I am not crazy about the holidays. I find it too stressful. I have become the head chef at my parents’ home. When I am going there, I need to prepare food ahead and if I don’t, I find myself shopping or eating out the entire time that I am there. I decided that I would go ahead of my husband and take my daughter to her grandmother’s for a week. Even though I only have one child, there is no down time with a busy 4 year old. I am not a shopper and usually don’t go near a grocery store or shopping mall unless I have too. Well, I ended up at a grocery store, 3 times in three days. I was not a happy camper. It was a challenging week.

My refuge ended up being going out in the great outdoors every chance I got. It was pretty cold while we were there (by Canadian winter standards) we did go out tobaggoning and walking with the dogs. My brother has a wonderful dog that he walks a couple of times a day and needless to say, he is quite fit. He picked an area that had a trail and there was a pond there. Just before we left for the walk, he thought we should bring some bread to feed the swans and ducks. We we arrived there, this is what we found.

Needless to say those swans and ducks were hungry critters. When I am at home, I often see swans flying overhead and honking away. I love the sound that they make. When we were at this pond, they never made a sound, however, there is always a forward one in the crowd. After we were there for a while, one of the swans ventured out of the water. I suspect it was the male. He didn’t seem to be too interested in the food but seemed to be quite curious and maybe ensuring that his children got fed. This beautiful creature hung around for a while and once the snacks were gone, so was he.

Experiences like this one recharged me during this hectic visit. I found it refreshing be outdoors and experiencing nature in a different way. Perhaps next year I will opt out for a more relaxing trip.