We enjoy a few days visiting with my cousin; his significant other and now our new dear friend; and a little puppy named Ebony who becomes fast friends with Molly. It takes a few hours for Molly to warm up to the newcomer, but before long she finds the opportunity to play with someone her own size impossible to resist.
I take no photos, other than a few of the dogs. Mostly we just visit and eat and play chess and one board game that no one understands very well except my cousin. It’s all great fun. Another cousin joins us from Regina one day. It’s a few days of time very well spent. On the last morning, this morning, Gerry makes his signature crepes for breakfast and we bid farewell for now.
Earlier, we went for a drive and I captured a handful of images with my Canon. Now, I sit outside under the gazebo in the backyard and think about doing something with what remains in the garden. The first cucumber might be ready to pick; there’s pattypan squash that is definitely ripe for harvest; but I choose to soak in the remnant of contentment from time spent with family, and do not much of anything at all instead. I’m tired, having stayed up later than usual over the past few days. Soon, I’ll pull leftovers from the fridge and we’ll settle in to watch a few episodes of Alone. Bedtime will come early this evening.
I am here alone for the first time in weeks, to take up my ‘real’ life again at last. That is what is strange—that friends, even passionate love,are not my real life, unless there is time alone in which to explore what is happening or what has happened. ~ May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude
As an introvert, taking time and making space to ruminate, gather pieces of myself and put them back together again is something I do naturally. Like Sarton, I simply cannot jump back into my ‘real’ life without an intentional transitional phase and still remain true to myself. Attempting to do so can have disastrous consequences for those who live with me.
Tomorrow will be soon enough to return to the story I’m working on, think about intentions for the coming months, and tend to things that need attention around the house. For now, I bask in the afterglow, sitting silent and tapping out words, while my reserves are replenished.