Return to where we met - Lusk Cave

Yesterday the Prof. and I put on our hiking shoes, packed our bathing suits, and made the trek back to Gatineau's Lusk Caves -- the place where we first met two years ago.

Walking along the trail toward the caves, past the sandy beaches filled with swimmers and the lovely Canadian maples, we both found it hard to believe how much has changed since our first hike.

Two years ago, we could barely speak to each other. Our sentences were broken, full of errors, and delicately constructed. Mostly, we just offered each other awkward smiles. (Here's my original column in the Toronto Star.)

This year, however, the Prof. and I switched between French and English with ease (the way we've decided our communication works best), held hands along the path (not just in the cave to keep from slipping), and well, ventured into the caves as husband and wife. Weird. I can't believe how much can happen in just two years.

Here are some slides from our return hike:



Since I've been away, all kinds of things have changed, not just in my life. My sister has had another baby, half of the people I used to work with at the CBC have changed jobs, friends have married and divorced, had babies, moved houses ... life has happened, both in France and back here in Ottawa.

Sometimes, life is a hard thing for the brain to take.

For the last week, I've been waking up with visions that either my life in France or the life I left back in Canada is imaginary; I've dreamed that I never left Ottawa for France and that this return visit is just a dream. I'm not nuts, I've probably just watching a little too much science fiction.

It's amusing to wake up some mornings with such a clear idea of what my life might have been like if I'd never gone on that hike, never fallen in love with the Prof., and never left.

I must admit, however, that I'm happy with the way it all turned out. And, I guess, how it continues to turn out. We're not done yet.