Island Innocence

My husband and I sat in the secondary hospital waiting room (after being promoted from the initial emergency waiting room) with a handful of other people.  There were a few elderly ladies, a 50-ish gentleman, and a couple 20-somethings.  The room was getting full, only a couple seats remaining.  Another patient was ushered in and one of us called out, "Welcome to the party" and then we all went on chatting with each other, discussing ailments, the weather, the best places to go exploring and discovering mutual friends.

I was in the midst of conversation with the 20-ish young man beside me, talking about his recent visit to Italy, when another patient entered.  "Welcome to the party."

I was trying to thinking of a clever follow-up to that statement.  In my mind, I got as far as "All we need is..." and I got stuck.  Board games?  Pizza?  What makes a great party?

"All we need is a fiddle!" piped up the young world-traveler beside me.

Yes!  That is what I love about "the island" and its inhabitants.  The big headlines on the front of the newspaper generally revolve around things like an overturned truck carrying milk from the local dairy, the soccer hopes of the boy selling lemonade down by the pier, and local dismay at a lighthouse being decommissioned.

Life is so innocent on the Island.  The big excitement for the kids is either the Toy Factory (where you can have your signature engraved on your hand-made wooden car) or the soap-making shop (where you walk by the goats that will be milked later that evening so they can make more soap.)

The Toy Maker can't pass up a chance to play with the kids.

I'm pretty sure this was the kids' favourite place to be on the Island.

There's award-winning ice cream (best in Canada), numerous beaches (too many to count), and lighthouses (which you can climb for a buck or two.) And of course there are the ceilidhs (pronounced like the girl's name, Kay-lee), which always revolve around the fiddler.

I enjoyed the Island three years ago and fell in love with it all over again on our recent visit there.  The pace, the beaches, the people.  Yes, we will go back  That's not the problem...  It's remembering to come home!

This is a good day on the Island.