It’s Monday. And I forgot. One of the great joys of being on vacation is forgetting the date, not checking the clock, eating (or not eating) when you choose and, of course, walking. My husband and I had the enormous pleasure of a long road trip that followed the St. Lawrence River. Wherever we could, we stopped to walk along the shore, both north and south, and just listen to the river. Sometimes it flows quietly and sometimes it is like a wild day in the middle of the ocean, complete with whales. The St. Lawrence is joined by many other rivers along its route from Lake Ontario to the sea. You can almost hear their awe as they enter the vast flow that is like few other rivers. In French, the St. Lawrence is a fleuve, not a riviere. Why don’t we have a similar differentiation in English? Perhaps we call the smaller ones tributaries. And perhaps it is because they must pay tribute to the fleuve!
At any rate, this trip worked magic on us and we forgot a lot of things that were badly in need of forgetting. We also remembered to spend time regaining the peace that sometimes eludes us when we are trying to do all the things we normally attempt to accomplish each day. And then on returning home, the lovely surprise came in knowing that there is a lot of pleasure in doing those things. Three weeks of laundry and cleaning up the garden were not daunting at all. Amazing what a peaceful vacation can do for one’s spirits. I wish a refreshing and enjoyable break for every one of my lovely TPW friends, and a walk by a beautiful body of water, too.
