Dinner in Aberfoyle

"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."
- Charles Pierre Monselet

We accepted an invitation to the home of one of Merv's colleagues for an afternoon gathering in Waterloo yesterday. I really didn't have any idea what to expect. The party was scheduled for two hours. Merv was the senior colleague (the hostess' boss' boss) by both position and age. We didn't know if it would be awkward or if the invitation was a courtesy rather than a real request for our presence. Nonetheless, we headed to Waterloo for a two o'clock start. We had a lovely time. They were a great group of people, fun, warm and welcoming. We stayed until the official end of the party at four o'clock though I'm sure the rest of the guests lingered long after our departure.

A gathering in Waterloo gave us the perfect segue to a trip to Guelph to spend some time with Jacob. We offered him the choice of lunch or dinner. He elected dinner so Merv made a reservation at the Aberfoyle Mill. I hadn't been there for about thirty years and it was new for both Merv and Jacob. It was as charming as I remembered. The service was excellent and the meal was superb. Best of all, it gave us a chance to catch up. We had a good meal and a long talk, none of us in a hurry to go anywhere. Jacob looks great - his hair a perfect length, his skin clear and his eyes bright. I wanted to hug him and never let him go.

With just two more weeks of classes left and then a couple of weeks of exams, it won't be long until he is home for the summer. He starts work on May 2. Unfortunately he must return to Guelph after Easter to write one last exam on Easter Monday. He has already arranged with his boss at Rogers to have two weeks off in June so he can accompany us on a holiday to England.

It won't be long now. For me, Jacob's return home will mark the first day of spring.

No Result

“The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do.” - Joseph Stalin

The vote to determine whether or not the legal clinic would be unionized was held on Friday morning. It was preceded by a week of frenetic activity on my part, trying to convince, within the legally allowable boundaries, the clinic staff that unionization would be bad for the clinic and bad for them. I suspect I did not succeed.

Through a series of challenges on both sides, it was determined that there were nine eligible voters for Friday's election. Eight came. The union challenged the rights of two of them to be in the bargaining unit. Management challenged the rights of two others. As a result, the challenged ballots were segregated until a hearing can be held to hear the arguments. Because half of the voters were segregated, the Labour Board official in attendance at the vote yesterday, decided not to count any of the ballots but to seal the ballot box until after a ruling on each side's exclusion arguments. Until that decision, I didn't even know that was a possible outcome.

What the decision does do, is leave us in suspended animation until at the earliest mid-April or until one side or the other gives up our challenge whichever is first. I strongly suspect it is moot. Judging from the way staff were avoiding me on Friday when I went into the office, I'm reasonably sure they have all the votes they need to certify, whether or not our challenges stand. It is not the end of the world. It's just disappointing. And like in every election, their choice will get them the results they deserve. It isn't going to be pretty but they can't say I didn't warn them.

Of Unions and Yogurt

"I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yogurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today."
- Gordon Strachan

I've had a busy couple of days dealing with the union organizing campaign at the clinic at the same time as issues at Willow. My whole day yesterday was consumed with meetings about WTCLS and my whole evening was consumed by a Board meeting at Willow. By the time I got home at 10:00 P.M., I was exhausted and hungry.

Yesterday was day seven, the last day of my vegan challenge. Because the dinner provided at the Board meeting last night was all outside my program, I settled for an orange and a banana for dinner. It was fairly easy for me to pass on the meal. But someone put a plate of two-bite St. Patrick's Day cupcakes on the table in front of me. I swear those cupcakes screamed at me the whole night. I considered taking one home to eat after the clock hit midnight but I resisted. Instead, when I got home, I thought in great detail about all the wonderful things I would eat today.

Probably because I can have anything I want, I didn't get around to eating until about a half-hour ago. I had a small bowl of plain no-fat yogurt with peaches. It tasted sinfully good. Who knew a little bit of yogurt could seem like such a big treat? At some point this afternoon, I'll plan dinner for tonight. There are some lovely steaks in the fridge but somehow, I don't really have the appetite for meat. I might splurge on some eggplant parmesian though. And if a little green cupcake with shamrocks on it should cross my path, I won't resist.

Veganish

"Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?" ~Author Unknown

I am in day four of the one-week vegan challenge I decided to undertake after my trip to see Oprah. I convinced Cathy to take the challenge with me but she was ready to go long before I started so she started the challenge about a month ago. I decided I would wait until my return from Mexico. Even then it took me a couple of days to warm up to it but by Wednesday I was ready. Other than the couple of times I've put a splash of milk in my coffee, I have been vegan since Wednesday. No meat. No fish. No milk. No eggs. No animal products. So far it has been doable though admittedly the milk in my coffee makes me more veganish than vegan. I'm leaning into it.

