Well, it’s a scorcher of a day here. 31 degrees with a humidex of 40 degrees. Ordinarily I could laugh it off, but we’re staying with my mother-in-law who doesn’t have air-conditioning and it’s just not as funny when there’s no relief. Poor Jack is suffering the most. Thankfully, he’s still in his light summer coat, but he’s disinterested in everything except sitting in front of the fan. That’s pretty much my attitude to life, too. My fibromyalgia flares up in high humidity and it feels like I’m walking through a dishwasher in double gravity boots. As a result, our walk today was strictly business related and once Jack’s business was done we trudged back home to sit in front of our fan.

 

Jack and I are leaving Perce today on our way home. We’ll likely go as far as Mt. Joli today, which is about a 6 or 7 hour drive and then on Sunday we’ll make the rest of the trek to Montreal where we’ll spend a few days with family before heading home.

The leaving is difficult. We must say goodbye to the mountains and the streams and the beautiful beaches full of treasure for another year. It’s been a good year, though, and we’re leaving with pockets full of happy memories and a big box of rocks. There’s even a bit of seaglass to add to my jar at home. Jack is sitting beside my jar of of seaglass that lives here. Year by year it grows and someday I might even have it filled, but it’s the hunt that keeps me coming back. It’s taken 25 years and a lot of bending over, one piece at a time, to reach this level. I consider it time well wasted.

 

This is not Jack. This is Jack’s best friend, Angus, who is a very lucky dog today. Earlier in the week Angus ate part of a carpet that got stuck in his gut. He was sick for a few days before we figured out what happened and we only figured it out because by accident I found a bit of carpet fiber vomit in the long grass at the back. I’m sure that’s already way too much information, but here’s a few more details. The vet gave poor Angus barium and then for two days we fed him mashed potato in little bits to help push it all through. He was scheduled to have surgery today if it didn’t work. Well, early this morning it worked! Out came about a meter of wound up carpet fiber and now Angus seems almost back to normal. He’s weak, but hungry and for the first time in 5 days he barked. I have to admit I’m surprised it worked, but it’s hard to argue with success. Welcome back, Angus.