Sitting in the examination room, the doctor came in and after introducing herself, she had a look at a spot on my cheek and announced, “Well, that will be coming off!”  I thought, OK, at least I’ll have some time to build myself up for it.  That idea didn’t fly either as the procedure will be done on Aug., 2nd.

So let’s back up a bit here and put things in perspective.  July 29th, I’ve registered in the Mattawa River Canoe Marathon and as I had the opportunity to preview quite a bit of the route; it promises to be a gruelling test.

This past weekend we had an opportunity to visit the Bruce Peninsula National Park with each of the kids having a guest along.  The park itself is beautiful and while the staff went way out of their way to maintain the status quo, it was obvious they were fighting an uphill battle.

I’ll come back to the park but I wanted to get Izzy in the canoe, in the water just for a few minutes as he did such a fine job on dry land.  Some of the kids appeared to be excited about canoeing and that almost faded as quick as the sun.  In fact, none of the three canoes even left the trailer.  It seemed there were stronger voices calling than those from the woods.

Upon registering at the office, the park staff informed us of strict rules regarding noise, alcohol consumption, and site etiquette.  Trail signs cautioned about trucking out your own garbage due to the fact there were no containers.  Upon arriving at the shoreline there was a posting warning about alcohol, cold water and its affects on the swimmer, and one that caught my eye regarding cliff jumping and how it was not only dangerous, it was illegal!  Along the trail, Izzy had to go and with baggie on leash, his efforts were collected.  It looked like I was the only one for the day to do so.  At the shore we witnessed one group receive numerous tickets for alcohol related offences from a park officer while three others were in the general area.  Entertaining to say the least was the fact that a steady line of thrill seekers were jumping off the cliffs in the background from various heights.  Beauty from a well known and frequented landmark or another in the wilderness enjoyed a more private setting?  Even Izzy showed enough with the constant parade of people and dogs.  He’s not the best with strange dogs while leashed but he did an amazing job over the weekend.

I don’t mean to appear negative as the Bruce was a great trip!  It’s just that I’m wondering what the biopsy will show as there is a history of issues within the family.  I’m wondering how to get Izzy out in the canoe and where would be the best place to try it out.  With a mandatory safety meeting for the canoe marathon at 5:00 on Friday and normal work hours beyond that, I’m wondering about the plausibility of meeting the requirements.  I think about whether I failed at introducing the kids to camping and canoeing or whether it’s just a stage of our lives.  That having been said, the kids combined to get the camp set up in record time and the big blue went together fantastically.  I see the guy who walked in front of me with his family to view over the harbour.  I see him jockey for position to capture his photo which is when he stepped on Izzy.  The man told me I should control my dog and  I told him my dog was on a short leash and possibly he should control his feet.

Few bugs, gentle breezes, and good food with a lot of laughs made the weekend a great trip with the shoreline at Indian Head Cove and the Grotto and one that won’t be forgotten.

In a while I hope to look back on this one and laugh at the mole hill I thought of as a mountain.  For tonight, it’s just that I’ve got a lot on my mind.