After 10 days spent on vacation at home in Prince Edward Island, it's back to the grind this week.
Other than getting home at 2 a.m. on Monday, which we won't get into here, it was time well spent and a good recharge of the batteries ahead of the Kraft Celebration Tour tomorrow.
I managed to get in three rounds of golf, one of them in rain and the other two in nearly unbearable humidity.
You don't need to know how I did. Trust me.
(Yes, I realize that part of my job is asking athletes and coaches every week how they did - please don't return the favour.)
There was also a family paintball game in honour of my late uncle George, who used to terrorize us on the field.
The high point of that day was ambushing my cousin and firing about 10 balls into his back from as far away as my face is to this computer screen. That was on Aug. 13 and his back still looks like a light show.
I also carried on with tradition and made a trip to the 52nd annual Gold Cup and Saucer, one of the most prestigious harness racing events in Canada, last weekend in Charlottetown.
In harness racing, the driver does his job from a sulky - kind of like a carriage on wheels - behind the horse.
The horses must go around the track in a trot. If they break into a different pace, it's called breaking stride. That happened to a horse my great-grandfather owned years ago in the Gold Cup and Saucer.
History lesson aside, I lost some money at the track. But I almost won some when my horse blew a sizeable lead on the home stretch and lost by a nose.
I'm sure I'll blow some more money next year.
The point of all this is I crammed in a lot of stuff and spent quality time with family and friends.
I know single people who only go home once every three or four years, and I've never understood it.
The truth is that family is more important than anything money can buy, and it's a reminder that's hit me like a punch to the gut this summer with the loss of my uncle.
It's not worth it to let your bank account deprive you of that time.
***
Those who know me know that I am not a left-winger in the game of politics.
That said - and this is something we've heard from all corners of the country in the past two days - I had nothing but respect for Jack Layton.
He dragged the NDP from a radical, yet boring, fringe party to one that Canadians could trust and view as a real alternative to Stephen Harper's Conservative government.
Layton was a rare breed who got into politics for the right reasons and actually maintained those reasons rather than getting caught up in the blood sport.
In a political age where everything is scripted, Jack was never afraid to let his face show, and while some of his sightings on the streets and in the pubs were choreographed, he was comfortable in that environment.
I don't remember the last time a Canadian politician was so effective in getting young people to care about their government, and for that reason alone he will be sorely missed.
It's truly a sad story that he won't be around to enjoy his greatest accomplishment.
Josh Lewis can be reached by phone at 634-2654, by e-mail at sports@estevanmercury.ca, on Twitter at twitter.com/joshlewis306 or on his Bruins blog at bruinbanter.blogspot.com. You might catch him ticking off the days until hockey season.
