THE SURPRISE

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned the corner of the driveway. It was standing, tall and beautiful, right beside the little white cross marking the grave of Bow and Yoshiko’s beloved pet, AC. The cat had been buried there a couple of months ago, and more than one tear had been shed by my son and his wife. Now a solitary, bright yellow sunflower graced the site.

I have little knowledge about plants, so have no idea how long it takes a sunflower to grow. It’s true I have been away for a few days, and even before my vacation I was arriving home after dark, so could have missed seeing the flower. Still, I walk down around there often with the doggies, and it seems I’d have noticed it during one of those jaunts. I didn’t. In fact, I’ve never seen sunflowers down there, or anywhere on my property, so the sight yesterday was a delightful surprise. I ran back up to the house and fetched my camera. For once, my pictures turned out good, and I can’t wait to show it to AC’s masters, who still miss her presence.

Camera still in hand, I decided my apple tree merited a few shots, as did the playful antics of Bud and Grump. Louka was sitting higher up on the hill, haughtily watching their games, so I caught one of her too. Then a cluster of plump white and brown mushrooms nestled in the green grass got my attention. I was trigger happy, LOL! My youngest son thinks he may have an adaptor to transfer the pictures from my camera to computer, so I believe I’ll run over to his home today and check it out. If it works, I’ll post some of these pictures.

I hadn’t talked to my brother much since my return, so I tried to contact him twice yesterday. The first time he didn’t answer the phone; I thought he was out and about. The second time he called me back to tell me he had spent the whole day between toilet and his bed, and was not feeling good at all. He must have picked up a virus. His system is still weak after the cancer treatments, so anytime he is sick it’s a cause for worry. We agreed that I would let him rest last night, but today I’ll see him just to make sure things are okay.

I also hadn’t heard from my friend out in Saskatoon for ages, and decided to give her a shout. We did what we always do on the rare occasion we get to chat; opened a bottle of wine and had a long conversation (was it really 4 hours, Karen?) to catch up on our doings. We don’t call each other often enough, but I suspect that, even if we did, the conversations would still last as long; we never seem to run out of something to say.

When I finally got to bed, I found that Morpheus was right there waiting for me. Although not all that long, my sleep was deep and appreciated. This morning it is grey and raining here – just the incentive needed to go through my closet and pull out autumn clothing. Tomorrow is a return to the office, and I know already that my agenda is full.

Vacation is never long enough, especially when one takes so few of them, or ends up working for much of it. Unlike my friend, Kilroy, who was not looking forward to his retirement (but enjoys it now, right?), I find myself longing for it on occasion. I’ll probably change my mind once I get there, LOL!

Hope y’all are enjoying the weekend and that each day gives you reason to SMILE!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.