Thursday, February 12, 2009

Home Again, Home Again

David and I are now in Ontario (aka Onterrible) visiting with family. Next week is reading week, and given that today was my mother's 76th birthday (she swears it's her 66th) we ducked out early. The most excellent Melissa is taking care of Farcical Farm while we're gone, so I will once again be forced to plumb the depths of my imagination for FFF material. Don't get your hopes up, folks -- it's murky in there.

This picture was taken in the summer of 2003, about six months after my dad died. I am at my thinnest, mostly due to grief. My mother is at her palest for much the same reason. Still, we wanted to document the flowers we had planted and tended with the same care he took every previous summer. It gets a little easier every year.


11 comments:

Funder said...

Is reading week the week before exams?

Your dad's garden looks lovely. I hope yall have a wonderful visit!

Grey Horse Matters said...

Hope you all have a great visit and wish Mom a Happy Birthday no matter what the numbers are. Beautiful flowers.

Black Jack's Carol said...

Nice to see that picture of the two of you recording the carrying-on of your father's tradition.

I look forward to your murky worst:)

Have a wonderful visit, and please wish your mother, a fellow Aquarius, a very happy birthday!

allhorsestuff said...

Jiggity-jig~
Funder asked..but I too am in quandry about the reading week.
Have as much fun as you can.
KK

dp said...

Reading week is usually the week before midterm exams. I think you yanks call it Spring Break? I guess Canadians are more studious. It makes no difference to my life these days as I finished my courses a long ago, but David doesn't have to teach so we get a little freedom to move around.

Funder said...

Silly Canadians, spring break isn't in February! It's in March. Everybody knows this.

Seriously, when does your spring semester start and end? Our universities are almost all on 13 week semesters, starting around the second week in January.

dt said...

I have always called it "reading break" myself, but then I've never been very studious. Up here in Canadaland it's a week of cancelled classes around the middle of February. If I'm not mistaken Spring Break in the US tilts into March?

dp said...

Classes start right after New Years and go until the first week of April. I think the difference lies in the fact that we take time off to study and you take time off to party.

Funder said...

Haha, I can't believe a 19 year old Canadian is that much different from a 19 year old American. ;)

dp said...

Of course not. But legend has it that reading break was introduced to Canadian universities when suicide rates went up right around midterm exam time. What's the point of having a break in March? It's almost summer!

EvenSong said...

Spring break is generally between Winter QUARTER and spring QUARTER, so its after final exams--definitely time to party! For those colleges that are on semesters, I suppose it does correspond to mid-terms...