Take lots of Pictures

So we've had our first prospective buyers through. They came yesterday at 4 p.m. and spent a good 45 minutes. Promising? Hard to say.

But with the weather having been so freakin' nasty, it was difficult for them to have a good look at the Back 40, or, more accurately, the back 120. So the wife and I went through the old pictures to see if we had a few we could leave out for people looking through the house. Little trip down memory lane.

We've had some really good times here. Baseball parties, RCMP parties, the birth of our two boys, family visits . . . all captured in photos. It's wonderful to have them.

The photos that really hit home for me are of a week spent with most of my family here at Rancho Robinson. My brothers and sisters, their kids, my parents; all sitting around the campfire, playing paintball, swimming in Lake Winnipeg, eating, laughing and running all over the Back 120. That was probably my favourite family get-together of our adult lives. Not that the others weren't great. Father's wedding, mother's wedding, birthday bashes . . . all great times.

But that year here in Manitoba, the nieces and nephews were young enough to enjoy the week-long party with their wacky uncles, aunts and grandparents. And, watching those kids with my brothers and sisters triggered the wife's biological clock. After that wonderful week, when everyone left, the house seemed very, very empty. She decided we needed to fill it. And we have.

As for my brothers and sisters, we're fairly spread out in North America these days, so the times that most of us can get together are precious, few and far between. I have a sister in Kansas, a sister in B.C., a brother in the Niagara area and another in New York. The one in New York is graduating this weekend with his Masters Degree in nursing. I'm proud of him and wish I could be there. But with all that's going on right now, it just ain't happening. And, with the impending move to Thompson, I'm afraid I'll be missing a few more of the get-togethers. What used to be a plane ride and a rental car will become two plane rides and a rental car and two hotel stays. Gets a little expensive with two kids.

But a few of the sibs have promised to visit Thompson next year. It's a ways away, but I'm really looking forward to it. In the meantime, there is plenty to do and, eventually, a new town to explore.

Chin up, move on and take lots of pictures.