SWORDFERN
Rooted, I used to think.

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Purgatory - Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019
Day Fifteen - Saturday, Feb. 09, 2019
Day Fourteen - Saturday, Feb. 09, 2019
Day Thirteen - Thursday, Feb. 07, 2019
Atonement - Thursday, Feb. 07, 2019


Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 @ 9:21 am
Hugely Long Update



OK, where to begin...

Left P.G. on the 22nd. Flight delayed because the plane was delayed coming in from somewhere else. It was dark by the time we were in the air over the city, but I found my street and the outdoor ice rink near my house, and for the first time saw my city from the air. The amber streetlights bright and shimmering together in the black night, like campfire embers; I couldn't take my eyes away.

Coming into Vancouver, I had the now familiar love/hate aching in my chest. The massive grids of arterials and collectors that twine towards bridges, over a rise, then another, until development dwindles into forest and the enduring skyline of the North Shore mountains.

A lot of people that I love live here, somewhere and somehow finding community amongst the isolating density. I know that they love it, but for most of them it's like they've married their highschool boyfriend. What they don't know is that just because he (their city) is familiar, that there aren't other men (places) that will treat them better, love them differently, and ultimately offer them a hugely better way to live their lives. But there's always risk...

On the 23rd, my birthday, we go skiing. Daniel has a really bad day and takes several hard falls. I am frustrated because he's holding me back. Eventually I take off and ski all the way to the top of the black diamond run and then point my skis straight down. By the time I arrive back at the lodge, I am exhausted and thrilled, and I do a couple of loops on the green run with D, who falls again. We leave to go back to my parent's house for dinner.

My sister and her b/f come over for dinner. My dad gets a little drunk. We ate salmon. They gave me beautiful snow boots - suede, fur, nearly to the knee.

Christmas Eve: Ikea, last-minute running around, Chinese food with the neighbours. Melissa is pregnant. Next year there will be a baby. I don't know if I'll be there next year...

Christmas: Presents, sitting around the living room. Drive out to Cloverdale to D's parent's house. More presents, more sitting around the living room. My parents arrive at 4pm (!!). Commence joint Christmas dinner. Turkey takes forever to cook. Everyone gets a little edgy and awkward. We eat. My parents leave. Final grade: B+.

Boxing Day: Arise at 5:30am. Quick shower, hit the road. Driving through Seattle in cool winter morning light. Cars splayed all over the road: black ice. Stop at outlet stores; purchase down jackets. Drive through Portland at 1pm. Drive to coast. Stop at Fred Meyer for food. Arrive at campsite at 5pm.

We spent three nights in Oregon. Walking (and driving!) the beaches, visiting oceanside coffee shops. Playing cribbage, taking photos.

Drove North a few hundred kms, into Washington. Camped at the beach there for two nights. Much less popular than OR, but a different kind of beauty - stark, bleak, windswept. Real working fishing and oystering towns, not tourist b&B towns.

Headed East around Puget Sound. Stopped at Snoqualmie Falls, a tribute to watching the entire Twin Peaks series when we lived in Victoria. Headed up over the pass and into snow. Packed snow on the highway all the way across the state. Snowy orchards, snowy apple packing plants. We went through the border around 5pm on New Years Eve. When you say that you're from Northern BC, the border guards as you a lot of questions about guns. Arrived in Kelowna around 7pm, began drinking and catching up with my aunt and uncle.

Dave sent me a text message at midnight saying that he loves me.

Spent three nights in Kelowna, going for walks, making elaborate meals. Eventually left, returning to PG at 3pm, still daylight, had to shovel out the driveway before we could start to unpack.

So, back to the way things usually are. Been out tobogganing with a big group of people at night, plenty of beer and improvised sleds. Had six of them over last night to play Monopoly. I love having a spontaneously full house.

I taught Amber to knit - she was so excited. I joined a band. I have a lot of practicing to do, but it feels good to be in a band again (was three years ago that I had to leave the one in PoCo).

Work is excellent - they're sending me out to a reserve to sample water, because the operators there keep screwing it up. Not sure how I feel about this, because I'm going to have to go to the Chief to ask permission to enter the reserve, etc... Times like this that I wish I wan't in a non-traditional career for a female.

I've joined up with some girls to go skiing on Thursday nights. They're all social workers. What else? I tried skate skiing last week. I fell a lot, but I still enjoyed it. I'll get it eventually.

I think that's it for now. I need to get some breakfast.


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