For the past several years we have begun our winter expedition to Hilton Head Island by staying in Kingston, Ontario on the first night of our departure.
Category Archives: General
Serendipity
The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) ordered by my neurologist as the last level of enquiry into the cause of my numbed lower limbs and feet was scheduled at the Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa tonight at 10:50 pm. As so often happens in circumstances preceding a planned departure (we leave for Hilton Head Island tomorrow for 5½ months), this unavoidable duty was seemingly mockingly set for the latest possible hour before we got away.
Weight Loss
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve vowed to lose weight. The pleasures of the table are noticeably not lost on either of us. But we’ve decided things must change. The starting point was the decision to use separate shopping carts at the grocery store. This is symbolic of the divergence from the social element of eating generally. By restoring food to its narrow dimension of nutrition we have eliminated a myriad of dietary complexities and social distractions. Eating should after all be a highly personal undertaking. And if this endeavour is to work (by which I mean, if it is to be a serious enterprise) then there is no need to confound it with corporate cooking responsibilities and presentation issues. Just stick to the basics.
Birthday luncheon
My sister’s current husband has succeeded to endear himself to everyone in his extended family including in particular me and my partner. In defence of such effusion I should add that we rather admire him for having endured both his wife and his two daughters for the past 30 years or more, not always a trifling enterprise. In recognition of his stoicism we offered to spring for a corporate lunch to celebrate his upcoming 62nd birthday, his choice of venue. He chose a Vietnamese place in a sparkling new commercial blip in the centre of the City, a place located not far from where he and my sister live. So we agreed upon that and submitted to the reservation which he took the liberty of making for noon today.
Packing
This will be the third time we’ve headed south for the winter; the third time we’ve packed up the car and turned the key on the front door for five months; the third time we’ve abandoned family, friends and hearth to take up new digs for the season.
Will this never end?
Pending resolution of the US presidential election it seems at times that the entire world is in a state of suspended animation. On almost every imaginable level there is an unbearable resistance to moving forward until that event is accomplished. It isn’t even clear that the nail-biting will end on Voting Day (November 8) or whether it will only be the spark that sets the debris ablaze. Until then the election is on everyone’s lips. You can’t go anywhere or talk to anyone without the chimera of Donald J. Trump percolating. Meanwhile the anxiety about the election lingers universally, sometimes casting a shadow upon the entire globe, fuelling at the very least an examination of liberalism, isolationism and nationalism or trepidation about the decline and upset of the American Empire and the Grand Old Party.
Off we go!
Every second Thursday afternoon our housekeeper performs a cathartic purge of our residence. We make a point to get out of her way. Normally we’re gone by 1:00 pm at the latest. The bi-weekly event is an opportunity to go touring. Almost always we head to the St. Lawrence River – specifically the Ivy Lea Club, Gananoque or Kingston – because it is far enough away to keep us at bay for several hours and we usually grab a bite to eat late afternoon to avoid having to contemplate dinner upon our return.
Blustery autumn day
Last night we agreed we’d go grocery shopping today. And visit my elderly mother. Early this morning before resolving to quit the downy lair an idea struck me as a further refinement of the project. We could combine our grocery mission with breakfast at a local beanery. It had been weeks since we had exercised our summer tradition of going to the golf club for breakfast in the Village of Appleton overlooking the Mississippi River. Now that the clubhouse was closed for the season, the opportunity presented itself to re-enact the erstwhile weekend custom at a new venue.
Do what it takes
There is a sphere of experience no one wants to be the winner; namely, suffering the worst calamity. No matter to whom you speak it isn’t long before a tale of misery insinuates the conversation, whether a family death, serious medical issue, financial hardship, child-rearing problem, matrimonial battle, traffic accident, employment downturn, travel disaster, whatever! Eventually none of us escapes the perils of living and it is with the predictability of a dice roll that it happens to any one of us. Of course we’re never prepared for the eventuality, it always “comes as a shock” and “we never imagined it could happen to us”. Yet it does. Life is as certain as the outcome of the Brexit vote but the chance of misfortune just a close.
Getting closer…
Today I wrapped up matters with the accountant and we are now in readiness. Granted there remain a few details to settle before our departure but nothing critical. As is my wont I compliment ourselves on having dove-tailed the many things to address over the past seven months in anticipation of our five-month sojourn on Hilton Head Island. The sensation of accomplishment is reminiscent of how I normally felt when working and preparing to leave for a paltry week’s holiday. I suppose the template is identical. What however amazes me is the fortuity to fulfill all the prerequisites without annoying loose ends.