16March1996

16/03/96
My dear folks,

Homeward bound on Air Canada & with mixed feelings! It's time to return to reality & reality doesn't much appeal. My body tells me that it's a Canadian evening. The captain has just informed us that it's a British morning. I guess you know the feeling. I was seen off at the airport by Kev, Ann, Alan & Mum. Such occasions don't lend themselves to anything other than small talk. I owe them a big thank you for a lovely break. The visit was all the nicer for coinciding with the arrival of warm weather. My favourite activity was to put Tomba on his leash & wander off around the perimeter of Heritage Pointe. That was also Tomba's favourite activity. It was one that presented relaxed opportunities to chat & reflect & catch up a little on each others' lives.

Things had changed radically since my last visit. While Kevin & Ann were as ever, the house & location were completely different & the children had been through a time machine, emerging as adults, with their own cars & their own lives - still circling the family nucleus but in widening orbits. They were all good company & easy to talk to, if not too early in the morning. Penny would emerge first to take herself off to a school where she's giving classes as part of her teacher training. Alan followed, sometimes after a little parental inducement, & drove himself to school nearby where he's in his penultimate year. Mark might or might not put in an appearance before lunch. His activities as stage manager for a theatre company made for late nights & late days.

Of Tomba's interests you already know. I ought not to pass over those of Shadow, the spitting image of Noite & easily the most remarkable cat I've ever come across. Her twin aims are to entice people into the laundry where her biscuits are stored & rationed throughout the day & to get outside - strictly forbidden because of the dangers presented by cars & coyotes. Shadow shares an interest with Tomba in a disintegrating blanket on which she lies for hours. She's a free spirit who answers to no creature & if there's any more remarkable sight than watching the pair of them play cops & robbers, it's beholding Kevin's intermittent & wasted efforts to instil into Shadow a certain respect for the master of the house.

Mum does remarkably well. She's fit & active & as sharp as ever. She faithfully undergoes a long routine of prescribed exercises each day. The improvement in the weather meant that she could walk outside instead of wearing a hole in the carpet around the snooker table downstairs. We reflected long & hard on the options open to her & the road ahead.

She acknowledges that Merrow Down belongs to her past. It served a purpose but she has no wish to return there, other perhaps than to attend to her belongings. Even on this score she has mixed feelings as she fears inevitable tedious explanations to residents. Given the choice, she thinks she would stay on in Canada, much as she would miss the relative closeness of SA family & friends. She feels - and the Calgarians agree - that in the longer term she should try to obtain accommodation in a retirement home. There are several possibilities - assuming that she can obtain a residence permit & that the cost is affordable. Kevin & Ann have suggested that she look at what’s available but put off any decision until after the visit by Bernice & Iris a little later in the year.

On the Air Bus to Central London:
The Air Canada captain promised us a fine day but it was as false a promise as I’ve had. We descended through the murk into a misty grey London drizzle. Kevin will be heartily relieved to hear that the flight left something to be desired. The aircraft ran into problems with the supply of water, depriving passengers of tea & coffee as well as the ability to wash their hands. Neither were we offered on wakening the usual hot cloths although I saw these being handed around in Business Class through the curtain ahead of me. As if proof of any failings were needed, I heard a woman in the passport queue at Heathrow ahead of me remarking that she thought “Canadian” were much better.

None of this is intended by way of complaint. I had the same super seat I'd been allocated on the way out & managed to get a reasonable night's sleep. The plane was half empty when we took off, to my surprise. But the pilot announced soon after take off that we’d be stopping over at Edmonton where a horde of passengers poured on board. The stop-over provoked some irritated questions to the crew from a young lady who insisted that she'd been booked on a direct flight. She was not happy with the explanation that in airline terminology, a direct flight is one on which passengers do not have to change planes; it has nothing to do with the number of stops the plane makes en route to the final destination. I was a little puzzled myself. I guess the Queen of Hearts was right when she explained that a word meant whatever she wanted it to mean, no more & no less.

Home:
The flat looks as I left it, excepting the pile of mail on the table. There are letters from Jones’s folks in SA & faxes from Jones herself in Portugal & her nephew, Chris, in Guyana. Thanks to all concerned. I left the phone on “fax receive” when I departed to avoid a string of answer phone messages - something I abhor. Mavis made it clear that he’d been starved of affection & sat beside me in the bathroom while I took a leisurely bath during which I had several little naps. He then clambered on to my lap at the first opportunity for a reassuring snuggle. He hasn’t lost any weight during my absence. There are unmistakable signs on the duvet upstairs that the bed was his chosen spot.

I walked back from Paddington station, hardly aware of the burden of my knapsack, the attaché case & Kevin’s donated wheeled cabin-bag. Being able to slip the computer into the specially designed pocket was a big plus. Thank you boet! It’s certainly facilitates easy travelling. Next I must slip down to the corner shops for some provisions and a newspaper. The aftermath of the massacre in Scotland still dominates the news headlines. I’m not sorry to have been away when it happened.

Let me end my tale there. I had a wonderful holiday. I loved the new family home and its rural situation. And it was great to be with the family again. I didn’t win the lottery last week but I might do so tonight - in which case I would embark promptly on an extensive series of travels.

Blessings upon you!