For me, taking the challenge wasn't a moral decision. I have read and heard that a vegan diet can be cleansing and can make a person feel great. I'm up for that. It is also a tool for becoming more mindful of what I'm putting in my body. I have to think carefully now about everything I eat. I read every label on every product. I now know which breads contain dairy and which brands of pasta contain eggs. I opt for a pear or an apple in place of a cookie because I've yet to find a cookie without eggs or dairy in it. I'm eating more vegetables and more legumes. All of that has to be good for me. But frankly, I'm not feeling better. I'm gassy and bloated. And we're going out for dinner tonight for the third night in a row. Eating out is hard. So far, though, I've been able to do it. Except for the coffee. I have almond milk at home but doing a nondairy creamer is harder in a restaurant and I really hate drinking black coffee.

Tuesday will be the seventh and final day of my vegan challenge. I probably won't jump back into a diet of abundant meat. I'm not missing it at all. But my breakfast on Wednesday morning could well include a bit of yogurt or an egg. Veganish. Close enough.

The Secret Garden

"The secret garden is always open now. Open, and awake, and alive. If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden." - Mary in The Secret Garden

Our theatre subscription took us to the Royal Alex tonight for musical version of The Secret Garden. The production consisted of two one-hour acts separated by a fifteen minute intermission. I found the first act to be gray and slow. My declaration that it was boring caught Merv by surprise. He found the first act quite enjoyable. The pace and colour picked up in the second act and I found it far more palatable than the first. Merv dozed through much of it. All in all, it was a tolerable evening, nowhere near the bottom of my theatre-going experiences. It would have to be awfully bad to surpass Little House on the Prairie as the worst production I've sat through. I won't, however, put it on my list of events not to be missed.

On my way to meet Merv for our pre-theatre dinner, I was advised that the legal clinic was served with a union certification application late today. I am beyond disappointed that this has happened. The certification vote is in one week. Looks like I have a lot of work to do between now and then. It's going to be a long week.

Home

"If anyone wonders why the airlines are not doing well it is because flying has been made such an unpleasant and degrading experience."
- Keith Henson

Leaving on vacation is a whole different travel experience than returning from vacation - at least for me. I don't mind the journey so much on the way there though flying, at any time isn't what it used to be. I'm old enough to remember the days when airlines actual treated passengers like valued guests rather than terrorist intruders, but I digress. The getting there I can handle. It's the getting back that I struggle with. Yesterday's trip home from Mexico was no exception.

Our flight was scheduled to leave Cancun at 8:00 P.M. which would get us to Toronto at 1:05 A.M., an obscene hour to be traveling but as I won this trip, I had no bargaining power in choosing flights. We were required to check out of our room in the resort by noon and had a 4:40 pick up time to take us to the airport. When we arrived to check into our flight at 5:30, we were advised that the flight was delayed by thirty minutes. I felt bad for Merv who was required to attend an early meeting in Waterloo this morning. But now our expected arrival was pushed to 1:35. When we boarded the plane the pilot apologized for the delay but then advised there was a problem with the plane's electrical system. Though he told us several times it would just take a few minutes, by the time we left Cancun, our arrival time had been pushed to 2:15. We did in fact arrive as finally scheduled. But there was a problem with attaching the gangway to the door due to a build up of ice on the gangway. It hadn't occurred to anyone to deal with that problem before our arrival so we had to stay on the plane until the gangway could be deiced. We deplaned at 3:05. I don't think we could possibly have been further from customs. After a walk of what seemed like a mile we arrived at customs, stood in line and waited. When we finally came close to the front of the line, one of the passengers dropped her bag and the glass items she was carrying flew out of the bag and shattered on the floor. The customs agent closed the booth and left to call for a clean up. And so we waited. Finally we were processed, collected our luggage and got in a limo. Bags still in the front foyer, we crashed into bed at 3:40. I couldn't sleep. Eventually I drifted off. When I woke at 7:15 this morning Merv was gone. I don't know how he did it.

I had a meeting scheduled this afternoon at Willow but we lost our power at 11:00 this morning and it didn't come back on until nearly 2:00. When I realized I didn't have a way to dry my hair or get my car out of the garage I decided to opt out of the meeting. I just didn't have the energy to walk to the subway, make the long trek downtown and then return home in the middle of rush hour.

I didn't even summon up enough energy to go to the grocery store so we'll have to make due tonight with whatever dinner I can manage to throw together.

I don't like the trip home from vacation. But I sure love that moment when I get here.

