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Our vacation officially ended at 8:45 p.m. this evening when we arrived chez nous. We made good time along clear roads. Our GPS, which I call Lucy, as in 'Lucy in the Sky with Directions,' gave unclear signals at one juncture which sent me the wrong way. It didn't change the duration of the voyage, but I did feel slightly ill at ease when I had to exit the pokey highway I was on to buy gas. I pulled up to a pump that wasn't working. I looked around and saw that I was in the 'hood. And it was not a pretty 'hood. The fellow manning the station was sheltered in a cubicle bunker of two inch thick bullet-proof glass. I could tell it was bullet proof because ... well, there were clues. The only opening was a credit card sized slot. A teenager in dreadlocks came up to me and asked me to take his money and buy him some liquor. He had forgotten his ID. I suggested he spend his money instead on a memory course. No I didn't. I found a working pump, pumped gas not in a leisurely fashion, and got my warm tires back on the sweet road.

Our travels brought us alongside New York City again. Even from across the Hudson River it is an impressive sight. For much of our trip today we enjoyed a sound track featuring the music of Bach. The man was a genius and in the resurrection I suspect he'll have a good career as a composer ahead of him.

Once we entered New York State we spotted snow again. And of course entering the Adirondack mountains re-introduced us to the material in a decisive way.

I took this photo while Carol was fishing out our winter coats again. Still, it was a good day and we are encouraged by the fact that tomorrow ends Quebec's mandatory period for winter tires on cars. From this we draw whatever seasonal encouragement we can.

For those of you who love verse, and I know that means none of you, here are a few lines that occurred to me while contemplating my Navel Orange in Florida ...

Vacation

A sky that is bright,
And sands that are white,
Some palms within view,
Some pelicans too,
Good book within reach,
Some shells on the beach,
A glittering sea,
Soft breeze upon me
Reclined in a chair
A sun hat to wear,
Sunglasses on face,
Sun lotion in place,
The waves’ plunging splash
The sandpipers’ dash,
A handy cool drink,
Some time just to think,
The joy to have freed
Some time just to read,
And also delight
With time just to write.
Home tasks must await.
Vacation? Vacate!

Thank you for following this little Blog and to all a good night.