the world is the correct one. So far I have been right - the world is a good place with people who will trust and help out a stranger on the road. Can anything be finer than being reminded of that?
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Root Canels and Christmas Cards
One might think that root canals and Christmas cards would have relatively little to do with each other - and normally one would be right. The formed is seldom indicates a good time, while the latter indicates at least the possibility of good wishes.
I got a Christmas card from my endodontist. Which was a bit bit of a surprise as I certainly have done everything possible to try to forget them. I suspect if they have any memory of me at all it would be of a guy with a graying beard, with a moustache that got in the way and who made it quite clear that none of them would ever be his favourite person. I certainly gave them no indication that that I would ever put them on my Christmas card list.
But they did send me a card with a gift certificate to get some free Crest toothpaste. The card also says that they have made a donation in my name to the Youth Emergency Shelter. Now I feel bad that I didn't send them a card.
Do you think it is too late?
I got a Christmas card from my endodontist. Which was a bit bit of a surprise as I certainly have done everything possible to try to forget them. I suspect if they have any memory of me at all it would be of a guy with a graying beard, with a moustache that got in the way and who made it quite clear that none of them would ever be his favourite person. I certainly gave them no indication that that I would ever put them on my Christmas card list.
But they did send me a card with a gift certificate to get some free Crest toothpaste. The card also says that they have made a donation in my name to the Youth Emergency Shelter. Now I feel bad that I didn't send them a card.
Do you think it is too late?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Apologies to Johnathon Swift
Today I am glad that I am not renewing it for another reason - it says me the hassle of cancelling my subscription.
There is an article in the December issue talking about raising flying beetles so that scientist can figure out how to attach cameras to their backs and by wiring electrodes into their nervous system, control where the beetles fly. The reason? So the army can sneak into caves and houses and see who is in there.
At first I thought it was a satire similar to Swift's "A Modest Proposal". I, in my ignorance and naivety was anxiously awaiting for the show to drop - perhaps the author would start to talk about attaching cameras to kittens, and by control their nervous systems, control where they walked - I wondered to myself if they would take the story to the point of using children - before they started to talk about the ethics of taking animals (beetles, kittens, children- it is all a slippery path) and programming them to assist the army.
But alas - they were serious and somewhat inclined to brag about their success. Apparently it is not enough to trick dolphins and dogs into doing a human's bidding we now don't need to even pretend that the animals are on our side. There was no mention in the article of kittens or children - but you have to wonder what is next?
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
On the Road Again (heading east) #12
The hotel was too expensive. But if I wanted to make an early start in the morning,there was no where else to stay near the highway. I had stayed there last year and knew that the breakfast was not worth the rather exorbitant cost - so I skipped that meal and headed out, once again walking along the shoulder of the Trans-Canada. While I am not sure if the spot I choose to stand was actually outside of the town limits, I am fairly sure that no pedestrians were allowed to be there. However there was lots of room to stand and for cars to stop so I didn't see a problem. The police that passed by me didn't see a problem either.
It was a nice day - which was good, because it was going to be a long day - and perhaps the strangest 24 hours of the trip. Around 10:20 I got a short ride from Tom who was a builder/designer who was just heading a few miles down the road to see a house he was working on. He let me out a a gas station/corner grocery store which again had lots of room to stand and watch the traffic. If I have a choice I prefer to be let out at such places. One because it means that I can get more water if I need it and secondly it gives me something to look at when the traffic is slow. And it was slow. As is always the case, once one is well outside the city limits, the traffic which may have been almost non-stop dries up to a small trickle of vehicles. I had lots of time to kick stones and sing to myself. It wasn't until 11:45 that I got my next drive.
This may have been my favourite short drive of the trip. He was an Hungarian who was well into his 70s. He had been a mine engineer (I think) and had chosen to retire in the north country. He spent his winters in Toronto but all summer he was quite content to be north of Superior. He was clearly a well educated, well read man. He was delighted to hear that I studied sociology and for the next 45 minutes we talked about philosophy and politics and society. He was delightful. We laughed and teased each other, talked about women, argued about everything and in general had a great time. He said that if could have afforded it, it would have driven me all the way to Sudbury. He was a bit of a rascal - he said that he wished he could have a young girl to live with him who could talk about philosophy.
