patriciawatt

August.  I have been back home a month now and the PTTS – or Post Trip Traumatic Syndrome, as I call it,  has disappeared, and the dust has finally settled as Helma R, one of my favourite ATW friends,  said recently.

I know from many, you felt the same way.  Who knew?  I was rendered almost helpless for the first week or so.  Almost.  Missing new boat friends.  No one is cooking for me,  and I have forgotten how.  Where is Chef Farid when I need him?  My laundry just sits there unless I throw it in the machine, and it certainly doesn’t come back beautifully packaged with a gold sticker on it.  Those laundry guys on board Insignia were amazing – better than me certainly, and better than my dry cleaner at getting out all manner of splotches and stains.

I came back to an apartment that had calendars still readiing January and bits of Christmas still lying around here and there.  Time warp!!  The nicest thing was that Rob (son) and Nicki had gone out and bought flowers and filled all the pots on my balcony.  They are beautiful and such a thoughtful thing to do.  He knows how much I love my flowers.  So finally things start to fall into place, and it’s back to old habits and old haunts.

I always manage to keep busy and once getting back into the rhythm of Toronto, I am happily doing the things that make me happy.  Visiting with friends.  Having company.  And getting involved with God knows what I find…….

Since coming back, we celebrated Rob’s birthday and all the family went to dinner & the theatre.  We saw Come From Away, the play about Gander, Newfoundland and how the people there took in thousands on 9/11.  It’s a wonderful story.  Makes one so proud of our Newfoundlanders.  Take kleenex!

Then we had Lobsterfest at QCYC, the yacht club where I’m a member, and I was on “french baguette duty” with another gal, slicing bread for 400 hungry members and friends.

My dishwasher quit.  Too bad, he was cute.  No, seriously, I had to find a new dishwasher and now have it installed.

Then I was in a murder mystery dinner evening at the QCYC.  I was Mary Margaret Murphy, a maid on board the Rapids Queen Luxury liner between Montreal and Toronto.  I got pushed overboard and drowned, and 80 years later Mary Margaret is looking for revenge.  Part true story by the way.  There was a Rapids Queen ship with passengers at that time.  She now sits at the entrance to our yacht club where she was partially sunk, acting as a breakwater for our club.

I joined the new fitness club downstairs, SWAT, and work out three times a week, continuing the habit I started on Insignia with Sho.  Friends, Sandra & Tina,  from Germany came to stay with me for awhile and it was so much fun. They actually did the “Edge Walk” up on the CN Tower.  NO!  I didn’t go along.  My tummy flip flops just thinking about it.

 I went on an overnight sail to another yacht club on Lake Ontario with friends Madeleine & Keith in their lovely boat, Elan.  Coming back we ran into some pretty heavy weather.  Relatively speaking worse than anything we experienced on Insignia.  We started out with our sail only partly out because of high winds, then decided to motor-sail, and then the motor quit.  The boat was rocking and rolling and our captain thinks the gas was sloshing away from the intake, but we managed to get her back to shore, thanks to Keith, and waited until later in the day when the lake calmed down.  Keith actually called in another sailor friend, Andrew,  to sail back with him.  So much for Madeleine and I, so we drove back to Toronto.  Apparently the marine police had to rescue several boaters that day, so I guess we were lucky.  That would have been ironic eh?  Sail all around the world and then come back and get drowned in Lake Ontario!!

I am also involved with DEB.  What is that you ask?  Diner En Blanc – a worldwide event.  It started in Paris 30 years ago and continues in cities around the world.  It’s a pop-up alfresco picnic with food and wine at a secret location somewhere in the city.  All participants must dress in white from head to toe, including tables, chairs, china, and decor.   At the end of the evening you leave the place cleaner than when you arrived.  This year in Toronto we expect just over 3000 picnickers and there is a very large waiting list – somewhere around sixteen thousand.  Amazing!  It is non profit and not attached to any charity.  Just a fun, flash mob type evening.  Check it out.  There may be one in a city near you.

And, Anna Smith, take note.  I have finished my “Around the World Map.”  I started it on board but I am not good at needle and thread.  So I got home, ripped out the three beads I managed to sew on, and glued everything in place.  Anna was our on board quilter and all round friend.  I think it is looking pretty nice and what a lovely souvenir of my trip with all our stops.  I’m going to have it framed.  Thank you Anna for all your help.

So that’s my summer so far.  It’s been hot and humid and lovely sitting out on my little “perch” overlooking Lake Ontario. 

My next adventure?  I’m off to Italy in September – Sicily with my Cave Creek Artists group from Arizona.  Stay tuned…..