Home Again

It is muggy and gray and trying to make up its mind whether to rain or not, and umbran and I have just gotten home from spending a long weekend in Canada at a friend's lake cottage, where I learned many things.

-It is far harder to get into Canada than I ever anticipated. I knew I'd need my passport; I didn't know that I'd need to list off every state I ever lived in, the name of the person I'm visiting, how long I've known them, the exact circumstances under which we met, my career, my city of residence, and then get sent aside to answer the exact same questions again in a separate building while very polite guards did strange beepy things with my passport.

-Canadians have a different definition of "road" than we do. I'm fairly certain that anything with grass growing in it is not a road.

-Topical NSAID cream is a wonderful thing.

-I am a skilled enough cook to prepare a full dinner for 11 in an unfamiliar kitchen the size of my coffee table with no running water.

-Contrary to my own beliefs, I am capable of surviving for three days in a facility with no potable running water.

-Canoes are awesome.

-New friends are a goodness, and it is entirely possible to start out the weekend in a house full of strangers and end it in a house full of friends.

And now, time to unpack, weed the garden, and cuddle the kitties. And revel in the marvel of indoor plumbing....