The joy of being together as a family, however briefly and intermittently, and the inevitable let-down, the pensiveness while trying to stay positive, when the visit comes to an end and your loved family member departs. It is peace-shattering and discomfiting, a situation that repeats itself endlessly.

There is the excited anticipation of coming together when someone you love is arriving for a visit, yet lingering in the wings is the knowledge that the visit will never be long enough to satisfy your yearning to have that person present in your life at closer range. That other anticipation that the visit will conclude with a drive to the airport and the murmurings and hugs and kisses that reflect departure brings sadness into your life.

Yesterday afternoon we had our last walk together in the ravine on the forest trails for this trip. There's a certain poignancy to everything we do together, reminiscent of when our son was young and our family exploits of one kind or another, from hiking, camping, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing, mountain climbing, included everyone. It was a group affair, sharing all our experiences and our love for one another and our shared complementary love of nature.

When our younger son became an adult and his older siblings took less interest in such adventures, particularly when he began living in British Columbia while we remained in Ontario, there were many visits that took place when we would fly out on planned excursions to take us to various incredible natural areas in British Columbia to spend time together in wilderness sites as he introduced us to yet a different face of nature than we were accustomed to; vast, raw and magnificent. Our adventures together were many and they were varied.

Now Vancouver is his permanent home and when he returns to spend time with us it is he who is re-introduced to a different face of nature long familiar but grown distant as the geology he is now more familiar with takes precedence in his experience. On the other hand, over the years he has also become a world traveller, seeing nature in Sweden, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, and finding in all those places both familiarity and striking variances.

Yesterday, as we said our goodbyes at the airport, he said he'd be back again for his usual, longer visit with us during the holiday season.