Groggy morning musings

Sometimes I don’t wake up in Canadian Tire parking lots, nested in the ratty cab of a pick-up truck. Other times I do. This morning was one of the latter.

I had just dropped my parents off at the airport at 3:30am and was driving the truck back to its home in Balderson – however, after missing the turnoff that should be rote for me, I decided that maybe I’d better pull over and take a nap. First opportunity was the expansive CT parking lot in Carleton Place.

Let me tell you – there are few more rousing alarm clocks than a very loud and very close horn blast because you accidentally fall asleep with your head against the steering wheel.

Anyway, once I had woken up and driven the last half hour to the family farm, I started to think: by now my parents should be high above my head, flying about 5,500km away to a country that will keep them for the next year or so. I’m hopeful and excited for their pending adventures, but also – just now – a bit anxious too.

This will mean no more 2am emergency talk-me-downs with Mom, no more lunches with Dad. They won’t be around to help me move to Sudbury next month, or do triathlons with me. This is not to say we’ll never talk – we plan to have weekly skype check-ins; but it will be harder to raid their fridge when they’re on another continent. Still, mostly I’m excited for them. At the moment they have no lodging planned and will start looking upon touchdown. If you want to keep up to date, you can visit the blog that my mom just started: The Flip Side of Fifty.