Home Again!

Another week has passed, and we have returned from south of the Red River in Texas to our hometown on the shore of Lake Superior. A wonderful family gathering at Viggo & Nancy's in Rowlett concluded on Tuesday as we drove north to Lawrence. Thank you all for the wonderful time, and great grub! Aunt Helen provided a warm welcome and a Jayhawk victory on Tuesday evening—thank you so much! Then, on Wednesday, we returned the car to Marti's garage, and loaded up in Marilyn's minivan for a ride to the airport. The flight to Washington was uneventful, but that was the end of trouble-free travel for us! Shortly after arrival as we negotiated our way to our new gate, we started getting texts and emails explaining that our flight to Toronto was delayed. Each successive text announced a later projected departure time and our comfortable connection in Toronto started to look troubling! The issue, they told us, was that the plane that would take us to Toronto was still in Toronto! Eventually, it showed up, and with a quick turnaround, we were off to Toronto a couple of hours later than planned. No worries, we had used the ArriveCAN app (even though we didn't have to), and our transit through customs would be slick! However, it seems the folks at Pearson Airport had determined that since ArriveCAN was no longer required, it would no longer be used! So, we endured a 40-minute queue and then had to go through the entire process of customs declarations, again, sigh! Then, it was a rush across the airport to the farthest gate possible. Luckily, we were able to get one of those cart rides for much of the distance, and we made our flight. Joanna met us at midnight in Thunder Bay—thanks, Joanna! It's good to be home. 

We received news of Dad's passing on Monday, so our trip home was clouded by that grief. The remainder of the week has been largely consumed with conversations back to Regina and planning for a commemorative service. We had some snow accumulating in our driveway, but Travis and Joanna came by Thursday morning to help clear that away. My back and legs continue to be a bother, so that was very welcome. I have arranged an appointment with my doctor for further investigation. When this first flared up at the end of September, she had me checked for a kidney stone, but ultrasound ruled that out. I have endured a month of chiropractic and stretching exercises which have certainly caused a lot of pain, but no relief. The markets continued to be roiled by duelling issues of the election, inflation and the FED, but I was able to close off the week with a good green day. College football season is coming to an end, and soon they'll be in an interminable list of bowl games. 'Horns won their game easily today, and my Sooners pounced on their in-state rival, Oklahoma State. In hockey, my teams remain around the middle of the pack, and, all three won today. 

Erica writes, "We were sad to hear of Grampa passing on Monday. It’s mostly been a week of remembering and sharing about his life. Plus some destruction on the bathroom."

Down to the Lath!

Erin and Kristian are enduring a harsh start to winter with snow and cold in Regina. This week added to their grief with the passing of Papa. Erin is suffering with a cold of her own, again! Kristian's drama group toured their production with five presentations. He was on the stage crew. Today was the final show, and then they went out for a celebration at Western Pizza. 

Travis contracted covid, but he's vaccinated, so his symptoms were light; he seems to have recovered already. They continue to be very busy with Puckshots photo shoots. 

And that's enough for this week.