Rainy Days

It's been raining - no, POURING for five days now. Our beautiful little Valley is so waterlogged that it's scary. Roads, even highways, are inaccessible and some of the outlying communities have been evacuated. I was driving by the river with Chani and we saw pumpkins - dozens of them - floating downstream in a big herd. It was surreal. Some farmer further upstream probably lost his whole crop, and I'm sure he's not the only one. The Annapolis River has jumped its banks in many locations, and who knows how bad this will get with the continuing rain in the forecast.

Stop it, Nova Scotia! I should have escaped this when I moved away from Vancouver Island!


Anyway.

So I'm taking a little road trip with my mom this week. She has to take care of some family stuff and wanted me to help her. It's so strange to be asked to help my mother. My mom is a strong person and has always been so reliable it's ridiculous. Have you ever been involved in an emergency, or a situation where stress is high and the right decision has to be made? My mom is seriously the person to have with you when that sort of stuff goes down.

So now I am the one to help the person who is usually helping others. I'm not a "people person" AT ALL, but when it comes to family I'm there. That's a big reason Mark and I moved back here from Vancouver Island (besides the fact that houses cost like a million dollars out there and I didn't have a million dollars at the time).

When we lived out there, visiting parents involved much prior planning, at least $2,000, and about eight hours in planes and airports. Now, we can be at Mark's mom's place in an hour and a half, and at my parents in just a little longer than that. When Mark's mom needs wood chopped or has a blueberry pie that needs eating, we can be there. When my parents need us to babysit the dog or take a chocolate-zucchini loaf off their hands, we can do it.

I've always gotten along with my mom and dad well. I was never the rebel child at all (unless you count all those damned tattoos I keep getting). I'm glad to live here now and be able to see my parents every now and again, even if we have many differing opinions. Which we do.

The thing is, you only get one family. Always do whatever you can to make the most of it.