If only I had a Dali for my living room
The dice are cast; we’re on vacation and on the road. No big gamble here, because we’re following the trail of past years, but every summer brings the potential for adventure. Our departure was delayed until after the rush hour, and we then did a standard six hour haul to Fredericton, with one brief halt for coffee. There are a lot of Timmy’s out there.
Back when the cellphone entered our house, we were told that vacation costs could be reduced by purchasing prepaid cards. Too little detail, so I called 611 and tried to speak with Ernestine. It doesn’t matter if you try French or English, because Bell can mess things up and leave you looping in and out of their infospace for what feels like a very long time. I finally slipped through some timer and hit a real live person. Not enough to get information, though, as the person on the other end wanted my name. I explained that it wasn’t my phone so she spoke to the owner and then we tried to go further. She took my name, but when she asked for my birthdate, I knew this wasn’t the real Ernestine. Too much info for info; I hung up and decided to remain ignorant.
The owner was persistent; we stopped, she talked to someone who spoke Acadian, and we carried on (ignorance is bliss).
Sometime in the hottest part of the afternoon, we arrived at the day’s destination (I am able to alter travel plans in a heartbeat). The Beaverbrook Gallery is wonderful. Not only was MY Dali in the central hall, but as we made our way through the rooms, the stuff on the walls got cooler and cooler. Names like Sargeant and Constable and Pratt and Botticelli are well-known for the best reason possible; they were good at their craft. When you enter a room filled with expensive treasures, the quality stuff stands out. This gallery is worth the stop, and I hope that their current legal disputes are extinguished. In passing, the vaults are up, not down. Flood plain, you know.
Along with some good universities, there are also English book stores in town. This is a big deal for our family. We managed to get the newest Artemis Fowl novel, thanks to the woman who went out back and unpacked a copy for us. This was the first day of release, as son #3 has known for weeks. If only we had a larger vehicle and more time to choose titles (and a larger basement to store more books, and more time to read, and…).
I’ve convinced my fellow travellers to eat slowly and sleeep in a motel where they can watch cheap movies and surf the web. Vacation requires compromise.
