My Grandpa and his traveling crew.

So, I am up at a relatively remote cabin in Waterton, Alberta Canada. I've been coming up here my whole life, usually with my family, but for the last few years I've been flying solo. It's a great way to decompress and truly my favorite place on earth. I always invite people, but the relative remoteness makes casual visitors difficult. This year, however, I invited my WWII vet 86 year old grandfather, who is far too sick to still be kicking but far too stubborn to die. He has a live in nurse named Daniela who helps manage his diabetes and who increasingly has taken over his caretaking as his health has deteriorated. She is Philipino, sassy, and I love her.

They accepted my invitation and said they were driving up from Oakland. Grandpa said this land is "God's true country" and that he wanted to see it again before he died. Mostly I think he wanted to relive his spartan childhood on a ranch in Wyoming. I prepared myself mentally for my two visitors, a crowd considering how comfortable I have become with solitude.

Imagine my surprise when their called pulled up not with two people in it but six. Daniela brought her son and grandkids and also a random girfriend/neighbor. The cabin is pretty small and I was pretty surprised and even a bit put off that the whole traveling crew would show up without warning. It was definitely not my expectation. But, as a day has passed I have come to really really enjoy thier company (all of it). Daniela and her friend Rose are both nurses who chat in tagolog and hang their underwear from the shower rack to dry. They cook for all of us and pat me on the back when they pass by. And they love my dog Winston and take him on long walks without even asking me. Daniela's son is a mean chess player and his son is awed by my ability to lift heavy suitcases.

It's as if they brought instant "home" with them in a bustling and obtrusive package. I just love to watch it. It makes me happy. Most of all they treat my Grandfather with great respect and handle his (ahem) racial biases with patience and laughter. Now that I see their care for him I understand a bit better why he has lasted so long. Best of all, we are rained in, so it just heightens the craziness. I don't know if this is what he was expecting, but I certainly think my Grandfather is getting a good look at "God's country".