Uncle Derek

This morning started out quite normal, I made breakfast for me, dad, Micah, and Cairn–eggs and pancakes. I woke up a little later than normal, but was still the first in the kitchen, as usual. After breakfast, Cairn started the dishes and Micah cleared the table while Dad and I went out for our walk. We took the southern trail, headed towards the West field and turned at the road. I spotted a few birds I didn't recognize, and dad guessed maybe they were heading south for the winter. I hope this winter isn't too harsh, as nice as the snow is it's so bitterly cold. It makes me miss Fiasma…

When we got to the westernmost point of the Buckwood, we spotted an aki coming up the road towards us. Neither of us were expecting any visitors, so we assumed it might be someone from town looking to buy from either us or mom for their store. Oddly enough, the aki began running when dad yelled a hello, and even stranger tackled dad into a hug. Dad seemed kind of confused, but also seemed to recognize the markings of the aki. Apparently it was Derek, one of Micah's relatives. He clearly had come a long way, so we brought him back home on one of our shortcut trails, the one that takes us through the blueberry patch. 

Once we got home and Derek had set down all his things (and oh Terra was it a lot), he gave Micah the tightest hug I’d ever seen, and made me worry for his bones. After they caught up some, Micah introduced the rest of us to him, apparently my Great Great Uncle or something like that, it was hard to keep up with. Cairn started on lunch with an apple salad that Derek seemed surprised by. I wonder if there's different fruits where he comes from..

For dinner we had leftovers, dad felt bad about not having anything special prepared, but Derek kept saying how much he loved day old pasta. Weird. After dinner Cairn had come up with a whole list of questions for Derek, my favorite was the one about Derek's siblings. Apparently he has a lot, 5 of them! To be fair I also have 5 siblings, but it's hard to say 5 when two of them aren’t around and the other two don't live with us.