Four hours of sleep. Four straight hours! Bliss. I haven't felt this good in weeks. But it's approaching midday and Heath is looking to be entertained. He stands at the bedside jumping up and down, chirping some unintelligible nonsense. I haul him up into the bed and tickle him breathless.

"Splash pad, splash pad, splash pad!" He starts chanting when he catches his breath. I stretch and rub my eyes.

"Okay buddy, get your stuff." I let the dog out and fire up the Keurig. Kate, in a moment of weakness, bought those little, powdered donuts last time she hit the grocery store. Must have cost a small fortune. I down three of the decadent little suckers before the coffee is even done. Sugar and caffeine will shortly course through my body and put a little jump in my step.

"Ready daddy, ready? Let's go! Let's go!" Heath is all fired up. His spray shirt is on backwards and he's put his sandals on the wrong feet, again. I sort him out in between sips of coffee.

"Daddy's just going to finish his coffee and throw the ball around with Merida for a few minutes."

"Awww." Comes the de facto complaint.

"She's going to be stuck in the crate for a couple hours, buddy. She needs a little attention too." Heath frowns and heads to the great room to find his favourite tv show. I head out the back door.

It's a sticky, humid day already. Looks like quite a temperature change from earlier this morning. Merida drops the ball at my feet and stares up expectantly. I wheel the ball into the neighbours yard, narrowly missing a recently planted sapling. I cringe. It wouldn't be the first tree Merida and I have decimated. This fetch thing seems to result in a fair bit of collateral damage.

After a dozen throws the dog is panting hard in the heat, and Heath is rapping at the window beckoning me inside. I give one last toss into the pool, Merida leaps after it swims in a few circles before locating the object of her affections and fetches it smartly back up to the deck. She gives a couple good shakes and I dry her as best I can with an old towel. Kate will love the wet dog smell later.

Back inside, I crate Merida all the while Heath pesters me about the TV. He goes on and on about his channel not working. I investigate and he's absolutely correct - just a blue screen. I switch channels, the next channel is the same, as is the next and the next.

"Maybe the cable is out." I say.

"Why?"

"Dunno." I grab my laptop, sure enough, no Internet either. I grab my phone, four bars and Google comes right up. "Yeah, looks like the cable is out. It should be back later. Let's hit the splash pad, it's getting really hot out and mommy won't like it if I have you out in the Sun too long.

I load a few items and a haphazardly thrown together picnic lunch into Heath's Radio Flyer, he opts to pull it as we walk down the block. Three houses down from ours, he gives up and climbs in the wagon, I get to play beast of burden for the remainder of the trip.

Twenty minutes later we make it to the splash pad and I'm sweating bullets. Good God it's hot! There is a smattering of children and a few parents milling about the park, but no one is on the splash pad. I don't think I have ever seen it empty on a hot day. I get a little closer and find out why that is, the gate has a large, official-looking public safety notice.

DUE TO TOXIC ALGAE BLOOM, WATER IS UNSAFE. SPLASH PAD CLOSED

"Goddammit." I mutter under my breath. I pull my phone out and Google Lake Erie algae bloom. Sure enough, numerous hits. The whole western basin is a toxic soup and it seems to be affecting many communities and cities along the lake. The stories seem to indicate farm run-off, high phosphorous and nitrogen as part of the problem. It's also causing low oxygen in the water, so there is a large fish die-off and seagulls are also being sickened. Basically this end of the lake is a giant death-zone - lovely.

I consider for a moment that the lake is the city's sole source of drinking water and I wonder if the fridge's built-in filter is sufficient or am I going to have to start boiling water. More importantly, why haven't I heard about this until now?

"Sorry Heath, the splash pad is shut-off, there is something bad in the water."

Another frown which leads to tears followed by all-out bawling. His world is crumbling, he really had his heart set on some quality splash pad time. It takes a while, but I convince him the pool water is still safe and he can splash around in there instead when we get home. Eventually he calms down and concedes to plan B. I tell him to hang out on the playground a bit while I make a call, he heads straight for the section designed for kids twice his age, to my utter dismay. Despite the potential for significant injury and additional bawling, I don't bother calling him back.

