At My Place: I'm Not a Water Baby!

The weekend that did not materialize became a Week-long Marathon of deep--cleaning the kitchen and amazing meals last week.

Then my brother and sister--in-law invited me to come with them to the Watrous/Manitou hot springs for a few days.

They arrived here Tuesday afternoon, (the 17th) and were soon busy deep-cleaning my kitchen. Dori also made fabulous meals - which were sometimes a bit late, but they went at their cleaning project with some gusto.

Sometimes I would get up from my recliner to explain where to find this or that, but basically just worked at their project on their own, wearing masks and goggles to keep from getting any germs.

Since I have no guest room or bed, they stayed at a motel in the city, and usually arrived shortly before lunch to give me some quiet prayer time. They left to go back to the motel after supper was cleaned up.

Towards the end of the week they decided that they'd come to my church on Sunday morning, we'd come back for the chicken meal Dori had planned, and then they would take me with them back to the Watrous spa for what they considered a great treat.

I was not very familiar with spas, so I played along and by about 4 pm Sunday afternoon, I had packed my stuff for a couple of days and we headed out to Watrous; a drive of about an hour and a half.

After all they had raved about the healing waters of Manitou Lake, (although this resort has captured some of that water in their Spa, with about 4 pools - all connected with with different temperatures.)

Their room had a spare couch which opened up to a double bed. That was my new bed.

We had a late supper in the dining room, visiting in a relaxed way.

After a late lunch on Monday we changed into bathing suits and went down to spa arena.

So much water? Steam rising off the hottest parts? I didn't want to disappoint Dori, who was getting excited about all that the hot springs waters would do for my health. But I was getting nervous! I can't swim!

I tried hard not to whimper or whine, but I could not let go of the sides. They worked patiently with me, but I was slowly accepting the fact that I did not have the same joy in the buoyant water they did.

Finally, they suggested we go sit for a while in the white lawn chairs with lots of space to stretch out our legs. (Sigh!) My spine with all the curvatures and tender vertebrae could not enjoy that either.

Finally, I asked if it was okay if I went up to our room for a nap. (I had been awake since 4 am!) They assured me that was okay.

I dozed off and on until about 4:30 pm and with a sigh I decided I should go down to join them, but it came to me clearly that I should admit I was NOT enjoying the water like they were. I would like to see if I could catch a bus to go back home.

They were stunned. I had a hard time convincing them that I really didn't enjoy the water as much as they did, but I didn't want to mess up their time in the pools.

Ernie & Dori went off to a far corner of the pools to talk it over and when they came back they were sure that if I gave it more time I would love the water too. Sadly, I shook my head. "Sorry, but I just don't get the same pleasure from it that you both do. I don't want to spoil your fun."

Finally, they agreed to take me back home to Saskatoon, then they would return to continue their vacation there. I felt sorry for them, but I was relived that they were willing to go out of their way for me.

Before we reached Saskatoon, Ernie told us that the car was acting up. (A 2018 fine-looking car with a diesel engine, suddenly wouldn't go faster then 60 mph.) So they decided to spend the night in S'toon and see if they could find a GM dealer this morning to solve the problem. I haven't heard from them about the outcome yet.

I'm grateful to them for all they've done for me, but I'm also very glad to be back in my own home.

P.S. I've got a text from Dori now, saying that their car is fixed and they are on the way back to the Hot Springs..

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