So Closes Summer

Summer officially ends on September 21st, but it's effectively over on Labour Day weekend.

My Mom's side of the family goes up to Nanoose Bay for the weekend. They hang out and relax. They're a clean-cut bunch and that feels very different from who I am. I used to drink a little, I occasionally have a cigar. I swear like I'm a salesman in Glengarry Glenross. In my off time, I make man-sized sculptures of Cthulhu; and paint up innocent garden ornaments to look like ghouls and 'bikers.' My Dad's side of the family are on the opposite side of the spectrum. Let's just say were they in 19th century England, they would have been shipped to Australia. Here I am: Mr. In-between. I have a belief structure, I like the odd mild vice, I like weird/geeky/dark stuff; but I don't have a criminal record or a string of bad debts and bad situations. Likely, this is why I gravitate to my circle of friends who are much like me: a little geeky, a tiny bit rough, but smart (or smart-assed) and all-above: they're good people.

Nanoose: Three years ago, I thought I could just go next year. Two years ago, Cheryl broke her ankle while moving some crappy computers that were offloaded onto us. One year ago, we shuffled kiddo to my Mother-in-Law's and painted the whole place so that we could get sell it off and get away from the lousy property management and myopic strata council. This year: no injuries, no house sale drama but the clock ticks. So, we made the time and went: my boss even told me to slip away early. That was grand!

The new (to us) van, a 2003 Kia Sedona, had an engine light go on part way up the trip, but the documentation said it could be ignored for the time being. We made it up to Nanoose Bay, using a memory of what the route was 34 years ago, when I last visited the place. The tide went out and I took the opportunity to pick around for shellfish. I found a handful of clams; and wifey found a handful of oysters! In many ways, she's my good luck charm. The predominant weather was rain: that suited me fine.

All-in-all, it was a very nice trip. While the trip up island was dense with evil traffic, the trip down was sparse. We hit two Walmarts, which counts as evil, I guess. Today, kiddo and I will embark on making home-made ketchup (mmm...). Tomorrow: schools starts again. She and I will make a point walking as often as possible to head off my Baron Harkonnen physique.

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