family.

my younger years were enriched by their presence. my teenaged years, university, and adult life were without the constant contact, seperated as we are by bodies of water, time, distance, and money.

my immediate kin i love without question, and i see often. but my uncles, aunts, cousins and outlaws i don't see often enough.

there is a comfort there, of being 'with your people'. i love families. or at least, i love my family. my trip was peppered with dancing, music, drinking, laughing, hugging, crying, and most importantly, the warmth that comes from being in the company of people who you love and who love you.

there were probably 25 of us. we slept in an abandoned two room shed with a chemical toilet and no running water. we slept on blow up mattresses. we laughed ourselves to sleep every night. the 12 year olds making the adults laugh, the adults making the children laugh, in the dark, on a little island on the northern tip of newfoundland. every night was an affirmation.

I went cod jigging on the north atlantic, ate my catch, drank newfoundland beer, danced to newfoundland songs in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon with my uncle tony playing the accordian and my nan dancing away, had a bonfire the size of a house that gave me a slight tan, went four-wheeling along the old newfoundland railway, laughed, cried, ate newfoundland candy, and loved every single minute of my time there.

of course holidays are not permanent realities, but families are. and i am proud to be a part of mine.

i'll post some videos i took shortly. here's the first. mom, this may take a while to do on your computer, but it should still work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOAO0hVFSpg

i'm having trouble embedding it right now for some reason. will work on it.