Canada oh Canada

A most confident boatwoman out for a ride with her bubba...........


It really is beautiful up here.

Tess and I take a walk every morning, most days before the others are up. It is so peaceful. We are the only ones on the beach and all we hear is the gentle surf and 'early bird' birds. Except today, there was a large white dog on someones porch who was barking his "good morning". Of course, Tess had to return the greeting.

We are on Lake Erie, in a small colony of about 23 houses. Most have been in families for generations, so most people know each other. The ones that have been recently sold are spoken about with the qualifying "you know, the old (fill in the name here) house". During each walk, I study the houses, the gardens, every detail filed away for when we finally get to our house in CT. There is much to be done and I'm getting ideas. What color to paint the house so as to make the most of our woodsy locale, which flowers to plant in the garden. You see, while not on the beach, we are in the woods, which is where the "not beach side" side of the houses are here.

In fact, the house we are in is not on the beach, but one house away and on every side are trees. As I look out the window, a bunny hops by, amusing both Ariana and Tess.


Ariana flashing for the camera. It is really tough to get a husband, child and dog to look at the camera at the same time......
the view from the beach.....
this is the most crowded it has been - a weekend of course. During the week it is mostly empty.

"mommy, is this our car?"

It surprises me that Ariana isn't more confused than she is. In the past 3 weeks, she has been in three different beds, three different cars, two different countries. First in NY, then in Canada, now in Florida and soon back to Canada for most of the summer until we close on our house.

Our house.

Yes, we found one in CT that we really like. The contract is being worked out now and we hope to close at the end of July. Never in a million years did I think I would be living in a rather rural part of the state. At the start of our search I was adamant about wanting to be able to walk into town and not be dependent on a car. We looked at houses in "walking" communities and all I could think of was how crowded everything seemed. I didn't like the idea of looking straight into my neighbor's house or hearing their conversations.

I wanted space.

I have it.

Every window in our house looks out onto green. There are houses within sight, but far enough away that looking into their windows, or have them look into ours, is impossible. Past the house below us is a beautiful lake where we can keep a boat. It is peaceful. Which is exactly what I want right now.

Living in "the country" will require me to get over my fear of bugs. I am getting good practice up in Canada. When we first arrived, I had to summon baba san to dispose of even the smallest thing. When Ariana cried "there's a bug", I instructed her to put the word "baba" before any such sentence. Now, I am swatting them away with hardly a thought. I barely flinched when I saw a wasp at the pool yesterday, although I did suggest to Ariana that she get in the pool "NOW".

It's progress.

And now, some random pictures .......Ariana with baba san at the Museum of Natural History - Ariana is now officially obsessed with dinosaurs.....




Ariana with her friend Mia............


.....and watching an IPod with her friend Jack.....