It was overcast and still on Thursday. It threatened to turn ugly all day, but never really turned that corner. Nonetheless, we hunkered down, not wanting to be caught out if the heavens should open. It didn’t suck to not drive anywhere for a day anyway. We spent a quiet day around the cottage, but there was one notable event.<\/p>\n
I received an generic email from the administration at Osgoode Hall Law School, welcoming students back to school, with a reminder that classes started on Monday. Monday<\/em>. That is August 31st, 3 days later<\/em>. I recovered my spleen from where I had spat it and logged into the Oz website to check the schedule. It was legit. Osgoode decided to start classes early because Labour Day was so late this year. This necessitated a dramatic rethink of our travel plans.<\/p>\n We had planned to stay at the cottage until Saturday, then meander home over the course of 5 or 6 days, with several stops along the way. That was all off the table now. We would leave on Saturday and put the hammer down. I expected that we wouldn’t get home until Monday evening, but that would only mean one missed class for me, so it was acceptable. The other problem we faced was childcare for Those Johnston Kids while I was at school and Mama at work, but we could deal with that later.<\/p>\n Friday was sunny, windy, and our last full day in Cape Breton. I had promised the kids that we would return to Point Michaud for more boogie boarding, so that was our plan for the morning. First, though, I had to have a leaky tire fixed. We’d been having trouble with one wheel that wouldn’t hold air for more than a few days. Rather than take the care to Canadian Tire and endure their inevitable and costly administrations, I went to a small local auto repair. The mechanic looked at immediately and within 15 minutes we were on our way with a newly patched tire, $15 all in. Canadian Tire could take a lesson (or several) in customer service.<\/p>\n The weather was fine at Point Michaud, but more importantly the surf was up and reliable. The teenage instructors were willing to take the kids out for a proper lesson. They were a cash only business, so I paid for the class with a handful of coins\u00a0from the car change cup big enough to pull down their baggy shorts. Short Pants was pleased to wear a wetsuit even though the water was remarkably even warmer than it had been on Wednesday. I rented a surfboard and joined\u00a0Those Johnston Kids and their instructor\u00a0in the Atlantic. They can be a handful.<\/p>\n We did not learn how to surf but the wee ones were pretty thrilled to ride waves in to shore on their boards. The instructor was earnest, but a bit flustered. She was very young and was probably more used to teaching attentive adults than willful merchildren. While she tried to teach one surfing basics, I would shove the other down a likely wave and watch the ensuing hilarity.<\/p>\n That was plenty good enough for Baby Girl who shrieked and cackled all the way to shore with every ride but never managed to get to more than her hands and knees on the board. I barely improved on my previous attempts at surfing but did get up to a reliable kneel and could steer reasonably well. On the downside, repeatedly throwing my naked chest on the rubberized deck of the board to catch a wave had the effect of painfully\u00a0pulling out my chest hair. That must be why surfers are always boyishly smooth-chested.<\/p>\n Short Pants was the most successful of us all. As they called us in to return the boards, I looked up to see him riding a small wave into the shallows, perfectly stable with his arms down at his sides. He looked almost bored at how easy it was.<\/p>\n Back at the cottage, we spent the evening packing and prepping for an early departure. OMG, school starts on Monday!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was overcast and still on Thursday. It threatened to turn ugly all day, but never really turned that corner. Nonetheless, we hunkered down, not wanting to be caught out if the heavens should open. It didn’t suck to not drive anywhere for a day anyway. We spent a quiet day around the cottage, but … Continue reading Surf’s up. Again.<\/span>