I ring up the City, I'm curious why I haven't heard about this water issue until now. I get passed around like a hot potato in between long moments of excruciatingly horrid on-hold music. I swear Heath will be a teenager before I get someone on the phone who knows what the hell is going on. Some pre-teens are spinning Heath around on some medieval torture device, he flies off into the wood chips. The kids all laugh, he staggers to his feet and wobbles back for another go. I shake my head. I see a trip to the ER in my very near future.

Finally, I get patched through to someone in the Water Works. They inform me that they are making an announcement on the local radio station today, and a reverse 911 notification is going out.

"Is the water safe to drink?" I ask.

"We are recommending that you purchase your drinking water for the time being. The water supply is still safe for bathing and washing. The condition of the water is being closely monitored, but we do expect the ban to last at least forty-eight hours."

"Okay thanks." I hang up and groan. Bottled water is crazy expensive these days and I will have to drive the truck and waste a bunch of gas now as well. "Come on Heath!" I yell. "We have to go run some errands." He launches himself off into the wood chips voluntarily, gets up and wobbles toward me like a drunken hobbit.

"Hurry up Bagginses!" I order. It's off to the grocery store for us.

* * * * *

We arrive at Ari's about fifteen minutes late. The heat of the day has abated only slightly and the humid air is close. Kate had a wardrobe issue (indecision) and Heath had to have a yogurt, half of which ended up on his lap. It's not the best start to the evening.

Ari greets us at the door and ushers us straight through to the backyard. Although modest in size, it is a suburban oasis. A water feature gurgles amongst a copse of small alders. Large water-worn rocks dot the landscape, Hostas and perennials are arranged in perfect order. In the middle of the small lawn, which you could almost cut with a pair of scissors, is a flagstone patio under a vine-covered pergola.

"You backyard is beautiful." Kate says, admiring the details.

"Why, thank-you." Ari replies. "I like to keep my hands busy."

Heath discovers the small pond full of Koi. "Fishy!" He exclaims.

"Yes." Ari answers. "They have not been fed, would you like to feed them?"

Heath jumps at the chance. Ari gives him a ziploc baggy full of little pellets of food and instructs him on how to feed them and to make sure every fish gets some food. I suspect its a strategy to keep Heath busy and it works like a charm.

Kate and I find a seat at the redwood table, beneath the canopy of Virginia creeper. Both the table and pergola are examples of Ari's craftsmanship. I have a cold Stella in my hand and Kate is sipping on a Chardonnay.

"This is my favourite. How did he know?" She whispers to me when Ari is out of earshot.

"Gotta be coincidence." I answer. Deep down, I know it's not. It would be a little creepy if he wasn't such a nice guy. He says IDF, but now I think he's ex-Mossad.

The dogs are both surprisingly docile. Big D is lounging in the shade. Merida found his Kong and played briefly before taking the older dogs cue and curled up on the shady, cool grass. She has that eyes-half-closed thing going on, she looks content. Or stoned.

"Dog days of summer." I say.

"Hmmm." Kate responds, but she's still taking in all the backyard glory and isn't really paying attention to me.

Ari returns and tosses the dogs a couple large, meaty knuckle bones. Merida doesn't quite know what to make of hers and I watch her carry it around before settling down again. She licks at the meaty bits, cat-like.

"Eat it." I tell her. She looks up and then returns to licking. For Big D, this is old hat and he's pinned the bone down with one paw and tears into the meat with his formidable teeth.

Into my third Stella, I listen to Heath squealing with delight behind me. Ari has removed Heath's shoes and socks and placed him in the middle of the Koi pond. Kate didn't even have time to object. There is something grandfatherly about Ari, and with my father gone it's a good experience for Heath. For Ari as well, because this is the first time I have heard him laugh and that sad, angry look is nowhere to be found.

"Have another glass." I advise Kate. "They're having fun."

She rolls her eyes as she's apt to do but relents, and tops up her own glass. She spills a bit and giggles at herself. She's always been a cheap drunk. I stare at her as she watches Heath and Ari. There is a lot of stress on us these days and it's evident in the way we treat each other, but I'm still very much in love with this woman. I don't say it, for some reason it's harder to say now than it use to be. There just so little time to spend with each other. She turns back and our eyes meet, I raise my bottle and we toast silently to better days ahead.