It is not often that I get to talk about Rousseau and Pascal to my drivers, but I relish the opportunities when they come.
The drive end all too soon. He was going a bit further but he said that the spot where he was turning off was in the middle of nowhere and he thought I would be better off where there was the possibility of a car slowing down to get gas.
He let me out across from one of the strangest building I have ever seen. I had stopped here before on one of my trips, but I never got a really good look at it. The building which functions as a gas station and mineral store (amongst other things I suspect) has these rather incredible mural painted on the three sides that I could see. Even more unusually - there is a park beside the building with some strange obelisk type structures such as the one shown in the picture to the right. I have not a clue what it was or why someone but it there. I suppose i could have asked, but other than to buy some water, I didn't leave my post - just in case the one car that would stop for me, came by at the exact moment that I was across the road chatting to the owners. It felt like cruel and unusual punishment that there was also a chip truck across the highway as well. I had not had a decent french fry since leaving Ontario 2 months ago - and I was sorely tempted.
I was there for quite awhile - there was not a lot of traffic and none of the cars that stopped to get gas, or fries or shop in the store looked at me. Still watching the folks come and go entertained me for a while. Finally a car did stop. It had Oregon plates, the back seat and trunk were full of camping gear and there was a kayak roped to the roof. The driver who looked to be about my age got out, made some room in the back for my pack and I was ready for my next adventurer. If I had known how this ride turned, I would still have taken the ride, I just would not have been so excited.
My driver was off to Toronto. He had been touring though part of Canada and the US, looking at kayak routes. We knew some common areas including the west coast of BC and it was pleasant talking about various water routes. There was one small glitch in his plans. He wanted to stop at a specific spot and put his kayak into Lake Superior for a few hours paddle. He had no problems me waiting for him, and I was glad to spend time by the lake at Rossport knowing that I would have a ride to Sudbury. Finally, the one long ride I needed to get home! We stopped at this rather charming little village with some small bed and breakfast places and a few restaurants. He decided that he was hungry so we went in to one place and had a ok
After about an hour or so, he did come back - we loaded up the kayak and put everything back in the car and were off. By this time it was getting late. I think it was probably close to 4:00. While perhaps if I had stayed on the highway I could have got another ride - I was at this point content with my decision.
He had spent much of his adult life working as a technical writer but that market had dried up and so he had gone back to school to learn how to be a para-legal. He fact he was waiting to hear about an interview that he had for internship. He had had an interesting life and was a good conversationalist. he had been married, but had been divorced for a number of years. he had lots of friends many of whom sounded quite interesting. We had lots to talk about and the miles went along quite smoothly.
As the sun started to set he asked about finding a place to stay for the night. He said he wasn't tired yet but would be in a few hours. I suggested that Sault St. Marie was too far away but that we could easily make Wawa. He very quickly became concerned saying that he didn't have to go through the Sault and suggested that I was leading him astray. I told him that there was no other way to get from where we were to Toronto except to go through the Sault. He didn't believe me - he was positive that he had seen another way to do it. As we left the shore of Lake Superior and headed inland, he naturally assumed that we were finished with the lake. he was again somewhat disbelieving when I said that he was only 1/2 way down the east side of the lake.
As we went through White River - I got to tell my Winnie the Pooh story - I love telling that story. I am not too sure if he believed me about that either. While it wasn't exactly tense in the car, things were definitely less friendly than they had been. We finally got to Wawa, found a motel that had 2 rooms open, moved our stuff in and then went out to find somewhere to eat. All that we could find was a Mr. Sub - which was just fine for me. I brought my map into the restaurant and as we ate I showed him our route. He kept on insisting that there was another way. As we said good night - he told me that he had some emails to do the next morning but hoped we would be ready to go by 7:30 or so.
