Montreal Day 27-28

February 5th -6th, 2023

We finished packing our bags and prepped the house for the next 2 months. As we were leaving around 11:30am, we noticed a tree, snapped halfway up, that had been damaged by woodpeckers, probably eating emerald ash borers. It was leaning on another tree over the path to the beach. We will have to remember to cut it down on our return.

Despite the cold, we saw a few ice kiters and some ice skaters by Sandbar. We had to stop for Pogo’s mandatory smoked meat sandwich for lunch then we went to visit my aunt. It was a shock to see her so emaciated. She was happy to see us but didn’t look surprised and didn’t ask why we were there. I had brought her a red glass heart and a colorful glass hummingbird from Mexico, and explained to her the special significance of the hummingbird for me, representing my Mom, and she was really happy because she misses my Mom enormously.

She has been spending her days sitting on the couch under an electric blanket, watching tv or napping. We chatted with her, Martin and Janie, his girlfriend, all afternoon. Martin, an avid hunter, showed us a few of his mounted animal “trophies”. It made me sad but I understood his pride.

Pogo had reserved a room at Escad, an hotel at Dix30. We realized when we arrived that the bar and restaurant were closed on Sunday night. Pogo had decided not to bring a winter coat so for dinner, we shared the muffin I had brought from home, instead of walking in the cold to find a place to eat.

At 8:30am the next morning, someone came to knock at our door. Pogo went to check and it was the cleaning crew asking when we were planning on leaving so they could schedule our room cleaning! We couldn’t believe it. Pogo said we will leave when we are ready to leave! The front desk was just as flabbergasted as we were by that incident. We went to Allo mon Coco for breakfast and did a little shopping.

My aunt has had no appetite and has hardly been drinking as well. I had asked her if I could bring her some lemon desserts as it is her favorite and she said it was a good idea. We stopped at Première Moisson to get a half dozen pastries. We also stopped to get her some pretty flowers as well. We all had a pastry with a cup of tea. She managed to eat 6 bites…

We spent the afternoon looking at old pictures and had some good laugh remembering all kind of stories. We all got pretty emotional when it was time to say our goodbyes for obvious reasons. We left a suitcase there with our winter clothes and Shaun should pick it up on Sunday.

We drove to the airport to return our rental car and they gave us a $50 rebate after Pogo mentioned that the car had been very smelly. They could smell the cigars too. We walked to the hotel inside the airport terminal, checked in, went to the restaurant to have dinner and went to bed early.

P.S. The last picture shows a significant change in my aunt health over the last 6 weeks. 😦

P.P.S. The picture before last is an old picture of my mom and I decided that she was Queen Elizabeth’s long lost twin.