April Showers Bring May Flowers

Ever wonder where on our continent the ol' adage "April Showers Bring May Flowers" actually holds true? It's not Kansas because you have to back up a month where the March showers bring April flowers. So you'd think you would just have to go North to see it come to fruition.

My trip back to Edmonton for May was primarily to take my mother and grandmother out for Mother's Day lunch, which I do every single year. In search of the right dining establishment, I remembered that "Continental Treat" on Whyte Avenue and 106 Street could be good. Elegant and popular, being that it's been around for over 25 years, I remember going there about 12 years ago. And it was excellent. Dill pickle soup was excellent. Open smoked salmon sandwich was perfect. Our waiter happened to be a Brother Mason from Highlands-Unity Lodge as well as he recognized my square and compass necklass jewel. Anyway, my dear grandma loved this restaurant and we've decided it would be our annual go-to Mom's Day place.

Flight
The flight four days before that was smooth as silk. Opting to fly out of KC at 6:30 AM through Denver on United Airlines was much, much better than on Northwest through Minneapolis. My good friend Ruben was there to pick me up at the airport and we then had lunch at Earl's Tin Palace. Later that night we would join our usual group at B-Street Bar for the world's best karaoke. Afterward, Mikey, Artie, and I would head to Mike's house for some darts and drinks whilst listening to the new Rush album.

Thursday May 10
I stopped by the office for a bit then met up with Moondog, Shlab, Dan, Artie, and Allison for some drinks at Lux. Moondog always makes me laugh too, being the one who originally coined my current residence "Topechka, Kansi". He's funniest bloke I've ever known.

Friday gong show
Friday evening we met up at Earl's Tin (I know, I know). We being Artie, Allison, Taryn, Perry and K.Lo downed some food and we would all ended up at Devlin's Martini Bar and Savoy on Whyte where more friends would join us. Then it was off to On The Rocks back downtown again, one of few remaining live music venues in town where a cover band called "Liar" were playing a tonne of AC/DC, Judas Priest, Nazareth, and other kick ass rock tunes. We had an absolute blast. Next thing you know, we're all at Allison's place, me cranking out my guitar and some Blue Rodeo. I don't remember anything after that.

Saturday
Saturday afternoon I hung out at my boss's place for some sun and beers. Later, my dad took my aunt and I out for dinner at Normand's on Jasper Ave. Excellent food. Highly recommend it. Then I met up with some friends and went to "On the Rocks" again but this time McQuaig was playing. If you wanna see blues and bagpipes, McQuaig is the band to see.

Sunday
Getting my share of local restaurants, Sunday night I had dinner with a dear friend at 4th and Vine, where it's movie night. "Volver" starring Penelope Cruz was on and it was a very enjoyable movie. And believe it or not, but I drank some Merlot. A nice Chilean called "La Playa".

Flight back to KC on Monday
We were delayed on the tarmat in Denver due to some crazy storms. For the first time, I had a listen to the air control traffic on the headsets. I was amazed at how all these planes were coordinated to fly around the storms. Finally arriving at KCI airport, I was blessed to have been given a Jeep Compass for my car rental and I soon discovered it was a very smooth ride indeed.

This last trip back to Edmonton, though, made me realize how much I do miss my friends and family. I will return from June 6 to 11 as my cousin has a wedding on the 9th I've been asked to video tape and I plan on finally going to one of my own lodge's meetings as I do miss old Ivanhoe Lodge and the brethren.

As I just found out that I will be in Topeka until July 31st, I can't help but realize that there's still a lot to do around here and in KC that I haven't even done, so the extension is a good opportuinty to take advantage of it. So hopefully, I'll have some more adventures to tell, including a planned trip to Indiana.

While there weren't any May flowers in bloom yet in Edmonton, having spent time with my aunt and mother, who both have a middle name "Rose", and grandma, whose first name is "Rose", those were all the flowers a man returning home could ask for.

Awww!