post Canada Day update
spent the weekend at N's parents' place near Picton, ON. The three of us camped in a tent Friday and Saturday nights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A got all excited Friday night because OMGWhat'sthis?Wherearewe?ThisisSOCOOL!Sleep?Sleep?!Hellsno,lady!ADVENTURE!!!! The next night was easier to get him down. lol
Camping there was the first time I'd ever really felt the pulse of the land. Listening to the bullfrogs all night long and the crickets and the 4:30am birds and all the other noises I couldn't identify. Hearing the wind blow, seeing the cloud-to-cloud lightening on north and south horizons through the tent, the white noise of the rain lulling me to sleep, seeing the stars, oh so many stars, and watching the tent glow with morning light.
All the other places I've camped have been away from home in environments foreign to me. This was the first time I'd camped in an environment that was very much like where I live. It allowed me to feel blissfully connected to everything around me: all the annoying buzzing insects, the earwigs, the crickets, the herons, the swans, the lilypads, the growing fruits and vegetables, the breeze, the movement of the earth and the passing of the seasons. It was the first time I felt like I belonged to a piece of earth because that piece of earth sustained my existence. It was a treasured and beautiful experience and one that came over me both nights as I laid awake nursing my son, trying to get some rest, trying to decide whether to hold my bladder until morning, pee outside or trek to the house. The connection came over me during these mundane moments. It was unexpected and cherished.
We took A swimming for the first time. We'd kept him away from pools previously because exposure to chlorine can adversely affect tender developing lungs, and I didn't want to put his lungs at further risk for asthma (city air ain't so great). N's parents are using a different mineral to keep the bacteria and algae at bay in their pool, so they don't have to use much chlorine at all. The water was chilly for him, so we didn't keep him in there for very long. But he did enjoy it. We'll have to check out the saltwater pool at the JCC downtown soon.
We took him on the canoe for the first time, too. This was not so great. Spiders and earwigs in the canoe, A on my lap, both of our movements heavily impaired from our respective and ill-fitting PFDs... A moth flew down my back and got trapped in my shirt at one point. A fell asleep, though, so we got to enjoy a little bit of the lake sans squirming, unhappy baby. And the bugs left us alone for the rest of the short trip.
We made our own food, for the most part, and ate by ourselves, for the most part. This was a not so great part of the weekend. The food was lovely, but the lack of company sucked (everyone else was outside eating grilled hamburgers and sausages). It really underlined how different N and I are from his family and, by extension, everyone else like them, because they're pretty much the status quo.
It would be nice if we felt a greater connection to our own families...
***
Yesterday was awesome. A and I went to help plumjudy move abodes. I couldn't do too much, but I helped some. yay for my superstrength spatial sense! Woot!
Left there mid-afternoon to meet N downtown so that I could get a gluten-free pizza at the Pizza Pizza at Queen and John (no cheese, just veggies). It only comes in medium, so that's what we got. I ate the WHOLE PIZZA. I still can't believe it. N and I think the mediums have gotten smaller because it didn't seem like it was a very big pizza at all. N got some veggie slices so that he wouldn't go hungry.
We weren't prepared to head down to Cherry Beach for circus jams and drumming and lots of musical fun, so we went to Yonge and Dundas Square, instead, thinking wrongly that there would be water to play in. Nope. Artisans and art and food and performers from all over the world. Neat if you're hungry and want to buy things. We got disgusted at all the consumption and all the want that was being perpetuated by the stands, and then we were bored. So we decided to go to Cherry Beach after all, which was a Very Good Thing.
Once we finally got there (the bus is infrequent), we had an AWESOME time! Best Canada Day EVAR! We got to hear Samba Elegua perform! Wheeeee! And we met up with C and A and R and K and met new people and saw LOTS OF BABIES! Our people are breeding! craziness! A got a funny-scary welcome to the planet from some very lovely but very HIGH person. Met up with circus folk and had good chats. N and C got poi time and N got more poi time in later with circus folk. And THEN THERE WAS FIRE! yay for flaming poi and staff!