I had a quick shower and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning I got up - stuck my head into his room where he was working on his laptop - said hi and went back to my room - with the door open. I read some magazines and every 10 or 15 minutes I stuck my head out the door to make sure that he was not waiting for me. Finally by around 8:30 I went down the hall - his door was closed so I went downstairs only to find his car was gone and my hat, map, and water bottle on the steps. He had left without me!!!!
I will never know why he did that. It seemed like an incredibly cruel thing - especially as I had told of the tales of people being stuck in Wawa for days as they waited for a ride.I can't remember ever being as angry as I was that morning. As I threw on my pack and started to tromp down the road - I coursed and swore and planned all kinds of mean minded underhanded things to do him if I ever saw him again.
But of course I never did.
It was a nice day - which was good, because it was going to be a long day - and perhaps the strangest 24 hours of the trip. Around 10:20 I got a short ride from Tom who was a builder/designer who was just heading a few miles down the road to see a house he was working on. He let me out a a gas station/corner grocery store which again had lots of room to stand and watch the traffic. If I have a choice I prefer to be let out at such places. One because it means that I can get more water if I need it and secondly it gives me something to look at when the traffic is slow. And it was slow. As is always the case, once one is well outside the city limits, the traffic which may have been almost non-stop dries up to a small trickle of vehicles. I had lots of time to kick stones and sing to myself. It wasn't until 11:45 that I got my next drive.
This may have been my favourite short drive of the trip. He was an Hungarian who was well into his 70s. He had been a mine engineer (I think) and had chosen to retire in the north country. He spent his winters in Toronto but all summer he was quite content to be north of Superior. He was clearly a well educated, well read man. He was delighted to hear that I studied sociology and for the next 45 minutes we talked about philosophy and politics and society. He was delightful. We laughed and teased each other, talked about women, argued about everything and in general had a great time. He said that if could have afforded it, it would have driven me all the way to Sudbury. He was a bit of a rascal - he said that he wished he could have a young girl to live with him who could talk about philosophy.
The drive end all too soon. He was going a bit further but he said that the spot where he was turning off was in the middle of nowhere and he thought I would be better off where there was the possibility of a car slowing down to get gas.He let me out across from one of the strangest building I have ever seen. I had stopped here before on one of my trips, but I never got a really good look at it. The building which functions as a gas station and mineral store (amongst other things I suspect) has these rather incredible mural painted on the three sides that I could see. Even more unusually - there is a park beside the building with some strange obelisk type structures such as the one shown in the picture to the right. I have not a clue what it was or why someone but it there. I suppose i could have asked, but other than to buy some water, I didn't leave my post - just in case the one car that would stop for me, came by at the exact moment that I was across the road chatting to the owners. It felt like cruel and unusual punishment that there was also a chip truck across the highway as well. I had not had a decent french fry since leaving Ontario 2 months ago - and I was sorely tempted.
I was there for quite awhile - there was not a lot of traffic and none of the cars that stopped to get gas, or fries or shop in the store looked at me. Still watching the folks come and go entertained me for a while. Finally a car did stop. It had Oregon plates, the back seat and trunk were full of camping gear and there was a kayak roped to the roof. The driver who looked to be about my age got out, made some room in the back for my pack and I was ready for my next adventurer. If I had known how this ride turned, I would still have taken the ride, I just would not have been so excited.
My driver was off to Toronto. He had been touring though part of Canada and the US, looking at kayak routes. We knew some common areas including the west coast of BC and it was pleasant talking about various water routes. There was one small glitch in his plans. He wanted to stop at a specific spot and put his kayak into Lake Superior for a few hours paddle. He had no problems me waiting for him, and I was glad to spend time by the lake at Rossport knowing that I would have a ride to Sudbury. Finally, the one long ride I needed to get home! We stopped at this rather charming little village with some small bed and breakfast places and a few restaurants. He decided that he was hungry so we went in to one place and had a ok
After about an hour or so, he did come back - we loaded up the kayak and put everything back in the car and were off. By this time it was getting late. I think it was probably close to 4:00. While perhaps if I had stayed on the highway I could have got another ride - I was at this point content with my decision.
