Ah, radio silence. It’s sort of lovely to take a vacation from the online world isn’t it? Part of me feels guilty (although for what, and towards whom, I don’t know) for not blogging much lately, but another part–the part of me that thinks Vitamin D is delicious–has no regrets. I have been reading; I have been thinking about, but not doing any, writing. Until yesterday, my beloved but politically benighted city had been a paradise of perfect late spring/early summer weather and so I’ve been cycling, running, walking, weeding, and lounging the shit out of this place. You see, I knew this glorious summer would soon melt into the scream that I have termed the hellish hot heat and so I’ve been making the most of it all.

Now the party is over and my 2-3 month sentence of spending most days inside because it’s just safer to do so has commenced; I think this means you’ll be seeing a lot more of me–perhaps more than you’d like. I already wake up in the 5s, so I can at least still get some exercise in before the Angry Sunshine of Cancerous Death rises too high in the sky. But going for a spontaneous amble in the afternoon? No. If my posts become increasingly claustrophobic and given to discussing things that make Johnny go crazy, you’ll know why.

I haven’t just been outside in Toronto, however; hubby and I were recently down east, in a leetle place called Prince Edward Island, in a super-extra-leetle place there called Victoria-by-the-Sea. It’s true: it is by the sea. And so we went kayaking which I loved a lot but which my husband found trying because his freakishly long legs fell asleep after about 10 minutes in the boat, and we were out for over 2 hours.

We also ran outside a fair bit, in part just to gulp down as much of the super-clean air as we could. It’s ridiculous; one day, we went for a 10 km run and saw two cars the whole time. TWO. And no people. Not even mosquitoes! But as that was the best damned run I’ve ever had in my life, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that we were actually outrunning the little vampires.

It’s actually so sparsely populated in rural PEI that running along the highway during “rush hour” was better than running along a residential street in Toronto at 6 am. But running on the so-called red roads is best; it’s easier on the joints; also, more photogenic than a street lined with green bins overturned and torn apart by the Toronto raccoon mafia.

It was a great vacation, and not only for the time spent doing Sport in the fresh air; I also didn’t have much access to teh interwebs, and I kind of loved it–a lot. So, here’s the insoluble pancake: how to construct an air-conditioned bubble that will let the sun in but not UV rays, and will also not blind me by reflecting off my computer screen, AND that can be folded up and put in my bag. And not be batted around by a giant cat.

While some smarty-pants is off inventing this for me, and I’m doing the dishes before it becomes irresponsible to plunge one’s hands into hot water, here are some photos of my mother-in-law’s bitchin’ garden.