~ springtime near Saskatoon ~

Tues 29 May 2007
9:07 a.m.

I have fond memories of waking up, at age 19, in a tidy second-floor bedroom in northern New Brunswick. Near Kedgwick, to be exact, where I and another Katimavik buddy billotted with two old people out in the country for a week or two. They spoke French and we spoke English, so it was like being in a fairy tale. Everything was new and strange and magical.

The morning light, filtered through gauzy green curtains, tinted the walls. When you open your eyes to something like that, it makes you feel all is well with the world. You want to get up, you feel ready to face the day. There is a sense of order and cleanliness; you’re starting off right.

Here, age 48, I’m on a three-inch thick foam square on the floor in my office, squeezed in amid piles of books, boxes, clothing, paper. The phone starts ringing above my head at 7 in the morning. I don’t want to wake up and deal with any of it, mostly because there is no way of dealing with it. It can't be cleaned up and organized, because there is no place to put any of the stuff. I am trying not to let it make me crazy, but there are times ....

On the positive side, the window is open and the cool rainy air smells wonderful. I drove to Saskatoon yesterday and brought Everett home and, though tired and looking rough (his face and scalp are peeling, his arms are red, bumpy, and itchy, and the large patch on his right shin is still discoloured and scabby), he is feeling fine. He's taking a strong medication for another three days, and I am keeping him home so I can keep a close eye on him.

And, I've said it before and I'll say it again—
I like baldheaded men!
Whoops, that damn Christine Lavin song came out of me again—

I meant to reiterate that at least we are still in our own home. A couple weekends ago, when Dennis was here, we took him for a drive around Fishing Lake to show him the extent of the flooding.

This row of cabins faces away from the road where I took the photo; we are seeing them from behind, where their owners used to be able to drive up and park in their back yards. Normally these lakefront homes look out over the lake. Now they are in the lake.

*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,

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