Leeaaavin' ... on a jet plane

Not me, but Clarence ... this was my last view of him this morning at about 5:30am as the Air Canada Cargo guy took him away to await boarding his 7:15 flight to Toronto. The poor guy! He looked simply bewildered as he was carted off. I felt like Dr. Mengele.

But as it happens, he made the flight without incident, and my Dad picked him up at Pearson this morning. Apparently, he's still a little freaked out ... when my Mom got home from work and tried to pat him, he ran off to hide under their bed. Very un-Clarence like behaviour. He's usually a suck for the affection, and when he's not he lets you know with his claws. Not a run-and-hide kind of cat.

Though I miss him already, there's an upside in that as I clean my apartment in preparation for leaving, he's not underfoot. Any time I scrub the bathtub or do any similar kind of cleaning here, he's right at my elbow, getting in the way, watching what I'm doing with fascination. It's almost as if he's unaccustomed to seeing me engaging in such activities ...

I leave on Saturday, not to return until August ... spending the balance of the summer back in London, ON. This, as I've said before, is the sweetest part of the full-time gig: the fact that when I received my teaching assignment this time last year, the summer term was simply designated "research." It will be the first time in recent memory that I haven't had to worry about summer teaching to pay the bills. Three months (well, three and a half -- two and a half in London, one in St. John's, and two weeks in between to take in the sights in a more leisurely fashion when driving back out) of dedicated research time! Be still my heart.

So, I get to get reacquainted with the Weldon Library and, more importantly, I get to make use of the Grad Club again. And while I'm there I will be scheming to figure out a way to uproot it by the foundations and have it shipped to MUN.

So all that remains is the packing and the cleaning and getting my subletter settled in. And then -- road trip! Two days across the Rock, then three to TO with a stop at Montreal along the way. I'll have my digicam handy and keep a photo journal along the way ... hopefully I can fin hotels with wireless so I can post while en route, as opposed to all at once at the end ....