Homeward Bound

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."
Maya Angelou

If I could find a way to do it, I would stay in Mexico for another week. This trip has been lovely. Until today, the weather has been perfect. It has been raining in Playa del Carmen since about noon. We still had an opportunity to enjoy our last morning on the beach. The rain almost seemed right - as if we wouldn't feel so bad dragging ourselves from the ocean vista to catch our plane tonight.

The shuttle to take us to the airport will pick us up at 4:40. For the past few hours we've been sitting in the lobby bar indulging in the last margaritas and servesas of our vacation. We've changed into our travelling clothes - admittedly mine thrown over my swimsuit. I've said a tearful goodbye to Alex, one of the lovely young women employed by the hotel who Merv and I spent some time with this week.

The service in this hotel is argueably the warmest and most conscientious we have experienced in any of our travels. I am reminded of just how wonderful the Mexican people are. The hotel employees are unflappable. Last night we returned from the beach to find a bottle of champagne and a note of birthday wishes in our room. It was addressed to someone else. Realizing the mistake we stopped at the front desk to let them know. The front desk staff were all pretty busy. While I waited I listened to the desk clerk deal with a guest on the phone. The newly checked in guest was calling with a demand to know exactly how old the snacks were that had been placed in his mini bar. Before he opened the ju-jubes and potato chips, he wanted an assurance that they had been placed there recently. The desk clerk put him on hold and called housekeeping services to inquire as to exactly when the mini bar had been stocked. He then reported back to the guest that it had been stocked one hour before the guest's arrival. He did it all with a smile. When I told him about the mix up in our room he thanked me for letting him know so they could send champagne to the correct room. The champagne sent to us was left for our enjoyment.

I know when I get home tonight I will be happy to slip into my own bed. I know I will enjoy my coffee tomorrow morning in front of the picture window overlooking the ravine. It is always good to go home. But today, I'm wishing I could be here just a little bit longer.

I Don't Understand

“Mysteries are not necessarily miracles.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I probably have too much time on my hands. But sitting on the beach these past few days, I've been contemplating some of life's mysteries. No matter how hard I try, there are things I just can't understand...

Why do obese women go on vacation and wear two piece bathing suits and bikinis? Is it that they don't know how truly terrible they look or that they don't care? Are there no mirrors in their houses, hotel rooms or the department stores where they shop?

Why are so many young people, many of them female, covered in tattoos? Not only do they have huge unsightly tattoos but they have them in places that make me wince. I can't imagine having the top of my foot tattooed or the whole side of my abdomen. How about the inside of the upper arm? I could hardly bear the four tiny tattoos I had to have done when I was experiencing radiation. Why anyone would voluntarily desecrate his or her body is a total mystery to me.

Why can't people who were born, raised and educated in an English speaking country (south of the 49th parallel) use even the most basic rules of grammar. It is like nails on a chalkboard to continually hear people babble on about how they "seen" something or ask "did you see them baracudas?" - appalling.

Why do people travel so far from home, go to restaurants and insist on badgering the chef into making them hamburgers though there isn't anything near a hamburger on the menu? Today at lunch, I saw people read the menu at the entrance and ask the hostess if they could get a cheeseburger made in the Mexican restaurant even though there is nothing on the menu that uses ground beef. Amazingingly, the hotel staff is so accustomed to the request that they hardly batted an eye. Eleven people around me were obliged.

Why do people smoke while they are bobbing in the ocean? Every day when I take my morning dip I see people smoking cigars and cigarettes while they bob in the ocean. Now that is just plain weird.

Carpe Manana

"On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it."
Jules Renard

I've been reading t-shirts since we got to Mexico on Sunday. Many of them are funny. Some are filthy and some are both. But my clear favorite is "Carpe Manana". For some reason it tickles me. I also like "I think I broke my liver" and "Who are these people and why am I naked?"

Today we took the ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. It is a short thirty minute trip on a comfortable, well appointed ferry. There are lots of restaurants, bars and shops within walking distance of the ferry. We started by walking the twenty blocks to catch our ride this morning and then walked, what seemed like another ten miles in Cozumel. We left our hotel at 9 o'clock this morning and returned here at 6 o'clock tonight. Other than our time on the water, our feet were our only means of transit. By the time we landed back in our hotel bar we were both exhausted. Merv suggested we grab a bite at the casual restaurant in the hotel which is the closest to our room rather than walk any further than we must to get dinner in one of the more distant restaurants. Fine with me. After dinner we returned to our room, Merv to reading and dozing and me to a long soak in the hot tub. Did I mention we have a huge marble hot tub in our room?

Tomorrow is earmarked as another day at the beach. Sun, sand and cervesa. Just another boring day in paradise.