A week ago, we hosted a brunch for orbifold and teaphile so that the local crowd could see them before they headed off to Melbourne. They got on the plane in Toronto yesterday, and I think they'll be landing in Australia very soon now. Alas, we see them so seldom, and now seldom will become seldomer. I did say seldomer. It's a word. Deal with it.

During the brunch, we received a phone call. The call was from someone I had never met before, who had been passed our contact information by a mutual friend in Seattle. It seems that our caller and his wife were taking a year to travel all around North America. They call it a sabbatical year, though given that they aren't in academia this means "quit our jobs and find new ones when we get back". (Note to self: don't stop being a professor.) They were about to start the Canadian leg of their journey in Toronto via a day at Niagara Falls. They were wondering if they could stay with us for a couple of days before heading east to the maritimes.

It's hard to pass up a request like that, if for no other reason than that I could hope to vicariously experience something of their trip during their visit. And if I were undertaking a similar adventure, I too would hope to find some hospitality along the way. As a result, Jeff and Shelly arrived in their VW Westfalia Tuesday evening and stayed until Thursday morning. We had a very friendly visit. They enjoy cooking, and made dinner for us one night (simple, delicious salad: dice half a watermelon and toss with feta and basil. Yum!). They play a lot of folk music, and played some songs for us on Wednesday (including Cows With Guns, which evokes memories of Seattle Center). And Jeff caused something of a household epiphany. He showed us that underneath the ugly carpet on our main floor is real tongue-and-groove hardwood, not the rotten pine that the previous owners told us was there. Now, we don't know what kind of shape it's in, or whether it covers the whole floor, but we can tentatively say: Score!

Less than two days after arriving, Jeff and Shelly were off again, apparently headed to the Shoe Museum and thereafter in search of a campground north or east of Toronto. Happy trails!

Their visit is just part of what has been a very busy couple of weeks. I believe the brunch was the fourth or fifth party that week. Jeff and Shelly came two days later. Nath's stepmom arrived the day they left. She just left today. All of it has been tons of fun, but can I stop running around now?