Kate assists Ari with bringing out the evening meal. We dine on succulent roast lamb, expertly cooked on the barbecue. The table is a bonanza of side dishes; hummus, cucumber and tomato salad and a dish of olives that Kate can not keep her hands off of. It's an exquisite feast, I polish off my plate and lean back in my chair, sated. I can't remember the last time I have had a meal like this. Ari leaves the table and returns with pastries and Turkish coffee. It is like dying and going to Jewish heaven. Or so I assume. Geez, is he even Jewish? Are all Israelis Jewish? Crap, better Google that later.

"If you will excuse us for a moment, Kate, I have something to show your husband." Ari says and leads me to his basement.

Downstairs is his workshop, full of carving tools, a lathe, scroll saw, work benches and hand tools fastidiously organized. The room is adorned with numerous duck carvings in various poses and in various stages of completion. In the corner on a simple wooden table sits a shortwave radio which he switches on. Immediately, a squelchy distorted voice echoes from the small box. It's not English. Ari listens intently.

"Do you remember 2008? The big financial crisis?" He asks.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do you know what caused it?"

"I dunno, bad mortgages or something."

"Greed, Connor, greed. And what is happening now is more of the same, but worse this time around. I come down here, I carve my ducks and I listen. Sometimes I call up some old friends, back in Israel, and other places, but mostly I listen. If you know what to listen for, you can learn a lot. And if you know what to look for, you can see a lot. You will not get the whole picture from the TV networks, they are all owned by either large corporations or government, so the message is tainted.

It's all bad news, Connor, and this recovery they are talking about, that is not going to happen this time. Not in six months, not in a year. This thing is going to get much worse. The governments cannot bail out all the big corporations, they didn't learn from the mistakes they made the first time around and here they are again. It is a house of cards and they are going to all fall flat.

There are four nations in the EU about to go insolvent. China is carrying southeast Asia, but they are foundering due to the West not being able to afford the consumerism that keeps the supply chain afloat. The African continent is dealing with an explosion of an as yet unidentified hemorrhagic fever, exacerbated by reduced aid from foreign nations due to the financial crisis. And that is nowhere near the end of it."

"Good thing I've been drinking, otherwise you'd be scaring the shit out of me right now."

"You should at least be concerned. My people have a word for this - Har Megiddo."

"Uh... Armageddon? Jesus Christ, are you serious." The irony of my curse does not escape me.

"Everything about your life is going to change, quite drastically. Connor, you need to be ready, you need to be prepared and you need to have both eyes open. You have a family and you need to protect that."

While I know things are bad and I often entertain thoughts of world-ending scenarios, Ari's words stun me into silence. I'm suddenly stone sober and I think I feel my food coming up. "I mean, how can you know? Maybe it will just be like another great depression, that was pretty bad, but not Armageddon. People got through it." I can accept bad news, I can accept the markets obliterating my retirement savings, I can accept expensive groceries. I can even accept going without the luxuries I take for granted, but what Ari is suggesting is the abolishment of my way of life. Maybe not the end of the world, but the end of my way of life, something I took for granted until quite recently.

"People will make it through this as well, but many will not. Those who are prepared, those who have the skills needed to survive harsh times, those who can make sacrifices - that is who will survive. Sorry Connor, you look a bit pale and I did not mean to ruin your evening, I just think you need to be aware of where this is all going. So you can be ready, for your family."

I'm still silent - processing... processing... processing.

"Come back outside Connor, I think it's time for a little Maker's Mark and a cigar. Tomorrow, you come seen me again, at your convenience, we have more to talk about."

I'm not much for cigars, but tonight is an exception. I certainly don't turn down good bourbon. Returning to the back yard, the first stars of twilight are poking through the darkening sky. Tiny pin pricks of light sent Earthward a billion years ago from stars long since dead. I can't wrap my head around that anymore than I can around the unfolding Armageddon I am suddenly faced with.

Heath is fast asleep on Kate's lap, spent. Both dogs are sound asleep as well. Ari puts a steaming cup of coffee in front of Kate before sitting down himself. He pours two fingers of amber liquid into the glasses and slides one over to me. He lights his cigar and exhales a thick, pungent cloud of smoke.

"Tomorrow is another day." He says raising his glass. "To tomorrows."

I toast and knock the entire thing back in one gulp. The warmth in my throat begins to radiate out, I try to stay in the moment, I fight for the now. I am in a blockade between the past and the future; one I can't escape and the other I can't avoid. If I can just hold on to the present, I would be fine.

But it slips away, like morning mist, and I am powerless to do anything about that.

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