Return of the New Vics

I'm back. And feeling more pressure than ever to write. Everywhere I went I heard the same refrain: "you haven't posted since SEPTEMBER 25th!". To which I replied "wasn't that just last week?" (please note my trouble telling time). Like any writer, I appreciate an audience, so it was reassuring to know that you're out there. Thank you readers! And to save you all the trouble of checking regularly when I only post sporadically, I've added the subscription gadget, which I assume will send you a message to tell you when I've updated. The trouble is, when I blog less, I get more emails and phone calls. When I blog more, you get your update but I don't get mine. So keep in touch, folks. And I'll try to be a better blogger.
I left off last month with a teaser, so to sum up: September was an exciting month here in Victoria. We all enjoyed the South Park Family Festival held at the school near our house. The highlight for the girls was meeting Queen Victoria (a parliamentary player) who made an appearance to cut the cake. Alex has a better grasp of history than Lily, so understood that this was not really the Queen. Lily however was quite taken in by the performance and I had to explain later that Queen Victoria is long gone. Still unconvinced, she continues to tell people that she's met Queen Victoria. The highlight for Sam was the painting activity on the field: some brave parent had donated their vehicle to be decorated by the children. And the highlight for Dylan was the performance by Valdy. The following day I took the kids over to Clover Point where we met up with a cégep friend now living in Vic and watched the Snowbirds together. Dylan passed ("you don't want to google air show casualties").
Things have quieted down now. The cruise ships stopped passing through as of Thanksgiving and we hardly hear the clippety clop of horse and carriages going past our house these days. The weather continues to be spectacular. On the way back through Vancouver last weekend I read an article in the paper on Severn Cullis-Suzuki in which she talks about the importance of rooting into the place where you are. I'm trying to follow her advice, and get more settled in this place. Last night I took Alex to her first Brownie meeting. One of her new friends is involved and encouraged her to join, so off we went to an old Scout Hall with wonderful murals of totem poles and canoes on the walls. She came bouncing out an hour later with her crate of Guide cookies to sell and an invitation to her enrollment ceremony. This morning I went to a yoga class at the lovely Hemma studio near the girls' school, and tonight Dylan is taking Alex to see the real Dylan live, in person! It's funny how leaving and coming back can make a place seem a bit more like home.