Our arrival back in Canada has been marked by reunions with friends and family. Mostly revolving around the excessive consumption of food and drink, with the odd activity interspersed in between. Not a bad way to ease back into the True North strong and free…and cold.
It wasn’t long after arriving on native soil that the action kicked off. We started at Britt’s cousin Chris and (his wife) Cory’s place with a 6am breakfast send-off for Jessie and Katie, who unfortunately had to leave for England four hours after we arrived.
Uncle Tom and Chris did not disappoint, managing to weasel me into four hockey games over the course of the week.
Shockingly, I could only convince Britt to come out and take pictures once. I just can’t fathom how she could not see freezing her ass off, watching 90 minutes of beer league pick-up hockey at noon on a weekday, as a perfect cap to our tropical vacation…
Ciel, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough hockey.
The intense bruising nature of the games necessitated frequent soaks in the hot tub to recuperate.
Punctuated by trips to the trampoline so Ciel could polish her Cirque routine.
Out in Ladner, Aunt Sandra performed her usual culinary wizardry, crafting a continual stream of gastronomic decadence throughout the week.
With Ciel as her self-nominated sous-chef.
On Friday, Ciel had her first meeting (and dinner) with “distinguished” child psychitrist, Dr. Derryck Smith.
After which, he promptly had her committed.
Meanwhile, in a heroic display of devotion, our friend Kelly,
Slummed it on a five-hour bus ride from Seattle, to join up with us and her boyfriend Adam for an intense weekend of beer tasting,
Oyster shucking,
And, of course, a private birding outing with the illustrious President of the Delta Naturalists Club…Uncle Tom.
Highlights included a stop at the neighbour’s barn so UT could teach us all about the difference between owl poop and owl pellets (by reluctantly sifting through them with his bare hands) and so we could get an exclusive peek at the resident Barn Owl.
The next stop was Reifel Bird Sanctuary, where the team quickly got on the prowl.
It wasn’t long before we spotted Bald Eagles,
A “fine pair” of Wood Ducks,
A six-inch tall Saw-Whet Owl,
And a bevy of Mallards.
Not to mention the Junkles, Hooded and Common Mergansers, Buffleheads, Swallows, Black-Crowned Night Herons, Red-Wing Black Birds, Coots, Lesser and Greater Scaup, Ring-Necked Ducks, Northern Pintails, Green-Winged Teal, Shovellers, Wigeons, a Long-Eared Owl, three species (Fox, Song, Golden) of Sparrow, and Chickadees eating out of the palms of our hands (all not shown)…we (especially Ciel) could barely contain our excitement.
The birds weren’t the only animals Ciel got up close and personal with in Vancouver. Chris and Cory’s dog, Tiger, was obviously ecstatic to have someone his own size to play with for a change.
They quickly bonded over games of Tug-O’-War,
And Cops and Robbers.
They even teamed up on a staircase climbing expedition.
It wasn’t until day three, when he started trying to air hump her, that Ciel realized he wanted something more out of the relationship. Like many before her, Ciel had naïvely assumed that Tiger was different than every other male on the planet. “But, I thought we were just good friends…!”
All in all, it’s been a great week. A nice, gentle transition back to the real world. We’ve come a long way in the last six months.
Ciel is looking forward to getting back to see her cousins, Lexi and Ian,
Grandma Rita’s big birthday dinner is on Thursday, Nana Madeleine has her bags packed for her first (of many) weekly visits, and Britt and I need to find out if we still have gainful employment.
Thanks to all who joined the ride. We loved all your comments and support, I hope you had as much fun as we did. Our travels have come to an end, but for those interested in the resolution of my errant facial follicles, you may want to buzz back in a few days for an update.
And finally, with our landing in Toronto, our circumnavigation is complete. At long last, I can truthfully quote the gravelly-voiced, sage words of the late, great, (original) Grampa “Jimmy” Bearss,
“Boy… I’ve been around the world… Ain’t nuthin’ I’ve seen… I like better…”
“…Than a pretty girl.”
2 comments:
UNREAL! Congratulations! Wow! What an epic adventure! Loved tagging along for the journey!
I just realized that I miss a bunch of posts lately. Gotta go back.
YAY for TEAM BEARSS!
~k
Great Canadian windup to your trip around the world. Glad to see you did get some hockey in Luke and its looks like Ciel maybe a hockey fanatic in the future. Sorry Britt that means more cold arenas
I suppose all good things must come to an end....we will miss your adventures but we loved seeing journey through your awesome pictures and colorful description.
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