And Time Goes By

It was the summer of 1972 when Grandma decided to take me on a summer road trip along the Bruce Peninsula in southern Ontario. I was a newly licensed driver and she gave me the wheel of the car for the entire trip which was a great confidence booster for a teenager. I dared not go above 50 mph on the highway (Ontario had not yet converted to metric measures) and Grandma made me pull over on the shoulder if cars behind were anxious to pass us. Our destination was Tobermory at the northern tip of the peninsula and we planned to board the ferry to Manitoulin Island. At that time the M.S. Norgoma, a 190 foot vessel, carried passengers to the docks at South Baymouth. We arrived and booked into a motel in Tobermory, but very windy weather prevented us from taking the boat across Georgian Bay for the next two days.

Young passengers on the Chi-Cheemaun

Today the Chi-Cheemaun, a much larger vessel, ferries vehicles and passengers both ways across the water from Highway 6 at Tobermory to the continuation of Highway 6 on the island. Last week I finally took the journey that Grandma and I missed almost 40 years ago. It seems impossible that so much time has passed since the summer I finished high school.

I returned from Mexico the day before we went north for our vacation. Mom had her first round of chemotherapy when I was there and endured a week of nasty side effects. She had her second round of treatment yesterday. Their home is situated in a beautiful area of the countryside in southwestern Mexico and I enjoyed the restful environment despite the circumstances around my visit.

Lighthouse on Cove Island

We do not know what the future holds and that is a good thing. A butterfly may live for days and its life is measured by moments. A bird may live a few years and its life is measured by weeks. A tree may live for hundreds of years with its life measured in decades. Our lives are a modest span that we measure in years. I couldn't help thinking as I spent time with Mom and Dad that they are living what my life may be in 20 years or so. And seeing how fast time has gone since that vacation with Grandma, those years may come before I am ready for them.

Perhaps life is best measured in "butterfly" moments, seizing pleasure and joy while releasing irritations and frustrations which drag us downward.