Off to Vancouver

 The overcast skies of early morning broke before sunup, and the day was seductively warm and inviting. I wanted to spend the day working on the yard, but I couldn’t consider it. I had too much SPACE stuff to do, and I wanted to have a soft day because today I got to Vancouver.

I’m taking the 6:20 ferry to the big island, walking Sheba when we get over there, and then heading to the ferry terminal to catch a ferry that leaves at 8:40. By arriving at the terminal early, I will be parked on a high deck and that means lots of natural light. I don’t like being on the lower decks. 

I did chores in the morning, and then at 9:30, I took Her Highness for a lovely long walk in the gorgeous weather. It was the finest walk of the season so far. The fragrances were intoxicating and the warm breeze made me want to stay outside all day. It was spectacular so we walked a good long distance. (I took Ibuprofen.)

As we were returning to the car, I came upon many friends walking as a group together with their dogs. I knew all eight of them from the Sunday dog walks I once did. It was great to see them, but Paula’s dog, Lecksy, who has a nasty streak in her, attacked Sheba. Sheba growled ferociously and bared her teeth, and she snapped at the attacking dog, but she did not hurt Lecksy, and people separated the dogs. I went into a nasty seizure.

Phil was amongst the group. He has comforted me before when I have sized due to chaos with the dogs, so he was very kind and comforting. Everyone waited until I was stable, and then we said our goodbyes. We came home and before long, it was lunch time. Once we were all fed, I got busy with SPACE bylaw revisions and I created a code of conduct document for SPACE, then Her Highness and I went for our afternoon walk. And it was, of course, fabulous because it was such and wonderfully mild Winter afternoon.

When we got home, I read until dinner time, fed the brood, hit the couch for a movie, added to the code of contact and went to bed early so that I’d wake up energized for our departure to Vancouver.

He, or she, is hard to see but there is a Bald Eagle perched in the tree.
We came upon him as we were walking last week.

Above and below, black fungi. I have never seen this type
of mushroom before. They are very firm and shiny.

Beautiful moss growing on a stem in the Elder Cedar rainforest.

When a Hemlock produces this many little cones, it sometimes
is a sign of impending death of the tree.

Another fungus, this time on a dead tree trunk.

Those deciduous trees are white, and in the sunshine they stand
out brilliantly in the greens of the forest. This picture was taken 
during a dull moment.

Yesterday's brilliant wonderful walk.

Above and below: I love how the moss lines the trail.

This photo doesn't do justice to the loveliness of shocking green
moss growing on all the branches of this enormous Maple. 

Looking Back With Thanks

Yesterday couldn’t help but be fabulous. It was brilliant and sunny, I was chuffed that my changed eating habits and weight were holding and I was not rebounding, and most of all, I felt rich because my scammed money was returned by the bank. God bless Vancity, plus I have made great progress with the speech language therapist database, and I had a lovely Zoom session with Aidan yesterday afternoon. What a great, great day!

We walked with our friends along a deep forest trail. It was cool, but I was in warm clothes, and we warmed up as we walked. And when we were done, Her Highness and I went into the village to pick up a prescription before returning to Pinecone Park for lunch and the wonderful heat of the fire.

After lunch, I wanted to read, but instead, I continued with the SLP database as I was going to be talking to Aidan at 14:00. It’s dreadfully tedious work. Considerable research goes into adding just one name to the list. It takes roughly three minutes of research to enter just one name! But thank goodness for AI because it makes finding the email addresses of many of the SLPs easy.

Our Zoom meeting was very productive. I am going to start writing revised bylaws to get a break from the database. I’m chuffed by all this work with Aidan and SPACE. My brain is used, and I love technical writing, plus, I am helping an organization that is doing fabulous work for people who are dysfluent.

After the meeting Her Highness and I went to Rollo Park and Regina and her dog, Billie, were there. I love them both, so it was a very pleasant surprise. We had a short visit and then Sheba and I walked the trails. Not long after getting back to Pinecone Park, it was dinner time for the brood and then … and then… the couch, my dinner and The Choral!

I’d seen ads for the film, that’s why I was willing to pay $30 to see it. It was worth it. The plot and script are right out of Disney or Hallmark, but I loved it—particularly the singing. I listen to Choral Concert every Sunday, and I had to take Kleenex to every concert of Chor Leone, so this film was bound to fulfill me. Ralf Fiennes is terrific, but it’s the singing that is majestic.

And although the script is simplistic, the concept of a reinterpretation of Elgar to create a powerful and very moving anti-war artwork is brilliant and powerful. The last image of the film is perfect. It has stayed with me. It’s a message we’ve heard before, but it’s beautifully said again in this film, just as the choral master adapts the music to say it again, but in his version, he speaks to the present. And when the film is over, stay with it. Close your eyes as the credits roll and listen to the music. It’s oh, so beautiful. The two lead singers in The Choral, the first time we hear them sing, I cried both times. Beauty moves me; it has all my life, and their voices are as beautiful as is humanly possible. 

When they sing as they do in this film, at such a majestic level, it feeds my creative soul. And that made me remember that one thing likely saved me from becoming an angry or sad person due to my abuse: it is my passion for the arts.

I was rejected by both my birth family, and the people who adopted and neglected me. I bought into the ancestry of neither family. I always felt ‘outside;’ I had no backstory to inherit. But! I had a conviction that I was French, and that turned out to be true—50% of my genes. And I had a passion for the arts; I worked in many roles and achieved many things in the arts that I am proud.  