Got home in good time and slept well. Beautiful day. Beautiful weekend. Good life.
Camping there was the first time I'd ever really felt the pulse of the land. Listening to the bullfrogs all night long and the crickets and the 4:30am birds and all the other noises I couldn't identify. Hearing the wind blow, seeing the cloud-to-cloud lightening on north and south horizons through the tent, the white noise of the rain lulling me to sleep, seeing the stars, oh so many stars, and watching the tent glow with morning light.
All the other places I've camped have been away from home in environments foreign to me. This was the first time I'd camped in an environment that was very much like where I live. It allowed me to feel blissfully connected to everything around me: all the annoying buzzing insects, the earwigs, the crickets, the herons, the swans, the lilypads, the growing fruits and vegetables, the breeze, the movement of the earth and the passing of the seasons. It was the first time I felt like I belonged to a piece of earth because that piece of earth sustained my existence. It was a treasured and beautiful experience and one that came over me both nights as I laid awake nursing my son, trying to get some rest, trying to decide whether to hold my bladder until morning, pee outside or trek to the house. The connection came over me during these mundane moments. It was unexpected and cherished.
We took A swimming for the first time. We'd kept him away from pools previously because exposure to chlorine can adversely affect tender developing lungs, and I didn't want to put his lungs at further risk for asthma (city air ain't so great). N's parents are using a different mineral to keep the bacteria and algae at bay in their pool, so they don't have to use much chlorine at all. The water was chilly for him, so we didn't keep him in there for very long. But he did enjoy it. We'll have to check out the saltwater pool at the JCC downtown soon.
We took him on the canoe for the first time, too. This was not so great. Spiders and earwigs in the canoe, A on my lap, both of our movements heavily impaired from our respective and ill-fitting PFDs... A moth flew down my back and got trapped in my shirt at one point. A fell asleep, though, so we got to enjoy a little bit of the lake sans squirming, unhappy baby. And the bugs left us alone for the rest of the short trip.
We made our own food, for the most part, and ate by ourselves, for the most part. This was a not so great part of the weekend. The food was lovely, but the lack of company sucked (everyone else was outside eating grilled hamburgers and sausages). It really underlined how different N and I are from his family and, by extension, everyone else like them, because they're pretty much the status quo.
It would be nice if we felt a greater connection to our own families...
***
Yesterday was awesome. A and I went to help plumjudy move abodes. I couldn't do too much, but I helped some. yay for my superstrength spatial sense! Woot!
Left there mid-afternoon to meet N downtown so that I could get a gluten-free pizza at the Pizza Pizza at Queen and John (no cheese, just veggies). It only comes in medium, so that's what we got. I ate the WHOLE PIZZA. I still can't believe it. N and I think the mediums have gotten smaller because it didn't seem like it was a very big pizza at all. N got some veggie slices so that he wouldn't go hungry.
We weren't prepared to head down to Cherry Beach for circus jams and drumming and lots of musical fun, so we went to Yonge and Dundas Square, instead, thinking wrongly that there would be water to play in. Nope. Artisans and art and food and performers from all over the world. Neat if you're hungry and want to buy things. We got disgusted at all the consumption and all the want that was being perpetuated by the stands, and then we were bored. So we decided to go to Cherry Beach after all, which was a Very Good Thing.
Once we finally got there (the bus is infrequent), we had an AWESOME time! Best Canada Day EVAR! We got to hear Samba Elegua perform! Wheeeee! And we met up with C and A and R and K and met new people and saw LOTS OF BABIES! Our people are breeding! craziness! A got a funny-scary welcome to the planet from some very lovely but very HIGH person. Met up with circus folk and had good chats. N and C got poi time and N got more poi time in later with circus folk. And THEN THERE WAS FIRE! yay for flaming poi and staff!
Got home in good time and slept well. Beautiful day. Beautiful weekend. Good life.