Our twelve days of pillaging the shops and villages of Ontario, along with successful wrestling the ever present big city opponent known as Road Rage, are about to come to an end. It was a wonderful trip. We reconnected with many friends and family and visited many of the stomping grounds that Lynda and me frequented when we lived here. Memories of good times gone by are sweet to relive and will always stir feelings that everyone should be able to draw upon when a little lift is needed.
But isn't life about making more memories each and every day? About enjoying everything we do and have? About the realization that the most important time of your life is not the past, nor is it going to happen in the future, it is happening this very moment. It is not an easy thing for many of us to do to. It certainly isn't for me, but I am often able to catch myself reuminating about past events or daydreaming about an imagined future that may or may not happen the way I have imagined it. As I write these words and think about them, it makes those uses of my time seem that much more of a waste. I now try to live my life as it is happening. I'm still not perfect at doing this, but those moments when I am able to park my tendency to over think, a certain calmness comes over me. I can't believe what I've been missing out on! This trip was awesome because I was actually all here to experience it.
As much as we all enjoyed this trip, twelve days is enough time away from home for us, no matter where our travels take us. I think I speak for Lynda, Kendall, and Avery when I say that we miss Grammie, Nanny, James, and Maggie, as well as the rest of the clan. I hope Jasper will be as happy to see us as we will him. The same crappy weather that was there when we left awaits our return, but even that'll be okay, for a couple of days anyway. I look forward to crawling into my own bed tonight, with my familiar pillows and the squeaky frame. I get to pee on the seat of my own toilet and wipe with the cheap, industrial strength toilet paper we are partial to. I had planned on stealing some rolls of premium wad from our gracious hosts, Doug and Dallas, but Air Canada threw a wrench into those plans. Any more than one checked bag and I'll have to re-mortgage the house to pay for what Air Canada wants weary travellers to pay for that second bag. I could leave all of my clothes here and fill up my one bag with Dallas' Royale. (I previously thought it was Cottonelle, but Royale will do in a pinch too.) Doing that would be too much of a waste because Doug would not be able to use my clothes. We are similar in size and weight, but our bodies have their lumps and bumps in different spots.
The crescendo moment of our trip, as well as the reason we first decided to come to Toronto, took place last night. Katy Perry lived up to everything we could have imagined. She is a consummate entertainer, a wonderful and just seems like someone you would like to call your friend. I'm fortunate my kids are 10 and 8 years old and are into pop culture. It keeps me younger and at least a little more in tune with what's hip (although the word hip is probably no longer hip, but at least I'm trying). I was speaking to my brother just as we were about to go into the Air Canada Centre, along with 15,000 others, to see Katy. Bill has kids who are 4 and 2, so his not surprising response to my Katy Perry statement was "Who's she?" Telling him "I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It" did nothing. "Firework" did not brighten any light bulbs either. It felt good to be so much more "rad" than my younger brother. Come one Bill, stop idolizing Seger and Stewart and start living in the now.
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