I heard a young man on television this week talking about life and how it's really all about duality and I wish I remembered his name because I think he might be one of he smartest people I've ever heard. It's true really - if we don't have some down times, some crappy times, some blue times (whatever you call them) how do we fully appreciated the good times? So - two posts ago I was honest about the lonlies and how they find their way in and how I've adopted this plan to tell them "Welcome! But only for a little while" and here I am about to confess my life's absurdity and spontaneous explorations as an admitted highlight of this funny adventure of life my family and I are living. In these last two weeks I've lived life's duality, as most of us have, really. And I'm grateful for its polar nature for without one it's hard to get through/fully enjoy the other.
Accidental 10-12K - not your everyday activity, indeed. Yet somehow the fact that I walked it seems to take away from its drama. I respectfully disagree. Here's how it went down. Each morning I drop the kids off at school and then have my daily walk - I shoot for an hour each day and I try to take a different route each day as well. This was Thursday - I've been battling this sinus/cold thing and found that I could breathe while walking/standing much better than while sitting. I usually walk straight to the seawall to begin my walks because it's lovely to be on the water and see barges, folks practicing Tai Chi, seagulls, etc. and this morning was no different. I headed down to the water and decided today was the day to turn right. This may seem like no big deal, but Philip and I have a tendency to get into a rut in our walking patterns so we've become more intentional about turning the opposite of our norm having realized we've missed out on some pretty cool sights by always turning the same direction (that's a blog post of its own I'm certain). Today was the day to defy the norm - it was a sunny, blue skied Thursday full of promise and a cool breeze and I couldn't resist.
I started at English Bay and headed toward Second Beach where there's a public, heated pool to be used during the summer months - that's as far as I've ever gotten before. So I passed Second Beach with no idea what lay before me other than the remaining portion of the seawall. Now - let me clarify - I knew I was walking toward Stanley Park - I knew the general direction I needed to go to get back home and I was NOT lost. I was just turning right. Beyond Second Beach there, naturally, was Third Beach and the Teahouse - which I'd passed on the epic adventure through Stanley Park with the kids that ended with our first family hitchhiking experience. I kept going through the gates that can close when rock slides occur, despite the fact we'd spent some time that morning in the PAC meeting (Parents Advisory Council - think PTO) discussing the need for earthquake preparation and kits and redezvous points and such. I even kept my personal paranoia about earthquakes at bay whilst walking so that I could see the sheer rock faces standing boldly above the water and notice the fact that there's nothing spray painted on them! It's amazing really - nothing denoting which graduating class had gotten there last or anything - the little 6" X 6" signs asking folks to keep them natural actually seemed effective. I kept walking and realized I'd been walking for some time but that at this point I was too far in to turn back. I came upon Siwash Rock - a rock outcropping in the water with a plaque commemorating the life of someone who jumped from it to their death - unaware it was low tide. I'd never seen a plaque quite like that. Shortly after passing Siwash Rock I realized I had wandered much further than I ever thought turning right would take me. I came face to face with the Lions Gate Bridge - a Vancouver landmark that lights at night and that carries folks out of Vancouver via the Sea to Sky Highway (more on that in a moment). And then I walked UNDER it...and found myself in the exact spot where the kids and I walked the day we took our lives into our own hands and took a ride with strangers. Now - it occurred to me at this point the irony in the situation but I plugged on. That all too familiar feeling of panic began to rise as I realized I'd mentioned to Philip I'd be home by 11AM and that he might be coming home for lunch. Oops. It was 11:45 at this point. I still don't have a cell phone and there really was no way for me to let him know that wasn't going to happen. But, I again found an oasis in the desert - the Totems! I walked over to the Stanley Park Totems and was grateful to find a gift shop for three reasons: 1 - they had public restrooms 2 - they sold water and I was thirsty and 3 - perhaps, just maybe there were public phones. Reasons 1 & 2 turned out to be valid - and reason #3, well, payphones are apparently a thing of the past. But Vancouver hospitality again reigned supreme and the kind woman at the gift shop offered to let me use the shop's phone. I called Philip to let him know he'd be flying solo for lunch as I still had 45 minutes left to walk before I got home. He laughed. Finally - after about 2 hours I unlocked the door to our apartment and sat down most grateful for our couch. I had walked the entire length of the seawall (9K) + the distance from school to the seawall and the distance from the seawall to our building - all in all somewhere between 10-12K. Thus ended my first 10-12K experience and I never intend to do that with running feet. Ever.
Saturday we drove over the Lions Gate Bridge on our way to the Brittania Mine Museum or so I thought. We hopped onto the Sea to Sky Highway and I must say it's one of the most beautiful highways I've ever been on - comparable to the drive on I-5 along the Columbia River running along the border between Washington State and Canada. I'd wanted to visit the Mine Museum when we were here last November and we just didn't have time or transportation. So I was pumped. Again - it was a gorgeous day - sunny, blue skies, just cool enough that you didn't get hot. We knew the mine was between Vancouver and Whistler because we'd passed right by it almost a year ago. We struck out around lunch time and by the time we neared the museum it was clear that we needed to get everyone fed for it to be a positive experience. So - we drove past the mine into Squamish - and the kids didn't even notice. Then, Philip and I started to get sneaky. Lydia has said she wanted to go back to Whistler since the moment we left last November (at which time she cried about leaving), so while at McDonald's Philip booked a room at the hotel where we had stayed using points he had accumulated and off we went. We asked the kids to help us look for the mine and acted like we must've messed up, but we promised we'd stop in the next town for directions.
Now - you must realize at this point we were totally unprepared for this. Totally. This was a spur of the moment, McDonald's parking lot decision - we had no toothbrush, no jammies, nothing. We pulled into Whistler with the kids shouting recognition of sites previously seen and praised them for their idea to stop at the hotel where we stayed for directions to the illusive mine. They dutifully followed Philip to the reception desk where he let the attendant know we were there to check in and slowly...very slowly...realization came. Their smiles broadened, their own lust for adventure awakened and we went up to our room without a care for the lack of toothbrushes or makeup. And we were off - off to Olympic Village for absolute necessities for our spur of the moment overnight trip - off to revisit places we thought we'd only see once in our lives when we were here a year ago - off to find that restaurant we were going to visit but were just too tired. And it was fun. The fall colors were perfect. The ski runs were now overrun with folks on their bikes - the helmets were familiar tho. And we explored. The river that had been frozen the last time we saw it was now framed with colorful fall leaves. The Olympic Rings that had snow on them last were now stately in their austerity. The playground called and the kids ran forth. The Thanksgiving sales spewed forth all we needed for our jaunt and then some.
We still haven't made it to the mine - but it'll be there the whole time we're here & we hope to go next week. We're home now and the sun is setting on another gorgeous day with colors that even the camera can't capture to do them justice. And I'm reminded that life, indeed, is about duality. When the lonlies creep in again as I'm sure they will, I'll welcome them. And then I'll regale them with tales about my absurdly long trek around the seawall and I'll invite them to laugh with me at myself. To laugh at my propensity to dive right in for the sake of turning another direction without thought of its unforeseen outcome. I'll tell them about the fast one we pulled on the kids as we wandered to the home of the last Winter Olympic Games and then I'll tell them about the colors that light the sky at night out of our window and then I'll send them on their way. I'll send them on as I recall the reasons I'm grateful for this life I live and for the people who make it rich as we celebrate our first Canadian Thanksgiving. And I'll find hope for the world through the renewal of wonder that only a new place can bring.
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