I have been MIA for a little while. But with a very good reason. For the first time in a LONG time, I left the 'farm' to go off on a hiatus/adventure. I used to do this sort of thing all the time. And then I came out here on my very big adventure and the little adventures fell to the wayside. And this was a well-needed break from my job and from my 'farm' (love it as I may!).
It started with a trip up to New Woodstock, NY to see the grand-parentals. I haven't seen them in a shamefully long time, and it was a much needed visit. Growing up in Japan, being a poor college student in MN, being a poor cook in CA, and now being a poor deli counter minion/farmsteader in NC...all of these are my excuses for the inexcusable fact that I really didn't see my grandparents enough growing up. And I don't see them enough now. Too late to fix, I suppose, but it's importamt to try!
My mom was already there, and while in NY I also got to see an even less visited over the years aunt and cousin. We had oodles of fun involving
art, food (oh yeah Green Jello Salad!), beer, apple pie (oh yeah Grammy's Apple Pie!!), and beer can luminaries.
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| First things first, I took breakfast supplies with me. |
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| View from their deck. |
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| More view. |
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| Luminaries in the snow. They were very pretty - especially after they sunk down into the snow a bit. |
Yes. Beer can luminaries.
Then it was time for the happy happy joy joy (reference anyone? anyone?) portion of the trip - my sissypants' wedding at Toronto City Hall. In Toronto, Ontario. Into the car the my mom and I went, and off to the great white north we went.
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| Rainbow Bridge. Waiting to get into Canadia. |
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| The weather got even better on the way into Brantford, ON. All nice and icy and snowy and ridiculous. |
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| We lit a sky lantern the night before the wedding. |
Malia &
Matt's wedding was awesome. Beautiful, spiritual without being religious, and full of joy, laughter, and brevity. Quite nice.
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| My sissypants is SO pretty! |
Following the marriage ceremony, we took a short walk to an Italian
restaurant and proceeded to gorge ourselves on great food with great company.
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| Presents! |
I glossed over the walk. It was EXCRUCIATINGLY cold...900 meters down Bay street in the icy blasting wind. The air temp was -6C. I don't even want to know what the windchill factor was that day.
On the way back to New Woodstock my mom and I stopped for a well needed walk and photo-op at Niagara Falls.
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| Still awe-inspiring. Regardless of how many times you've seen them. Or Superman. |
I left on Christmas Day and returned on New Year's Eve... that week has always been a bit of a lost one to me. New Year's is always kind of anticlimactic, yet it's always held on such a holiday pedistool. Maybe because after Thanksgiving and Christmas we can't bear the thought of going back to our normal lives...maybe it's because we're in the habit of having another holiday just around the corner... Regardless, it's always a weird week that always turns out slightly awkward. This trip seemed a fitting way to wrap up the tumultuous year for me. While it was a lot of driving (1,930 miles in just mapped routes - never mind the extra jaunts to the store and whatnot), it was worth every mile.
