arrives a Montreal - holiday blog entry!

Ooh, looking at the phrase "arrives a Montreal," (as in "nous sommes...") I wonder if it's possible to compose a grammatically correct sentence in one language that uses words that exist as real words in another language? too much to hope, I think, that you could get a sentence that was grammatically complete in both languages. If I knew someone who worked in language translation at Google, I would totally ask them to apply their massive brain to that entirely trivial problem. In the meantime....

New Experience numero un: hurricane! wow. we didn't actually experience full on Hurricane Irene, I don't think, but that was rain that meant Bidness with a capital B. We are getting to be seriously savvy baby-travellers at this point, a well-oiled babycare machine travelling at 600 mph at 37000 feet, safari pants-pockets stocked with extra pacifiers, sanitizer gel, spare nappies, tupperware containers of mashed fruit, etc. - and I get extra points on this trip for having a second dependent, as the usual hefter of heavy bags was too busy popping Percocet for his two-day-old appendectomy incision - but I have to admit that we were inadequately prepared for the gigantic wall of water that sloshed down on us as soon as we left Logan airport for Vermont in our trusty rental car. It was I think the scariest driving I have ever had to do: rental car + unfamiliar roads + dark night + precious if somewhat cranky cargo + tired from long flight + jetlag + long way to go + sketchy directions once we got into vermont + HUGE ASS QUANTITIES OF WATER, like someone had turned on a giant faucet pretty much right over the car. Windscreen wipers going frantically, multiple near spins-out-of-control-from-hydroplaning, tidal wave every time a truck passed us, etc. I don't think my back touched the backrest of the carseat once the whole way. We stopped briefly for dinner at a Burger King, where the baby flirted with the Latina lady mopping the floor, and babydaddy and I ate a meal which we lived to regret. I have not eaten at a fast food restaurant since watching the movie SuperSize Me, and even our feeble attempt at squeezing a 'healthy' meal out of the Food Industrial Complex felt like a total sellout (we had a "garden salad" (wilted iceberg lettuce with three slices each of a tomato that died of anemia long before we got to it), and half a minitray of "chicken tenders", about which the less said the better. I renewed my vows never to eat at a place like that ever again, and I don't think it will be a difficult vow to keep. Not entirely sure how/why we lapsed, other than we had five hours in the car without the prospect of anything else being open. Five hours without food would have been better. Ennyways.

Drive drive drive drive drive slosh slosh slosh slosh rain rain rain rain until we arrive at Caspian Lake in northern Vermont, where, after a short stint of pootling around dirt country lanes in the dark cursing the sketchiness of our directions and the absence of cell phone reception, we pass by a house with lights still on and voila! magic! through the darkness, nice friends can be seen having a convivial time framed in the lit window. Hooray!

We unpack car, baby, piles of stuff (no longer raining, but it is one a.m.) and get bundled straight into bed after lightning tour of the house (old creaky wood new england battered sofas old piano ancient kitchen sliding window shutters no noise at all except lovely little tree/lake related night time noises) and sleep the sleep of the catatonic for ten hours straight, baby included hallelujah. we really have the best behbeh ever. she's cute AND she sleeps. have I mentioned recently that I LOVE her???

ok am going to hit publish post now and continue adventures another day because it is bedtime delicious bedtime. bonne nuit (that's a foreshadowing of montreal :))