I didn’t care about money, and fame was of no interest to me. When I did my wee theatre shows, by far,the worst part of every show was the curtain call and getting out of the building through people I knew who wanted to wish me well. On the stage, I am in control and comfortable. Off-stage I am overwhelmed with fear. I feel exposed and vulnerable, and when everyone is looking at me, it kills me.

My passion for the arts is a prime life fact and a great source of joy. My other passion is for animals and nature. I’m terribly proud of that I deduced early in my life that I might be French. I had experiences that made me suspect my ethnic root that began at age eight or nine, and I had one of the best years of my life living in Nice with exceptional people and learning the language (to a certain extent).

But I didn’t live French. It wasn’t in my blood, like my passion for the arts was. But I still find it incredible that I interpreted my experiences correctly. I’m very proud to be half Québécois; it means more to me than anything I created in my career. It gave me a backstory; my love of the arts did not do that. However, working in the arts was to join a family of extraordinary people. 

I am powerfully indebted to Françoise for planting her language in my soul. She was a professional in the arts and she achieved great heights. When I learned her name from our social worker, after she and I talked for the first time, my friends and I went to our place (Steve’s and mine) to watch the movie, Agnes of God, in which she had a small speaking part. So, I must also thank Françoise for whatever it is we share, that gave me a life in the arts. 

As I have neither children nor grandchildren, I need things to think about things that bring me joy—especially as I age.

After the movie, I wrote an article for our local paper, and then I hit the hay. A great day, all in all!

This morning is overcast but very warm. It’s going to be a day of mixed weather. I have tons of SPACE work to do, I have a good book to read, we’ll walk of course, and I will prepare for my day tomorrow in Vancouver.

Incredibly Good News!!💰

I practically soiled my shorts yesterday when I went online to my bank account and saw what I thought was $3,100 owing on my VISA account. That’s what it said on my February statement. I checked my January statement and noted that I had paid $3,800 to my VISA account after the scamming event, but my February statement had the scam withdrawals on my statement for the second time, plus another huge bill. I called the VISA help line, and a kind gentleman directed me to the minus sign in front of the second scam entries and on the account balance. Vanity refunded me for my VISA card scam!!!!

I did not deserve the refund because I was complicit in the scam. That had been carefully and regretfully explained to me by Issam, my bank manager. I have a theory: I wrote to all the head honchos at Vancity about Issam; I raved about him because he was so patient and helpful with me after the scam. I explained to all the honchos about my speech and how I cannot use their customer service line for help, and that I must email Issam to solve my problems. I have a feeling that may have been the reason for my refund. Vancity is a compassionate corporation with values I admire.

I got my money back. I got my money back. I got my money back. That’s all I can think about. Today, I will be fully engaged in writing thank you letters to Issam, and the head honchos at Vancity.

Her Highness and I enjoyed two lovely long walks on a spectacularly sunny day yesterday. And all the rest of the day was spent on SPACE and trying to determine how to pay my deferred property taxes.

This morning, the good news continues. For one thing, the sky is clear and the big dipper is glowing right above me. And this morning, with dreaded anticipation I weighed myself. I’ve been eating as much as I want, and bigger portions often, but I’ve over sweets. Sugar is a treat when I eat with friends, but I don’t miss it at all. It may be because when I feel the desire, I have a single square of chocolate. Anyway, I was delighted to find that not only have I not gained weight, I’ve lost five more pounds from when I last weighed myself. I weighed 152 this morning. When I decided to drop sweets, and to eat smaller portions, I weighed 197. That’s a 45-pound drop, and I feel great. Losing weight and starting on Tezspire have made climbing hills and stairs incredibly easier.

Today will be another enjoyable day for walking, and I’ll write to Vancity folk, and so some SPACE work. I Zoom with Aidan today. It’s going to be a good day. And tonight, I will watch The Choral as a special treat. It’s $24 to rent, but I got my scam money back and I’m so much healthier. So, tonight I celebrate.

Winter Feels Over!

I did not expect such gloriously warm sunshine midday on Sunday, nor did I expect the sky to clear completely yesterday morning. When I got up, it was pouring rain, but by sunrise, there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. It was a cool 2° and there are more cold mornings ahead when a few days of sunshine and clear nights are predicted. But there’s no snow in the forecast through until March.

I feel like we’ve made it through this season. Spring feels like it’s already here, and it thrills me to know that I made it through a Winter so easily. I’m looking forward to spending time outside. There’s a ton of work to be done on the gardens. I bought a new garden tool on Amazon. I got a long-handled tiny rake so that I can refresh my gardens without getting down on all fours.

Oh, how wonderful it is right now. Robins are back and chirping. I love the sound of them. They are the sound of summer for me. Young people pushing the season in t-shirts, daffs blooming, everything budding like mad, and the fragrances. It smells like Spring. I am so happy!

I worked on my SPACE homework. The job I am doing as a volunteer, creating as extensive a database as possible of speech language therapists who treat stuttering. I’ve spent about seven hours on it so far and I don’t have much to show for all my work. But each day I do a couple of hours and slowly the list is growing. I probably have another dozen hours to do.

When I quit the SPACE work, Her Highness and I went for a lovely walk through the Elder Cedar grove, and we saw only one other person. It was warm and wonderful walking in the sunshine, and then I came home to make a big batch of pasta sauce very rich in fresh vegetables. And for a special treat, I bought some fresh-made egg and spinach pasta.

At 18:30, I was ready for bed. I did not watch a movie last night. I am over exposed. I was saved by the arrival of my six books by Kate Atkinson, and I started reading the first one right away. Woo hoo. I’ll be reading more today, and I’ll do more SPACE work, but the coming week is going to be pretty great. Sun is predicted for almost every day, but with some clouds, so I may get some work done outside.

Interior of the Church of Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Switzerland