Tunnels of lifesavers

I'm back.

It's been 3 days. I missed you all!

I was away for the weekend visiting my husband's grandmother, I guess she is my grandmother-in-law.

I call her grandma...hope nobody minds :)

We spent 3 days with grandma, talking eating, visiting, baking...

Morning

930 I begin to toss and turn...soon I wake up.

Out of the 4 of us, one has been up for several hours, walking on the shore, around the park, through the cemetery ( which is beautiful...I know) past the bridge, by the church, the crazy dog and back to 103.

The next is sitting in the rocker by grandma who is sitting in her "spot" with the tv on mute but on the news channel. Those who have been there know, it just is what it is.

As I am waking up I hear the water being poured into the kettle and placed on the stove but the stove is not turned on yet. The table is being set: plates, cups and glasses for tea and juice ( small glass and cup for grandma ) cereal, sliced apples or maybe oranges ( the suspense is killing me, what will it be?) jam, marmalade,peanut butter. The toast pops, but there are still several rounds to go, after all there are four of us.

I stretch, throw the covers off and breathe in. It's been a while since we were last at grandmas in and it's now morning. The memories always come back in the morning. Memories of visiting her and grandpa at the farm, sitting in the kitchen and looking out at the bird feeder, having 3 plate fulls of apple crisp and sharing stories of past and present.

For several moments as I sit on the edge of the bed looking out at golden maple trees, I remember the maple trees as we would pull into the farm off the most beautiful lane way. 13 maple trees adorned the farm and 1 lonesome apple tree off to the side. I have pictures, where at those pictures?? I will find them and post them.

I only had the privilege of going to the farm 5 or 6 times but every time we drove past the red mailbox and up the lane I sat back, eyes wide open and thoughts parted. I was taking it all in.

And now those thoughts are always with me. It was beautiful, serene and a far away place mentally. So quiet there was actually a noise to the silence. And there was always the wind, it entered the house through the cracks created over many many years of life that travelled through, it whistled and hummed. It was a great place to visit, must have been a special place to live.

There is a certain mental chaos that I feel everytime we are on the way to grandmas. My mind is in city mode and I need to switch channels to country. Constant thoughts of work, chores, committments, calls, emails, conversations, possible conversations...full days, long nights and just not enough time with you. The chaos soon disappears and I crack the window, look far past the horizon and catch a glimpse of the red leaves peeking over the hills. Soon they will be in sight. I wait, take a sip, look around and straighten up. As we are driving I find myself looking forward to silence and the casual gossip grandma has to share. She's soft spoken so to catch her fantastic sense of humor one must sit on the chair next to her or on the couch. I sit on the couch, front row.

There are always great stories to be shared, usually of stuff that " dad " did, said, people he met, and places they lived in, moved to, all real stories, all great stories! Priceless and so well told. She giggles at the funny parts and pauses in memory of great love and best friend that some called grandpa and others dad. It's a moment not to be missed. Truly, true love.

After driving through what grandma says " is the most beautiful part of Ontario", tunnels of lifesavers, colours so bright in the shade, if the sun were out the beauty would be intoxicating I look forward to seeing her again. In the winter, amongst the twinkling sparkle of the moonlit trees, snow covered rooftops, cinnamon spiced aromas and a warm smile.

Oh, and if the suspense of apples or oranges was lingering with you, we had apples and pears.