Johanna and I went to visit Pop late tonight and his condition was unchanged. Although he is stable, he is still critical and appears to be completely exhausted. He has not been as responsive to our presence as he was a couple of days ago, but this is the way it goes for patients as sick as Pop is. We know the roller coaster car is still firmly on the tracks, but the ride is far from over. I want him to get better as quickly as possible, but came to the realization tonight that Pop will likely be in the ICU for quite some time as he regains his strength. I brought my iPod with me on tonight’s visit and asked his nurse Joanie if it would be ok to play him a tune or two. She said that would be a wonderful thing and beneficial for him. I hooked him up with the iPod ear buds and played “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel and “Year of the Cat” by Al Stewart for him. His eyes opened a little and I think he enjoyed the tunes.

Suzanne, Kiera, Kiera’s friend Erica, Ian, Elijah, and I will be heading to Parry Sound tomorrow morning. Saturday is Dominion Day, also known as Canada Day or Canadian Independence Day, and I plan to conduct the second round of water testing on Monday after the flurry of long weekend recreational activity abates. This is the optimal time to take water samples and will highlight the impact humans have on the fragile ecosystem of Georgian Bay Thirty Thousand Islands area. Pop would certainly approve. Given his stability, we are comfortable with heading north and will be just five hours away should anything happen. It seems to be a good time to take a break from things and I’m looking forward to getting back to our beloved South Channel. Mom will be staying at our home while we’re away and will keep us updated with Pop’s condition. This will give both her and Johanna some much needed quiet time to recharge their batteries.

Brenda Lind will be undergoing surgery tomorrow to repair her broken kneecap. As we sit by the fire at the cottage this weekend, I won’t be able to keep from occasionally thinking about Brenda’s now famous line “Watch it burn!”, which she uttered as one of Pop’s primo pieces of hardwood was thrown onto the campfire at the cottage. Pop has become a connoisseur of fine firewood and thinks that junky pine is the only wood suitable for an outside campfire which you roast marshmallows on. Although he is generally a good sport about all of us descending on his cottage and disturbing the tranquility of his island paradise, that time he really expressed his displeasure with us burning up his “good wood” for such folly. Later on, we all had a good laugh about that night (including Pop) and the tale has become that of family legend. Good luck Brenda with your surgery tomorrow.