Labour Day - you say goodbye, I say hello

Just back from up north where I spent the best Labour Day weekend I can remember. That's really saying something because I've always loved Labour Day. Yes, it does mark summer's end. But as a chill creeps into the night air, so too does a sense of excitement and promise. Remember feeling like you were about to start the new school year with a completely blank slate? Like the months spent away from school had magically resulted in a new, improved version of yourself for whom the possibilities were endless?

We took off mid afternoon on Friday and headed up to my folks place in Norland. They were away but we settled in and enjoyed the lake view for a few hours before firing up my father’s float plane – a Cessna 172 - for a sunset flight. (It was Graham’s first, but more on that in my next post).

Later with Graham in bed we enjoyed a candlelit dinner on the porch and a fire on the beach where we drank wine and star-gazed.

The next day we packed up the plane and set off on a 25-minute flight to Rob’s brother’s cottage on Little Hawk Lake just north of Carnarvon. It’s only accessible by boat or float plane so it’s wonderfully private and quiet

We spent a great afternoon and evening with Rob’s brother, sister-in-law and niece. Graham enjoyed the trampoline and we all enjoyed LeeAnne’s fabulous cooking – bundling up against the night air and having the last dinner of the season in the screened-in porch. And later? Why another fire of course!

The next day, after much flying, swimming, boating and sunning Rob, Graham and I flew back to Norland and we dropped off Graham with my parents. Rob and I returned to the now-empty cottage on Little Hawk Lake where we enjoyed a dockside cocktail before having a fantastic dinner at the Oakview Lodge on the lake.

Graham has been my whole world for nearly two years now but the prospect of a whole evening and night alone with my husband had me doing a happy dance on the dock.

This morning I slept in until 9a.m. (9 a.m.!) and spent the day boating and sunning before returning to Norland, picking up Graham around 5 p.m. and heading back to the city.

A perfect weekend. Relaxed, renewed and rejuvenated, I’m ready to face work tomorrow and the winter ahead.

Will there ever be a time when Labour Day doesn't feel like a new beginning?

I hope not. For me, it's the weekend where childlike optimism and hope feels once again within my grasp. I don’t know what challenges lie ahead this fall and winter, but I have gobbled up every last bit of late summer sun and I feel full of strength and light.

Hope your Labour Day weekend was just as great.