A friend of mine from Toronto was visiting the area with his family, I had recommended staying at Salty Rose Cottages in Rose Bay just outside Lunenburg, one of my favourite spots. 

We visited them and it reminded me of the last time we stayed there.  Angus was just 6 months old and it was wintertime, between Christmas and New Years.  He started getting sick as we were driving there.  He felt warm and was sleeping alot.  And then once we arrived we all got it.  We had fevers, chills and felt really awful.

But the weird thing is I still remember moments of enjoying myself.  The cottages are right on a light-colored sand beach and I found the biggest moon shell I’ve ever seen there.  It’s rough and brown like it had been rolling around on the ocean floor until it washed up so I could find it.  It still sits on my desk.

Gussie was still nursing and one night I got up at 2:00 a.m. to feed him and he was so hot.  Like scary hot.  It was like holding a boiled potato next to my skin.  And I started feeling really freaked out.  Now I’m not a big worrier.  At all.  I will always choose to believe that things will be OK, get better, not be so bad - all of that.  But I was glad I didn’t have a thermometer with me because I really didn’t want to know what the number was.  I was running a pretty good fever too.

So I’m sitting on the bed nursing him and I start seeing angels.  I know, you’re thinking wow that’s some fever-induced hallucination, and that’s ok but I know what I saw.  It was two huge dudes lounging up against the wall.  And not real clear, they were vague figures, like looking at someone in the almost dark.  I wondered if they were gorgous-looking Germanic dudes like the angels in that Wim Wender film Wings of Desire I saw way too often in university. OK that last part was the fever.

But because I was feeling freaked I started putting them to work.  I said, “you guys - heal my baby.  Right Now.  Help Angus feel better and bring his fever down.  Do it now”.  I was total Mama bear protecting her young.  I was telling these 8 foot dudes how it was going to play out.  No negotiation.  Get to work.

He has never been that sick since.  And the next day was better.  He didn’t feel like a boiled potato, more like one that had been sitting on the table for a few minutes.

We had enough energy to make it home and then we were all on the mend.  Germanic or not, I won’t forget how the angels did their work their night.