Sleepless in Saskatoon

My eyes struggle to open. I've been up a little too late... again. What's my excuse lately? Let's recap on my sleep excuses -- starting from the beginning of summer:

-- Cinderella (-- no, not the band, but a fine selection in video... land) Perhaps not the band, after all, but rather the play that I was in. You may have heard me talking/whining about it? I didn't post my show pictures? Well you should really trust me when I say that if you weren't in the show, you probably don't have a strong interest in seeing them. Since there may be those of you who don't listen, or who have lots of time on their hands to sift through pictures of people that they haven't met... here is the link to the album.

-- Erin, Colin, James and Brad helped me and Wen and the girls build a fence. It was... educational.
Jodi and Brad were my scapegoats for the next couple of weeks. Jodi kept me out to all hours playing pool and even when Brad wasn't directly keeping me up himself, his fiendish ideas were causing me to lose sleep. I'll remind you here that the single Prince Rupert's Drop that we managed to make was accomplished at about 1:00 am.

-- Overlapping their visit, was a visit from Wendy's father, Lee. While it can't be said that he stays up late, he does get up incredibly early. Add to this that I talked him into a leadership role in my overzealous greenhouse construction scheme and, well, late nights, early mornings, lots of physical labour -- you figure out how much sleep I was able to get.

-- When he left, Lee took Leora and Anwyn to Ottawa and I took the opportunity to celebrate by staying up late on the PS3

-- Did I mention that I walked around Saskatoon? Yeah, I thought I had.

Why have I told you all this? Aside from the fact that if you didn't want to know what was going on in my life, you wouldn't be here... it is to provide the context for my latest feat of exhaustion...

My eyes struggle to open. It has been about 36 hrs since I walked 70 km over the course of a very long day. Fresh brewed coffee ensures my waking-in-good-faith -- as does a hot Saskatoon-berry scone.  I mumble my thanks between bites of scone and the first sips of still-too-hot dark roast. Years of marriage have taught Wendy that it is now that I am at my most compliant.

"We should go to Pike Lake for a couple of days."

"...Camping?" Scone good.

"I haven't been since I was a kid."

Sounds relaxing. I can sit around and read... "O.K. Do you want to take the canoe?"

The short curls on her forehead bounce slightly as she leaps onto the bed. "I don't think I could strap it to the trailer."

She almost spills my drink. Normally, I'd mention it, but now I'm confused, "We don't have a trailer."

"Sure we do." She sounds far too chipper as she says, "The bike trailer."

I pick up my mug and take a long draught. My fingers trace the outline of the silvery quest symbol that I have painted on the surface. 

"We're biking to Pike Lake?"

That's kind of how it happened, anyway.