Five Things on an April Morning

I. Want to know what is weird? Watching The Titanic movie for the first time and reading a glossy lifestyle magazine during the commercials. I watched the non-first-class passengers get caged up so they had no chance of freedom, and then read about vacation homes in developing countries that are barely used by their owners. I started to feel more complicit than usual and I put the magazine away.

II. Last night at the park, my pup was the It Dog. Three different pooches decided ours was their Best Friend, and our Lucky had to take turns wrestling each one. He loved it.

III. I am very excited that we have booked our short trip to Newfoundland. Dave was born there, at the northern tip of the province, and hasn't been back since he was a toddler. He's presenting in St. John's, and then I'm flying out a day later to join him in Deer Lake, sans children. We're staying at a B&B, then driving up the Viking Trail (THE VIKING TRAIL!!)to St. Anthony where we will visit the Grenfell Mission where his parents worked at the hospital. I'm also hoping our visit will coincide with icebergs, whales and a Viking Feast Dinner Theatre (A VIKING FEAST!) Then we head back down the coast and spend a day exploring Gros Morne National Park, staying at a place that has been described as an IKEA showroom. (Maybe a VIKING IKEA SHOWROOM!) And then we come home. Or, away, depending on how at home we feel on the Rock.

IV. My back is really bad this week. I need to call my physiotherapist but I'm waiting until it feels better.

V. I'm loving what I'm doing, work-wise these days. There are huge challenges and decisions to be made, but most days, I'm astonished that people pay me to have such a good time. One of the things I'm noodling over this week is the idea of running writers retreats. I think it's going to happen, but there are a lot of ways it could go. I would welcome any ideas about what your perfect writers retreat would be like. (And no, I don't think Joseph Boyden would be available to rub our feet and tell us bedtime stories...)