He had spent much of his adult life working as a technical writer but that market had dried up and so he had gone back to school to learn how to be a para-legal. He fact he was waiting to hear about an interview that he had for internship. He had had an interesting life and was a good conversationalist. he had been married, but had been divorced for a number of years. he had lots of friends many of whom sounded quite interesting. We had lots to talk about and the miles went along quite smoothly.
As the sun started to set he asked about finding a place to stay for the night. He said he wasn't tired yet but would be in a few hours. I suggested that Sault St. Marie was too far away but that we could easily make Wawa. He very quickly became concerned saying that he didn't have to go through the Sault and suggested that I was leading him astray. I told him that there was no other way to get from where we were to Toronto except to go through the Sault. He didn't believe me - he was positive that he had seen another way to do it. As we left the shore of Lake Superior and headed inland, he naturally assumed that we were finished with the lake. he was again somewhat disbelieving when I said that he was only 1/2 way down the east side of the lake.
As we went through White River - I got to tell my Winnie the Pooh story - I love telling that story. I am not too sure if he believed me about that either. While it wasn't exactly tense in the car, things were definitely less friendly than they had been. We finally got to Wawa, found a motel that had 2 rooms open, moved our stuff in and then went out to find somewhere to eat. All that we could find was a Mr. Sub - which was just fine for me. I brought my map into the restaurant and as we ate I showed him our route. He kept on insisting that there was another way. As we said good night - he told me that he had some emails to do the next morning but hoped we would be ready to go by 7:30 or so.
I had a quick shower and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning I got up - stuck my head into his room where he was working on his laptop - said hi and went back to my room - with the door open. I read some magazines and every 10 or 15 minutes I stuck my head out the door to make sure that he was not waiting for me. Finally by around 8:30 I went down the hall - his door was closed so I went downstairs only to find his car was gone and my hat, map, and water bottle on the steps. He had left without me!!!!
I will never know why he did that. It seemed like an incredibly cruel thing - especially as I had told of the tales of people being stuck in Wawa for days as they waited for a ride.I can't remember ever being as angry as I was that morning. As I threw on my pack and started to tromp down the road - I coursed and swore and planned all kinds of mean minded underhanded things to do him if I ever saw him again.
But of course I never did.
North to Sudbury
This past weekend I went to Sudbury. While teaching until noon on Friday and then leaving from the school just after 12:30 was a bit of a rush- it was well worth it. For the most part the roads were great and the traffic was pretty light. The only bad time was when a long line of us got behind a snow plow and we all ended up going slower than normal. From what I could see 20 cars back, the plow was not doing much. Up near Huntsville, they clearly had got a lot of heavy snow and for a few miles the landscape was rather magical.The above shot was taken while I was driving. I wasn't using a cell phone camera so I guess it was legal. As you can see the road is quite bare.
Had a great time with the grand kids. On Friday night I went book shopping with my 5 year old grandson. He asked for some books for his birthday - so we went to Chapters and he picked his two books and then "paid" for them with his gift card. It was fun and it was a pleasure to see him take it so seriously.
Of course I would have preferred not to use Chapters - but I am not too sure if there is another book store in Sudbury, and the selection at Chapters was great. He spent at least 30 minutes choosing.
On Saturday at lunch time he had his birthday party where they made crowns, and then decorated gingerbread men or trees and then made their pizzas and then they decorated their cup cakes. A good time was had by all!!!
Later that afternoon I got to watch my 9 year old granddaughter play indoor soccer which was an interesting experience. I left early Sunday morning. It was a busy 36 hours - but I am glad I went.
Oh yes I had a shower in a most glorious shower - in the basement bathroom that my daughter designed and built. She had a bit of help, but most of it she did herself - the tiling especially was amazing. I don't think I have seen a finer bathroom that one she built.
I am a lucky guy.
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