There just aren't enough words to describe the awesomeness of the weekend weather. I simply cannot remember a weekend like this in my life.
We have all seen Thanksgivings with rain, with snow, with sleet and hail, but seven straight days of plus- 25 and sunshine? I'll take it!
I hosted my inlaws on Monday, with a lamb raised not twenty miles away, and thank you Jamie Oliver, for the recipe which turned out perfectly. We dined early to accommodate work schedules, but had drinks on the deck and great conversation.
Saturday was a daylong Thanksgiving extravaganza with my side of the family and a special guest. My 'little' brother's family is playing host to a young student from China. She goes by Alice, but I'm very sure that's not her actual name. Alice is one of 30 kids who have come to Ontario for a month-long home stay. She's ten. Can you imagine being brave enough to travel all the way to the other side of the planet for a month at the tender age of ten? She speaks very little English, and lives in Beijing, where I'm pretty sure she's never seen a cow or an apple tree, but she wasn't afraid to take part in most of the activities we got up to, including a haywagon ride to the 'secret' waterfall, and down a closed road. She wasn't interested in our casual 5K run, though.
And that's the highlight of my weekend: running with my 10 year old niece on a country road with the leaves at full colour, the sun hot and her shouting to me as we crested the final hill together, "Leave it all on the track, Auntie Missy! Leave it all on the track! You can do it!"
The lowlight of the magnificent weekend is the news that this bright and beautiful child and her bright and beautiful family will be unavailable for a hayride or a run with me next Thanksgiving or the year after that. They have an unbelievable, once in a lifetime opportunity and they are going to take it. They're moving to Australia for two, maybe five years. I'm so excited for them, but I'm ashamed to admit I'm a teensy bit, selfishly, heartbroken, too.
Here's hoping they have 5K family races in Brisbane. I'll have to start training for a long flight.
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