Monday Night Dinner

It is known in my house that I am not the primary cook, more of a sous-chef, if you will, superseded by my superhusband, who is a chef extraordinaire and spoils me daily with scrumptious home-cooked meals that rival the fanciest restaurants I’ve ever been in.

I frequently refer to myself as a “gong-show” in the kitchen, and get easily frazzled; things end up boiling over and my timing is always off. Many meals eaten in stages (or, more “courses” if I’m pretending I intended it that way) while the chicken strives to reach a less... pink... internal temperature... Furthermore, my disdain for measuring (rules shmules!) and lack of preparation never helped. So, lucky for me, I rarely have to inflict my gastronomic failures and kitchen chaos on anyone.

Loop? Scattered showers?

To me, the definition of a loop in relation to hiking, means starting and finishing at the same spot. And “scattered showers” is different both quantitatively and qualitatively from “torrential downpour.” We were prepared for scattered showers. We were anticipating scattered showers. Furthermore, we were anticipating an actual loop, not for the 9.3 “loop” to end 3.2 km from our car. I’m generally a glass half-full kind of person, and most of the time any hike is worth it, but this hike? Not so much. I truly wouldn’t want to repeat this hike. And I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that!

The hike began well enough, and happily we did get to a lovely vantage point before the rains came. The Laurentians are beautiful old mountains, rounded by time, and make me feel so at home. Other mountains, with their sharp craggy peaks and astonishing heights are almost frightening in their awesomeness. But the Laurentians embrace you into their rolling beauty, and look especially inspiring when they fade through tints of blue and green as they recede into the atmosphere.