Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I've been away for the past couple of weeks, spending some time beyond the overpass. I finished the first draft of my novel, Darwin Day, just before leaving and I'm pleased with it so far, but I'll be able to tell a lot better once revisions are complete. That always makes the difference.

My wife and I spent some time Twillingate, visiting her sister, and we had a great time, as we always do together. Saw tons of icebergs, flora and fauna, roamed the hills and beaches, and just relaxed. For me, it's probably the first time I've relaxed that much in nearly seven years, before the Ph.D. program began. Its a hard thing to describe. Something about the central part of this province is like heaven to me--just getting outdoors and not having so much traffic and noise around me all the time. It's like going to another planet...a better planet.

There's lots that I like about St. John's--mostly the bookstores, coffee shops, and movies. But I sometimes think I could give all of that up for a house and some land far from the madding crowd, somewhere in central Newfoundland.

We took the early morning ferry to Fogo Island and spent the day just beating around there. Stopped at a bakery for some tea, homemade toast and partridgeberry jam. Drove around the island, just looking for places to stop, chat for a while, take some pictures, and, if possible, get into a bit of mischief. A life without mischief, you see, is hardly a life at all. And harm to none, of course, as the wiccans say. My favorite spot was this fairly secluded sandy beach. There was a light breeze blowing, with no people around, and we just walked, ran, and acted like children for an hour or so. Beaches turn me into a different person; that's probably the best way to describe it. No more grading essays, reading books, using computers, or talking on telephones. If there is a heaven, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any of those things, especially the latter. Heaven would have books, of course, but only good books--the kind that you read because you want to or because you really enjoy them even if you didn't think you would. It wasn't a really warm day (surprise!), but I did manage to roll up the legs of my jeans and run like mad into the freezing cold, late-June water, and then scramble even more madly back to the shore. My feet felt all tingly and clean for the rest of the day. Hard to explain unless you've done it.

Right after we'd returned from Twillingate, we went out to Harbour Grace for the wedding event of the century. Had an even better time than I thought we would, danced a helluva lot, and partied till the late hours. In a respectable way, of course. There's something strange about family gatherings though. There's all of those expectations about how you should act, what you should say, how you should be. And--I don't know why--but I always seem to break all of those rules without even trying. (Okay, sometimes I try, but not always.) Somehow, I end up enjoying it all in spite of myself, mostly by trying not to take any of it too seriously even though most of the people (muggles, I guess you'd call them. Or adults who forget what it's like to be young and irresponsible, in a good way) want you to take it all way too seriously.

I'm glad to be back home, though. Probably heading out again sometime soon, but can't say where or when. It's just one of those summers. I'm mostly just working from home, not paying attention to any kind of schedule, going wherever the wind takes me. Been regimented for too long.

Now if the weather would only turn to summer and stay there for a couple of days....

Hope you're all enjoying a nice break too.

Gerard