Simple things

My trip started June 8th. It took me 8 full days to drive from the west coast to the east coast, arriving in plenty of time for my daughter’s wedding.

Along the way I spent a lot of time listening to music. I stopped frequently for gas, bathroom breaks, food and photos. The scenery changed quickly from one province and region to the next. From the desert conditions of the Okanagan, to the snow-covered mountain tops of the Rockies, endless flat prairies with fields of crops, to the rolling hills of eastern Manitoba, endless lakes of northern Ontario, leaping deer of Quebec. Arriving in the Maritimes felt like going back in time — like I was almost home. I don’t know why that is, since my home is in the west.

Normally I don’t engage in conversation with strangers. Sometimes I don’t even say much to people I already know, but I found that while traveling in the maritimes provinces the conversations seem to happen easily for me. What began with a simple statement about the weather, resulted in a 10-minute conversation where an older gentleman told me all about his 3 sons and how one lived in Fort MacMurray and he had not seen him in 12 years. He missed him, but was happy that the other 2 sons lived close by. That short and meaningful conversation stayed with me the rest of the day, and made the driving somehow easier. I was on my way to my daughter’s place, and I knew that I would be seeing my children this summer…and not waiting 12 years!

Between weddings I am spending time with another daughter and my granddaughter. We are learning to appreciate the small things in life — blowing bubbles in the backyard, coaxing a chipmunk out from the shrubs (bribing with hands full of nuts), progress on the potty training, bravery to slide down the slide, learning to play nicely with other kids.

The simple things in life are valuable.