Damn, it’s already here… My last day in the North Shore. I’ve would have thought the time would be long and I’d be bored to tears. But these past brought of days have actually flown by quickly. Yesterday was cold as hell, meaning I spent most of the day with the car heater running at every location I drove to. My best idea eggs grabbing a cheap hoodie at a local Walmart. Yesterday, much like the day before, flew by in a flurry of back and forth driving between Dalhousie and Campbellton. My morning started with a lovely americano at a little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop called The Early Bird Company. It was tiny and there was very limited seating, but we managed. I was sitting right next to the door and people kept coming in and out. The cold air was annoying as fuck, but it was counterbalanced by the lovely, rich flavor of my americano. This was a followed by an early lunch at the local McDonalds. The biggest surprise thus far was the fact that McD’s has started serving Red Bull. It seemed to be quite a matter to celebrate…
I mean, I didn’t HAVE any Red Bull, between the energy drink I woke up to and the americano. But it was definitely funny to see all the advertising in a place that’s intended to sell fast food. In recent years, I’ve come to figure that most well-known eateries have been trying to do too much. Seeing Tim Horton’s trying to sell pizzas was my breaking point but the good news is they’ve started carrying their grilled cheese sandwiches again. Let’s put a pin in that for a moment and get back to my day. Once we finished a lovely and inexpensive McChicken, I headed down to Dalhousie. It was strange to see my old work location (the McDonald’s) as quiet as it was over the lunch hour. When I worked there, the noon hour was akin to going into battle. The flood of people that would cycle through that place was nuts. But there was barely a trickle of less than a dozen folks.
After heading down to the Dalhousie area, I tried for the second time to stop in at a little bakery called Le Moulin a Cafe, or Coffee Mill, in English. One of the key things I try to get done on any visit to my parents, is to enjoy a slice of sugar pie. For some reason, no one outside of New Brunswick seemed to know what the hell a sugar pie IS. Essentially, and depending on the recipe one uses, it’s basically brown sugar, condensed milk and melted butter combined into a pie crust. It’s rich, decadent and delicious. I’ve been told there are similarities with butter tarts, but the size of a pie instead of tiny bullshit. And there are no raisins or pecans in it like a butter tart. But I digress… It’s without a doubt the worst thing that a Type-1 Diabetic can eat, given how fattening and sugary it is, but it’s a once every couple of years’ sort of indulgence. So, I make my peace with enjoying a slice when I’m in Northern New Brunswick.
Anyway, I rolled up on the coffee shop for the second day in a row and for the second day in a row, the damn place was closed. ON A MONDAY? During the summer? With all the campers and tourists floating around? That’s a fair amount of lost income for that business. And people wonder why nothing that opens is ever successful in this area. Bloody hell. I was meeting an old friend of mine, who ironically is named the same thing as my uncle. But this particular individual not only graduated high school with me but also did karate with me for several years and came to Japan with Sensei and I. I’ve known him for decades and he still lives in the area. For some reason, I don’t always remember to drop him a line when I’m down here, which is an oversight I need to correct. But we met at Tim Horton’s and enjoyed coffee and good conversation. We caught up on things nicely. It was good to see him.
This was followed by an extremely short visit to see my father, who was sleeping heavily. The staff at the nursing home kept offering to wake him, but given the pain he’s in, if he’s actually getting some sleep, I’m inclined to let him do so. Since there was no conversation to be had and I’m never one to just sit there and watch my father sleep, that’s where I ventured out and tried to get some sugar pie. But I substituted with a stop at a drive-in food canteen that I actually worked at when I was a teenager. I was jonesing for a cheeseburger. The burgers there are butter-seared on a flat range and served on a toasted burger buns that was toasted by laying in on the range with butter, as well. It’s a fatty, decadent burger that tastes like childhood. I’m starting to notice that the items I tend to have when I come back home are all ridiculously bad for me. But que sera…
My day wrapped up with a coffee meeting with an old karate friend. Once again at Tim Horton’s. Yet another person I’ve known for Swansea and that I try to connect with on every trip. Once I was done with Dalhousie, I came back to the hotel and crashed unceremoniously. And now, the last day on the North Shore can begin. Tomorrow will see me check out of the hotel, load up the car and reached south to Moncton. I’m the way, I should be stopping in to modify Sensei’s son to catch up with him. Then, a short night’s sleep at a hotel next to the airport before I board a terribly early flight back to the Prairies. It will be good to go home. As predicated during my Day 1 post, being here has elicited too many emotions for my cast iron personality to handle. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 