Once upon a time in the West (of Ottawa, but still in Ontario, (part two,
Tuesday, July 25, 2023: Slept terribly, despitethe better arrangements. The Oakville hotel was fine enough, the kids sharing abed, but somehow that was a better sleep. Here they have bunk beds with ahalf-wall between us, and it wasn’t as great. Stupid away-from-home.Todaywas attempting to enjoy all the amenities the Great Wolf Lodge offered,especially given how much the damn thing costs. I was tempted to jump acrossthe border and sell a kidney, which prompted my eldest daughter, Kate, toprovide me how much I’d get for such a thing (somehow this is information shealready knows off the top of her head; “it’s not my fault the internet is gross,”she responded). Again, we literally haven't taken the children to anything, given Covid, so it makes sense, I suppose, that this trip is attempting to make up for the past few years. There was wave pool and arcade and bowling and yoga and anelaborate self-directed wizard-game of some sort and a bunch of other excitements.I used the opportunity to read The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist (2020) by Adrian Tomine. It is really good. The children wore themselves out on their quests, we sent each other texts when they ran by (sitting in different corners of the hotel) and I managed some reading.
Sadto hear that a cousin on my birth mother’s side, Jaime, died earlier this week.She was one of the first on my birth mother’s side to reach out upon “discovery”a couple of years back, and responded with an enthusiasm I appreciated. We hadn’ta chance yet to meet, which was frustrating. Through emails, I discoveredanother cousin, Micah, is apparently here with his family, but not sure if he’llreach out and attempt to connect. I told his parents, including my Uncle Dale,my birth mother’s brother, that he’s welcome to text me if he’s able and/orinterested. As of yet, I have yet to see him (and I’ve been looking).
Mypal b stephen harding and his lovely wife Gemma were at the falls yesterday,which was amusing to be that close in a different part of the province. I thinkwe considered the possibility of meeting up, but it wouldn’t have been easy. We’llcatch up on stories once we’re back home.
Theentire afternoon, spent in the waterpark area. So much waterpark area. NormallyI hate water, but bringing the bags in from the car across two loads yesterdaywas so bloody hot it was enough to prompt me into the water. Once we’re backhome, I’m sure everything will return to normal, and I’ll be avoiding it againlike an old, irritable cat. The young ladies don’t know how lucky they have itright now (or maybe they do).
Bothnights we’ve been here, seeing a local skunk (I doubt he commutes in) wander byour back door. After the children asleep, sitting just outside the back door. Lastnight, he startled us, so we came back in. Tonight, he just wandered by.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023: It seems odd to bewaking most mornings before the young ladies. I mean, I’m not exactly waking anyearlier than normal, but they’re staying up much later, I suppose. To be upbefore Aoife seems baffling to me. Rose can easily sleep longer if we let her,at least at home. She’s often the last of us to rise. We attended to the lastelements of our big ridiculous Big Wolf Lodge adventures (another stretch of the wave pool, at Aoife's insistence) beforeheading off to catch a quick view of the falls themselves, which was only abouta five minute drive down the road. We parked, walked by the carnival row ofdowntown Niagara Falls strip (ice cream en route, of course, so it would be long gone by the time we returned to the car) and saw themagnificence of the falls. The children were impressed, at least. And then wereturned to the car and drove north, easily passing twenty or so cemeteries. Are we driving through cemetery country?
Whenin Owen Sound, naturally, one begins to think about the sound poetry group Owen Sound, yes? I mean, everyone else does that as well, right?Rainedheavily, but luckily it began well after we landed here. Amy Dennis' house, backed up against the banks of the Sydenham. Lovely. There were swans, also, but swimming separately, as Amy said they must not be getting along at the moment.
A cat in the window across from Amy's house. I don't like the way it keeps looking at me.
Thursday, July 27, 2023: Woke, in Owen Sound. We’respending two nights with the delightful Amy Dennis, a poet that Christine metduring her Toronto days, pre-Ottawa. She even launched her first book this pastspring as part of VERSeFest in Ottawa, which was pretty exciting. A slow movingday, simply hanging out with her. Very nice to catch up.
So much Owen Sound! Did you know that painter Tom Thomson is buried here? I even saw a tree en route this way that looked completely like one of his. A lovely small church in the woods, with surrounding cemetery. The church itself long closed, but the building and space restored, which was good to see. One doesn't wish these historic sites to crumble. The children wandered the cemetery looking at names and dates, and attempting to figure out how old everything is. I think the stretch of that kind of time is a bit past them, but hard to tell. 
We spent time at a beach, listening to the silence of the waves. The children picked at the stones, seeking fossils. They wandered the beach. We saw a kayaker and a paddle-boarder leave from the cove. All the waves on the shore whispered shush. The children left the shore with a handful of fossils. A bag, even.
