home sweet home

Home. Ice storm and power outages have welcomed us back. So long hot Caribbean sun, hello grey skies with falling ice.

We left the ship on Sunday at 8am, joining a land tour of Fort Lauderdale to kill some of the time to our 7:45 pm flight home. A tour guide narrated as we took a bus tour of part of the city. He took us to a tour boat that then traversed some of the areas 3000+ miles of canals. We sailed past homes that cost tens of millions of dollars, and some yachts that cost more. Wow. That is how the other half lives! Imagine paying 5 million for the house next door just to tear it down to put in a tennis court.

At the end of all that we ended up at the airport around 1 pm, lots of time to make our late flight.

We sat around in the pre-departure lounge till it was time to check-in. Hurry up through that process, to wait in the line for security (actually not a long wait). Hurry up to find a seat with a power outlet. Wait. Hurry up to find a seat closer to our gate. Wait. Hurry up to find a seat even closer. Wait. Flight delayed 1 ½ hours. Wait some more. Hurry up and get in the line to board. Wait. Board plane and get seated. Wait. Take off. Sit in seat for 3 ½ hours. Land. Hurrah!!! We made it to Ottawa (we had serious doubts that we’d get here). Hurry up to get off the plane. A bit more waiting. Get taxi. Drive over ice covered streets to my parents.

Actually, it was all well and good and mostly everything went as planned. I can hardly complain over the 12 hours when it would take us 30 hours to drive.

When we got to Mom & Dad’s, there was Mom outside in the ice, clearing our car. The ice was over ¼ inch thick and she had cleared off almost half of it. We were so grateful as it was late and we still had a dangerous drive home. I tried to get Carm to stay at my parents place but he was adament that we get home.

The drive home was trecherous. I don’t think we’ve ever driven roads as bad as they were last night. Sheets of ice covered the road. Carm took it easy (most of the trip was done well below 60 kmh, and a lot closer to 30), and we arrived home without incident.

As we turned into the laneway we both breathed a sigh of relief. We were home. The dogs were at the door to greet us, soon followed by Pat.

We got the suitcases into the house, talked for a bit with Pat and then collapsed into bed. But not before Carm walked into the door frame and split his forehead. Note to self: we need more bandages.

Our heads had barely hit the pillow when a chorus of beeping sent Carm into the living room. The UPSes were signaling a loss of power. Yes, you guessed it: power failure. I’m usually pretty miltant about getting water buckets and stuff set out, but I was too stunned last night to think about it…

Carm and Pat went out about 11:30 am to get coffee and lunch - I dozed on the sofa. I still have a cold (which is perhaps now worse after Sunday’s long day). After lunch I bundled up and started collecting water from the roof downspouts into a garbage can for toilet flushing and general washing. Luckily Pat had put some water in the bathtub so we have some clean water for dogs and dishes. I set up candles and lanterns for tonight, and only at 5pm did I sit down to write this blog post.

I think it will be a long night… oh, and thanks winter for the welcome home.