A Break from Routine

"Nice. Beautiful. Quiet. Relaxing eh?" Repeat 50 times. That's what big sis had to say about the place.

The float plane she was flying in on was 45 minutes late. I was beginning to worry. Maybe she's freaked out and won't get back on the plane, I said to the man on the dock just returning from his buddhist retreat at Stowel Lake Farm. But no, she really enjoyed the flight. Especially the pilot, Tom, I believe. Nope he's not flying back on Tuesday. Sorry!

As always, she was overly generous and spoiled me: dinner, soap, and a new cloth purse. I think she may actually be part Japanese. You can't look at anything without her wanting to buy it for you. But I don't NEED anything.

We went to Ruckle of course and I took her to the exact spot in the park where I used to camp and my very very favorite spot where I want to live forever when I die. What was your favorite part, I asked her, after the Canucks had lost.

The black sheep with the fluffy, long tail of a dog she said. Part Sheep. Part Fox. (No idea what the hell it was really; very strange.) She also liked the little baby lambs and the way they baa'ed as if they were saying "bye, bye". "You ate that last night," she said, pointing at them and pointing that out to me.

We sat on the deck of the Salt Spring Inn, ate at Bocaderos and the Rock Salt Cafe. We stopped in at The UpStairs Bears so she could see all the antique Teddy Bears and dropped by Transitions, everyone`s favorite second hand store. We walked through ArtSpring and she met my co-worker Suzanne.

I took her to Pauline`s and she walked around the place counting all the dried bird`s nests tucked away in the cottage`s cozy corners. She liked the deer in the field at dusk and the horses that looked like Clydesdales.

She compared Fulford to tourist shops at the Hawaiian Market. And, she doled out hand sanitizer this afternoon at the bottom of Booth Bay Road to the little boy who had picked up the wet sock on the beach. No, it didn`t have a foot in it. He washed his hands anyway.

It was nice to have a member of my family visit so I could show them my favorite places. A rare treat.

And I think she was glad to get out of the city, away from her regular routine, even if the crickets and the frogs kept her awake.