A Day in the City

It was such a stunning day to fly to Vancouver; I was the only passenger n the plane. I left my animal friends in the awesome loving hands of Chalise at 9:00 to catch a 9:30 flight and had enough time to get some of Butter’smarshmallows on my way to Dr. Shoja’s office at 11:00.

It was a good session with one bad moment. The good part was to experience greater comfort using my “Rand” voice. Rand is the name of my only character voice. He’s “southern hemispherian,” he has an Australian/South African accent. Given how bad my speech is now, using it is a handy tool but in the past, it was brutally embarrassing to use.

The bad moment was horrid to experience but it was super interesting. Dr. S. was explaining how my nervous system works to my detriment and, at one point she said, “For example, imagine you are attending a loud rock concert in an arena and….” She got no further because I was “gone.” I was crying and hyperventilating like crazy.

See what I mean,” I said, referencing how easy it is for me to lose control.

Sound is anathema to me. I’ve known that for a long time. (I’ve often said it was the noise of busses that drove me to leave the city.) But to react to someone talking about loud sound — not sound itself, but the thought of it — is new to me. 

That incident is, maybe, the best example I have of how fucked up my mind is.

After Dr. S, I went to Ancorato meet Nicola. Ancorais my favourite restaurant in Vancouver and Nicola, an actor whom I adore and is hard to visit because she is endlessly working, introduced me to it. We ate on the patio and had a grand, wonderful time. I spoke in my Rand voice a lot.

After lunch I walked along the seawall to Bruce’s and together we moseyed through parts of Stanley Park that we both love — the Rhododendron Walk. (See the photos below.) And then we went to the Sylvia for drinks — at no charge, by the way! (My cousin’s daughter was serving there.)

Then it was back to the plane for the ride home in the golden light of dusk. It was such a joy to hear Sheba scratching at the door the minute I opened the car door. I just love being reunited with my pet family.

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I got a message from Dan Foley. He’s the rain harvesting man whom I’ve asked to come to set up a system for Pinecone Park & Spato augment my well and largely to serve the garden. I’m very glad to be on track for that.

No word yet from the tree trimmer but I’ll keep at it.

It’s the weekend and it’s glorious. A little remedial gardening, a little spa, some hammock time and walks with Her Highness.