The last of the summer days...

While friends like Alice in South Africa and Evlyn in Australia are rejoincing in the onset of summer weather, we here in Ontario are on our very, very, very last days of it - if it's even still around. The last two days have been wonderfully delicious, with temps of around 15*C and higher. Perfect for being outdoors and getting things done and generally having windows open and loving the fact that we can still have them open without someone bitching about how cold it's making the house. Today was no exception. It was apparently 18*C and today was the day that I walked 100 stairs with Krystal! And walk them we did! I got pics but still have to upload them. But let me tell you this people: it was damn easy. I wasn't out of breath at all. You'd think 100 stairs would be daunting, considering this coming from a girl who could barely scale 2 stairs let alone 98 additional ones a little over 3 months ago. But alas my kittens today I did! And then some!

We had no additional location in mind with regards to where we were going to walk once we reached the top, so we just kept going. That destination had us going up - to the big houses - the Victorian mansion houses - which reside in the highest part of the city. History says that in our city, the biggest houses (built during the 1800's) were built on the top of the hill so that in the event of a flood, the poor people who lived at the bottom would suffer the effects and essentially die first. Cruel, but very Victorian. And holy fuck you should see theses houses! They are both scary and immaculate at once! I think the pic I stealthily and creepily got was of a gothic style house. We tried getting one last Christmas when we again - stealthily and creepily - went Christmas Light Gawking and this particular house failed to show up on film. That's how creepy it is!

But never fear, we located the house when there was still light and I got 3 pics! I will post them as well - probably tomorrow in a separate post bc posting pics and getting them to act how i want them to sometimes turns out to be a royal bitch of a problem.

Tonight also saw me utilizing these beautiful creatures called lungs. I took the dogs for a walk with both parents and me and Madyson ran a few times. RAN. I've already run, but still, 3 months ago i was still out of it from surgery. Running was not the first thing on my mind. I'm pretty sure nothing was on my mind but the pain i was in and how much i wanted food. And it was as Maddy and I were running that I had this thought: here I am, breathing with someone else's lungs. Unlike a liver or a kidney, where you can't feel them as they work, with lungs, you can. You can consciously make the effort to inflate and deflate them. I can inhale as deeply as i want, and hold it, and hold it, and hold it, all on my own will. But these aren't mine realy: i wasn't born with them. They were entrusted to me b/c my donor was awesome and had the compassion to save others lives in the event of their untimely death.

Again, 'thank-you' fails to encompass how this really is for me. You can't thank someone for that. You just can't. I ran tonight people, and I walked 100 stairs and then some. You cannot wrap that in a box and place in under a tree or anything. It is basic human kindness in the most extreme degree. It may seem simple but it was the most beautiful thing I could think of, on one of the most beautiful days of November.

So yes, all in all (despite the fact that i'm sitting on 2 days worth and 6 laxatives with 0 results), it's been a beautiful weekend. I had my bedroom window open all day and my room smells like summer time. I plan on washing my bedding and placing it on the line tomorrow to dry, as the forcast calls for 20*C! I finished my letter to Jenna up in the Yukon and will get around to mailing it tomorrow. Being the good friend that I am, i hunted in the dark of my backyard for a maple leaf to enclose in the letter and stepped in dog shit in the process. This resulted in me needing to wash my foot, which is another summer time fav thing of mine to do. So it's not all bad.

But if tomorrow yeilds 2 days worth of attempting to shit, I will light a tree and sing a song and reflect on the devine act performed by angels! If not, try, try, try again.

(maybe this is my punishment for asking that guy in recovery if he was sure he didn't shit himself. Oh fuck.)