Crystals' Visit

Gigi, Peter, Crystal, James and Cole (L-R).

My studio is furnished now. The sofa is a day bed.

And now the TV and DVD player work.

The fountain is beside my deck and visible from my office
where I spend so much time. And it's close to the bird feeders.

Crystal, her man and her family really brought Pinecone Park to life this weekend! There were five people visiting — three of them teenagers.

The day began for me at 3:00 am. (I went to bed early Thursday night because I was exhausted.)

The day dawned wet. No surprise there. We’d just had the fifth wettest January on record; 249.4 millimetres of rain. The day dawned blue with fog and mist until about 10:30 when the sky got a bit lighter. Birds swarmed my feeders and I took to the hot tub for my earliest soak ever.

They arrived late in the afternoon. They wanted a tour right away and loved seeing my spread. Everyone got settled into his or her room: Cole (20 in a month) and the twins (James and Georgia; 15) with me in the house and Crystal and Peter in the studio. We hadn’t been together for a long time so the first couple of hours were full of laughter and stories.

Peter lives in St. Catherine’s; Crystal and Peter are living through their last year of a long-distance relationship. Next year Peter will retire and move out here.

When it was time for dinner, Peter barbequed and Crystal and Cole prepped the rest of the meal. That would be the pattern for the weekend: Me doing absolutely no work. I just ate watched, tubbed and enjoyed the company enormously.

My speech was really rough most of the time and my back and neck muscles were ridiculously painful by Saturday night from a day and a half of stuttering. Crystal suggested I use my Rand voice, so I did and got wonderful relief. It’s curious to me that I never think to use it. It’s not natural and I don’t really like it but it is amazingly efficient.  I should probably give everyone the option of me using my Rand voice. It’s easier for my guests.

Saturday got off to a slow start. Crystal made breakfast for the crew and Peter got to work assembling my sofa bed for the studio. After breakfast Cole finished the table I was having so much trouble assembling and then they set up my fountain, got my DVD player working in the studio and Peter rewired the lighting on my shed.

I am so grateful for all the help. The fountain looks fab-u-lous. I can hardly wait to see and hear it working. The sofa and coffee table filled the hole in the studio beautifully and comfortably. It’s such a warm and welcoming space and Sheba loves to be on the couch.

At one point I went looking for her (Sheba) and couldn’t find her. I called everywhere and felt myself getting panicky. I found her just as I started slipping away. I got to the studio where Peter and Cole were and went into a ten-minute seize. In terms of muscle stiffness, it was one of my worst.

As happens sometimes, by body arches rigidly. I call it “rainbowing” because it’s like my body wants to arc like a rainbow with only the tip of my head and my heels on the ground while my pelvis tries to get high into the air. Afterwards, I needed to rest.

Crystal and the twins had gone for an adventure and missed my seizure. Peter, Cole and I were all in the hot tub when they got back.

It was such a wonderful day. My guests were so self-reliant and comfortable, I felt like part of their entourage; they were running the show and I very, very comfortably slipped into their dynamic. The men got out the women got into the hot tub and after that we had lunch. Then they all went off for an adventure while I chilled alone.  Sheba got so much exercise and attention from the kids and Peter she collapsed from exhaustion and fell into a very deep sleep.  

Come dinnertime, Crystal made dinner with Peter, Cole and I watched a movie, James drew and Georgia read. We were all so wonderfully comfortable just hanging together.  And the twins wanted to stay longer; how great a compliment is that. It was like being part of a family.

Sunday morning was about breakfast and packing. They left to catch the 11:20 ferry and after they were gone Pinecone Park felt horribly miserably empty. But then the sun came out, I had a hot tub and I took lots of comfort for the rest of the day from my three wonderful pets and leftover chocolate cake.