The race for warmth!

And so the race began...Friday, March 10th, at 3 p.m. we packed the car and joined the flood of Ontarians heading down I75 in desperate search of sunshine and warmth. By midnight at the Jellico Pass we were surrounded by cars from Ontario driving through the night. We stopped for a few hours in a rest area in Tenessee and then drove on into Georgia. Again we stopped for a few hours and woke up to find more Ontarians waking up as well. We drove on and as we entered Orlando we found even more cars from Ontario. We chatted through open windows as we waited at the toll booth discovering who was from which city. This cameraderie with random Ontarians carried on all week, in the hot tubs at hotels, on the cruise to Nassau, wherever we went we found people from home, many there on similar time share experiences.

The cruise to Nassau was an interesting experience. We landed around 9:ooam and rented a moped which we drove around the eastern half of the island. We stopped at a local beach on Paradise Island and decided to trek down a sandy path to the crystal blue waters. En route a brown snake slithered across the path. I was glad my husband was a few paces ahead of me. Perhaps that's why men in some cultures walk ahead of the women, to clear the path of snakes! As we returned from enjoying the beach, a grey snake crept across our path. By noon we stopped at an island mall where we ate the local curried chicken with rice. The afternoon found us at a local fort beside the Queen's Staircase. I purchased a Bahamian flute and took it into the forts dungeons to hear how it sounded. The acoustics in the dungeons were great! After visiting the colorful market stalls close to the fort we took off via moped again avoiding several mangy looking dogs, all appearing related, who came out to see who was biking down their street. Late afternoon found us in the cool of Christchurch Cathedral replete with whitewashed walls, dark wood ceilings, plaques of past parishioners and a beautiful stained glass window. By 5:00pm we had boarded the ship again and readied ourselves for yet another dinner of several courses including chilled cream of strawberry soup and finishing with Baked Alaska. Late in the evening we returned to our cabin to find our steward had turned down our beds and concocted a dog of towels to welcome us. Hopefully I can upload the pictures soon.

Our last evening in Florida was spent aboard the Jungle Queen in Fort Lauderdale which included a dinner and show on an small island.

They're back!

Yesterday Jenn arrived safely home back in B.C. after a fun filled week in Los Angeles. We had one phone call from Ashland, Oregon, asking for a car problem analysis which we could actually solve over the phone (amazing). Jordan, his bus and ferry trip up the coast behind him, has counted 45 days of school left. Summer is coming! Well, back to another week of cracking the books, writing papers and teaching.

Answer to comment

And so I was asked what parental modelling is....it is, to quote Balswick in "The Family": "Parenting which is high in action and low in content" or again "what children learn is caught rather than taught".....as kids we tend to follow what our parents did instead of what they taught.

Reading break adventures

For those who wonder where Jen is, the last phone call a family member had was from San Francisco. She had heard a drummer on the streets and called Jer so he could hear the drummer too. Jordan is somewhere north of Vancouver on the coast enjoying rain and snow and so not able to canoe. Jo is safely back in Ancaster where it is much warmer than Winnipeg! Exploring our world is part of the joy of living.

Memories

And so this morning as I packed a gym bag to work out at the fitness club after work tonight a sudden memory made me smile. I remember my dad packing his gym bag to work out before work. My dad is closing in on 77 and still works out. Parental modelling is apparently one of the greatest influencers on a child.... so thanks dad! Perhaps if I keep working out I will be as healthy as you are at 77.