Monday, June 9, 2014

The Dark Road Home

I know I am on day 23 of the Best Hundred Days of my Life. Days can collapse into one another. I am too busy to sit down at night and take stock of them. When the late evening comes I just have to make sure that I am on the road, walking towards home, before it gets too dark. That is what happened last night. Wyona and I were at Moiya’s house and Rebecca was our Help Line in Victoria. We tried to find our way to Rebecca's Dropbox on both of their computers and take a look around at shared documents.

Imagine how much fun that is for people who think they have retired. Remember the line, the new black is pink? I can add another saying. The new retirement is (online) work.

There will be no rest for those who get old, which is the way I want to live.

The only difficulty of the night was for Dave Wood who was putting Celeste and Aiden to bed. Aiden refused to get into his pyjamas until his grandfather could find the matching top for the bottoms. Dave had to come downstairs and ask what it was that matched the highly toy-patterned psychedelic colours of the bottoms.  He held them high to us and rolled his eyes.

“Plain black top,” said Moiya.

All of us had best moments of the day.

Bonnie took Dave to a special event in Salmon Arm for 7 to 11 year olds – stations where kids could learn something and receive a big prize (a chance to shoot a paintball gun) when the stations were finished. Station I included a photograph of yourself – one taken so that the photograph could show where your mom had missed putting sunscreen on your skin. Bonnie said that was real fun! Next station at another venue? You got to chew a nice round red pill, after which you could see on your teeth where the sugary crunchies still were that had been missing in teeth brushing. Another winner for the self esteem of the mom. Perhaps the Fire Station had the best accessories. Put on a fireman hat and a jacket that just fit you and hold the water hose. Then you got to answer the question, “Do you have a fire alarm in your bedroom.” David said yes. Bonnie knew she had to go home and check out where the alarm should go to make his answer true.

No wonder there is no time to type. A full day. I don’t have time to sit and visit with my sisters after sunset if I don’t think to put a flashlight in my bag when I leave home early in the morning. The trail back home is not long, but I fear doing it in the dark anymore, at least not if I don’t bring my flashlight to guide me. When I stepped from Moiya’s well lit porch into the dark I walked a little faster. I was sure I heard a cracking sound in the forest – an animal probably as frightened of me as I would have been of him.

Arta

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