the Easter Lobster

Winters here typically refuse to move along until early April.  This one was particularly

stubborn and cabin fever in our house was pandemic.  Jude and I hunkered down with

constant reruns of “30 Rock”.  Slinkee stayed nearby merely to annoy us for not taking

her outside enough.  She chewed interminably on her claws, the canine version of popping

her knuckles.  Ollie got so bored he would catch mice and release them behind the micro-

wave on the buffet so he could knock over maximum bric-a-brac tracking them down.

Fortunately, spring arrived last weekend with a gusto that kicked winter into the next

province, possibly even Saskatchewan.  We got tons of sun.  The whole family piled outside

for gardening and bird chasing.  The chickens profited as well.  We let them out of the garden

for some serious free ranging.  With all the newly-upturned soil, they found plenty of worms.

The high point of this stretch was a trip to see our friends Fred and Sheri, who were spending

the holiday on their boat at the intersection of Oyster River and Pacific Ocean to celebrate

their birthdays.  Here they are flanking Jude:

And here’s their boat:

It’s a beautiful craft, with wonderful hand-carved features:

And it featured this view:

There’s more.  In exchange for birthday gifts, a salad and these Easter eggs Jude decorated–

–Sheri prepared us a sumptuous dinner of shrimp and crab appetizer, grilled lobster, wild rice,

veggies and cheesecake.  This feast required a sunset stroll along the river to burn off calories.

The walk ended at the ocean, as Fred and I admired the Strait of Georgia and talked of manly

things like hockey, thorium and prostate problems.

It was heartening to see so many families at the marina and adjoining campground having a

a joyous holiday.  Some of the happiest folks we saw were three young men sharing a huge

bong on the beach.  Everyone celebrates in their own way.