My Corner of Paradise

I was going to entitle this post "The Land that Scales Forgot", but then I realized I really am way too addicted to weight loss blogging (see Jack Sh*t's post on this topic).

In a few days, this is where I'm going to be:




And here are my two cutie pies, out on the lake:



I really need this vacation. I can tell. Some of my draft posts are getting pretty ranty.

Let me tell you a story:

In 1991, the year before I got married, I went on a long assignment, travelling all around Canada with a group studying violence against women. Some of the people on the panel didn't speak English, so I was one of the interpreters helping them to understand the presentations and testimonials we heard. While in Quebec, of course, we were interpreting for the majority of the group who didn't speak French.

It was a very draining assignment. Day in and day out, we heard about women who were attacked, maimed, and even killed by their partners, work mates, strangers. We heard from university professors and we heard from rape survivors, we heard from women in big cities, small villages and even women who lived on Indian reserves.

I am very lucky. I have a wonderful husband who wouldn't think of raising even his pinky finger to me. Violence against women is not a personal issue but by the end of the assignment, I felt traumatized myself. It was an unforgettable experience and I do not regret it, but it was very tough on me. I was really, really glad to get home.

Now this might sound strange, but I'm starting to feel a bit traumatized again--by the weight loss blogging world! I suppose I take things much too personally. Reading about the morbidly obese, the suffering of those who binge eat, the despair of those who've lost the 100 pounds and gain it all back plus an extra 50 pounds is very troubling for me. Of course, I'm also reading blogs by some fantastic people who are turning their lives around. And I am even somewhat amazed by what I am doing myself but...

I need to take a step back.

I am pleased to say that I will not have easy access to the Internet for several weeks, starting next week. I have at least one timed post that is primed and ready to go, but that's it. I may give in and do a short blog from the Internet café in the village.

Mostly I'm going to be sitting on the deck, drinking coffee and reading mysteries. Hopefully, if the weather co-operates (and this could be quite iffy since we'll be in the mountains) I'll also go swimming. My husband will be barbecuing almost every evening and we'll buy our traditional large jar of Nutella. The boys will probably have it on toast every morning. I will have a spoonful from time to time and smile beatifically. We will also have a nice glass of wine with supper quite frequently. My husband will enjoy a good Quebec beer.


There will be much eating of grilled sweet peppers and zucchini. We will go and buy incredible home-made country-style bread called "pain capou" from the bakery owned by a French couple. The word for bread in French is "pain". When you live in an English speaking area and suddenly find yourself in a French area, you still read it as pain (ouch!). The bakery has a big sign outside advertising "pain" so going to "pain" for a loaf of bread is our family joke.

I will do my yoga on the deck but unfortunately, there won't be many long walks. The country road is narrow and twisty and I just don't feel comfortable walking on the side of the road. My walks will be limited to the main street of the village. Fortunately, there will also be lots of canoeing. Thank goodness for all those years of summer camp! I can handle steering a canoe with the best of them.

And there's one last beautiful thing about going to the cottage: no scale!

P.S. I'm not gone yet. There's still "the week of eating consciously" to finish and reflect upon so stay tuned!