Another week in Wiky

It's Sunday now, and it's hard to believe I've already been in Wiky a week. And today is my last full day in Wiky for a while until I don't know when. But the past week in Wiky has been a good one, as always. And I'm already working on figuring out when I'll be able to return.

I've spent most of my time this past week in Wiky; there were actually a couple of the days when I went to Sudbury. But apart from those days I've been in Wiky the whole time. The days in Wiky have been relaxing. I've had plenty of chances to catch up on my rest, but I've also been fortunate to be able to get back into my exercise routine as well.

Dolly went back to work this past Monday after being off for about three weeks. I'm sure it was difficult in many respects for Dolly to go back to work. But she seems to be doing fine and is back in the swing of things. In spite of her having to work so much this week, we've still been able to spend plenty of time together. I've spent a fair bit of time with her at the office, and of course we've spent the mornings before work and the afternoons and evenings after work together. The time together has really been sweet. I've also been able to help out with chores around the house while Dolly has worked.

When Dolly hasn't been working, we've spent some time with the family at the cabin and at Rabbit Island. As always the time with all of us together has been great. We've also eaten plenty of delicious ice cream, checked out a dress rehearsal of the latest Debaj play and have gone to Sudbury. The most important thing, however, is that we've had plenty of good times together this time around. And I'm sure our future adventures will entail the same.

Apart from do lots of walking and running and doing chores, the main thing I did during my solo time this week was head to Sudbury to pick up Dolly's home theater system. We took her dead home theater system to Sudbury a few weeks ago for warranty repair. When I brought the home theater system back to Dolly's, however, we discovered it still didn't work. Frustrated with the performance and attitude of the repair shop in Sudbury, I contacted JVC Canada directly. We sent the unit to JVC a couple of days ago and Dolly should get a repaired or replaced unit in about three weeks' time.

We went to Sudbury again yesterday with Alec and Mary Ag in tow. We didn't really have a specific agenda for the trip apart from leaving Mary Ag and Alec at Allison's house. But we ended up doing far more than that. After dropping off Alec and Mary Ag, Dolly and I ate at what proved to be a mediocre Italian restaurant, did some shopping, and then headed to Whitefish River to spend a short time at the powwow. We ended our day in Sudbury by checking out the Mike Myers movie The Love Guru at the Rainbow Centre. We had hoped to do some gambling at the Racetrack Slots before we left town, but the facility was closed. Dolly and I returned to Wiky about 12:30 this morning. Now Dolly and I are hanging out at her house and are getting ready to attended a feast in Sheguiandah this afternoon. After that we'll probably spend the afternoon at Dolly's house and then at Rabbit Island. I'm heading back to South Dakota tomorrow and plan to make it was far as the Twin Cities tomorrow.

All told, Dolly and I have spent nearly a month together this time around. We've divided our time between South Dakota and Wiky and have spent roughly equal periods of time in both locations and have done much. It will be hard to part again tomorrow, but we both know we'll see each other again. When is up in the air right now, but I'm hoping to make it back to Wiky again sometime in late August. In the meantime I'm going to suck the marrow from my remaining hours here and carry the memories I've made this time around in my heart. And in my heart I know I'll return soon.

The train keeps rolling

It's been a few weeks now since I've last written, and I apologize to my readers about my absence. There's been so much happening in life over the past few weeks that it's been difficult to keep this blog updated with new text and more pictures. I'm going to try hard over the coming weeks to be more diligent about keeping this site updated.

The past few weeks have been filled with tons of activity, and it looks like the remainder of the summer will be busy as well. Each day has seemed long and full, but the summer as a whole seems to be passing rather quickly. Where does the time go? I guess the old saying about time flying when you're having fun is true.

There's so much that's happened that it would take several blog entries to cover everything. I don't have time for several entries right now, however, so I'll summarize what I can in a few paragraphs.

For the past several weeks, I've been spending time with Dolly and her family in Wiky. I arrived in Wiky not long before Dolly's birthday on June 30 and remainder there for about a week. During that time we played lots of Pokeno, attended the Wiky rodeo and the Sheguiandah powwow, and went to Sudbury twice. Dolly and I headed back to South Dakota about a week ago.

After arriving in South Dakota we picked up a new vehicle for me (a 2008 Mazda5), attended the Brookings Summer Arts Festival, and participated in our latest Sports Car Club of Siouxland event. In that event I squeaked out a first-place win in the NXE class by less than 2/10 of a second and ended up posting the 10th-fastest time of 44 drivers.

Dolly and I have been in Rapid City for the past three days, and we've certainly seen a lot of the Hills. We have actually stayed in a hotel in Black Hawk, but we've not spent much time here; we've been out on the town and on the road most of the time. A few days ago we checked out Prairie Edge and a few other places in Rapid City and have spent some time at Bear Butte and Devils Tower. Today was our fullest day, however. After having breakfast at a Hardee's in Rapid City, we visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Wind Cave National Park, the mammoth site at Hot Springs, and the Badlands on Pine Ridge. Now that the day is at an end, Dolly and I are exhausted but filled with good feelings.

Tomorrow will be another full day, considering we have to drive back to Brookings and then get ready to head back to Wiky the following day. We'll pick more sage along the way. It will be a busy day, but I'm sure it will be another good day. It would be nice if we could spend more time in the Black Hills, but we're both sure we'll return again someday. In the meantime, we'll carry the good memories with us.

A few full days

It's Saturday morning now and I'm sitting on Dolly's couch and getting ready for breakfast to be served. As I'm waiting, I find myself reflecting on the events of the past few days.

A lot has happened in the past few days to be sure. Yesterday, for instance, Dolly and I made another run to Sudbury. Our primary goal was to take her home theater system to Stringer's Electronics so it can be serviced. We did that, but we also shopped in Wal-Mart and in a few other stores, had lunch at the food court, and spent some time with Shar. We left Wiky about 10 in the morning and returned around 6. It was a good trip to Sudbury, and I didn't feel quite as tired at the end of the day as when we went to Sudbury on Wednesday.

Thursday was a fairly quiet day mostly spent at home and with Dolly's family in Rabbit Island. And like Thursday, it looks like today and tomorrow will be fairly quiet days. But both days will be filled with activity at the same time.

This afternoon Dolly and I plan to attend the Wiky Rodeo for a few hours. The rodeo is one of the biggest annual events here in the community, and it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. In spite of growing up in the West, this will be my first rodeo. Once the rodeo is finished, I imagine we'll head over to Sheguiandah for the traditional powwow going on this weekend. Tomorrow will probably be a repeat of today, and I'm hoping some time at the cabin will be thrown into the mix.

I'm still blown away that I've already been in Canada again for a week. The time has passed so quickly, but each day has seemed good and long. Dolly and I are heading to South Dakota on Monday. We'll spend nearly two weeks in South Dakota before heading back to Wiky for a few days. In the meantime I want to enjoy the time with Dolly as much as I can. I'm sure I will.

Canada Day 2008