Reprieve

The lazy sunny days in Rockport have almost come to their end.  Today was to be the final day of sunshine, nature, sea breezes, and coastal wildlife.  I had mixed feelings about leaving.  It would be nice to snuggle in to my own favourite recliner, I thought, and it would be delightful to fondle Baxter and Daisy's warm, silky ears again.

But I wasn't thinking very happily about snow and ice, and definitely not looking forward to temperatures in the -10 C range.  Those are aspects of home I thought I could do without for quite some time yet.

And then, first thing this morning, a reprieve!  "We'll have to stay an extra day," my husband announced when I woke.  An earlier riser than I am, he had checked the weather forecasts along our homeward bound route and realized that a major snowstorm was going to hit South Dakota on Saturday, exactly when we would be on that state's highways.  We Canadians know that 25 cm or more of snow falling in about 18 hours means we're best off staying off the roads if possible.

And it is possible!  All we have to do is stay in this coastal paradise an extra day and we can avoid the storm entirely.  A few clicks of computer keys and reservations were cancelled and rebooked for a day later.

So what that means for us is more of this:

and this:

and this:

It means one more evening dining with this incredible view out the window of our favourite restaurant:

And, of course, to my delight, what it also means is one less day of this:

Hmm, wouldn't it be nice if that blizzard settled over our homeward route for yet another day?!  No, that's not fair to the people who live in that region.  I think I'll just be grateful for the extra day I've been gifted already.