Friday Afternoon's Walk

My new plush dining room chairs arrive on Tuesday. Woo hoo.

Vera is back on television, which is very good news. Brenda Blethyn is her usual fabulous self but, sadly, David Leon has been replaced.

Endeavour is another returning detective series. It is beyond fabulous. It stars Shaun Evans as Endeavour and he is a master actor.

After walking the seawall Friday morning with virtually no pain whatsoever in my foot, I walked to West Vancouver in the afternoon and still had no foot pain. I cannot believe my good fortune and the skills of Paris Orthotics.

Stanley Park is my church.

This is how the First Nations people use traditional techniques
to catch salmon on the Capilano River.

Friday Morning Walk

I was out the door at 6:30 am. After the absolute delight of yesterday's early morning walk, I was up for more and today I had absolutely no foot pain. 

I continue to be amazed by the power and the evocative power of scent.

Soon I will be off for a second walk deep into West Vancouver to join friends for dinner.

I don't know what this glorious plant is. 

Astilbe.

Acanthus: The inspiration for the top floral
detail of Corinthian columns.

I love this fence.

This is one-year's growth of a Paaulonia tree.
This one is already 2 meters tall.

Me land a single Gunnera leaf. This is for you
Oksana. I am in it for scale.

Here I am standing under the leaves in
the grotto you can see below.

Early Morning Seawall Walk (Thursday)

I am going to do this far more often. I started at 7:00 am;
tomorrow I want to start at 6:00 am. The smells in the
morning are incredible—the sea, the bakery the grasses.

The wall was empty.

My shadow on the wall below the Brocton
Point lighthouse. 

Glorious Plain Tree in full bloom. 

About Wednesday

Hooray!! We had 20 minutes of light rain yesterday. The shallow-rooted plants are happier today.

Yesterday I went for a longish walk with my friend, Shel, who was an emergency physician before he retired. He is still working, but not in a hospital. He is a medical repatriator now; he flies around the world to escort sick Canadians back to Canada from abroad.

He got me thinking.

In grade eight or nine a teacher of mine, one Mr. Smith, a social studies teacher got to me. I sat in the front centre seat in the class, right in front of where he liked to stand to lecture us and he showered me with spit.

Another thing about him were his white Terylene shirts. Terylene was a kind of plastic fabric and his shirts had turned yellow in the armpits. All that—the spit and the yellow pits—plus he was not very intelligent so one day, I lost it with him.

I tossed my ring binder at him and went directly to the office to report myself and I keenly remember the kindness of the administrator who talked to me. I did not get into trouble and, even better, Mr. Pelman gave me some sage advice: He told me I should work in a meritocracy and never become an employee of a hierarchical system.

In college I had a strong desire to become a doctor. I took pre-med courses for my first two years of college as a Science undergrad, but organic chemistry bored me and anatomy (dissection) disgusted me so I quit and switched to Arts and studying English literature and I have had mild regret about that decision ever since.

But no more: After walking and talking with Shel, I am so glad I did not become a doc—rather, I am so glad I did not choose to work in a hospital.

Although I tire of solitude, it is what I am best at. I work best alone, in self-employment.

And that makes me wonder if I am as hard to be around as I find it hard to be around people. I hope not. The presence of a few fine, fabulous friends tells me, thank God, that I am okay in small doses.

About Tuesday

I recently heard that Vancouver is the second largest port, by volume, in
North America. Imagine! We have a beach full of kids right in our harbour.

Retirement: This time I mean it. Or do I?

I "retired" the first time in 1995. I believed I was "retiring" and I went into the decision thoughtfully: I visited three different financial institutions to be sure I could afford to "retire." And I believed I would never earn money again.

For the first few years of my retirement I travelled. I used my savings to finance ten months in India and three months in Africa. But then I started "working" again. I wrote my book, three plays and a screenplay. So my first "retirement" was really not retirement from work, but from working for others. Now I may have "retired" again: This time, from working for myself.

So far (after only two weeks), I am not finding life too challenging without a self-directed project. But then it has been supremely easy to enjoy life in the warmest, driest, sunniest Spring in Vancouver's recorded history. Winter is a different animal. The endless dark morning hours of winter are a killer.

I will have to determine something to do during the winter that does not involve the getting of attention. Attention seeking behaviour is my new anathema. A course seems perfect. I've been looking at Simon Fraser University's Writer's Studio and considering a year of working with them—there is both in in-class on online option to consider.

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There are clouds filling the sky. They are thin, though, and it does not seem likely that it will rain. But I sincerely hope it does. It is heartbreaking to see so many plants dying in the park due to the drought we have been experiencing for the past two months.

On the plus side: We will have blackberries throughout July instead of August. That will be a first. They are already large on the vine, but green.

Also on the plus side: There is improvement in my right foot (thank God). There is still room for improvement, but I can walk without a limp now.

Monday

The Rose Garden, UBC, looking west where
I rested Monday afternoon.

I am stunned by this shot of trees and weeds
(Fireweed). I love the density of the greenery.
Click to enlarge.

Monday was all about worrying about my foot. The day was weird. Standing hurt; walking hurt but I decided to go for a slow walk with lots of rests.

When I started out I kept adjusting my shoes, tying them tighter or loosening them as I tried to find a way of walking without pain. The weirdest part of the morning was realizing that after resting, my foot felt worse and that led to me asking myself: If rest makes things worse, what if I just kept walking?

I theorized that resting (and sleeping at night) permitted the bones of my feet to go into a "rest" position and that standing and walking using my orthotics forced them back into a "use" position. So in the early afternoon, after a long rest at UBC, I kept walking through the pain and voilà, that worked. Still, when I stopped the pain returned.

But this morning, I feel great relief and hope because standing and walking are far less painful today.

Sunday Walk

I did it. I walked the seawall… well most of it. And it wasn't easy. At first I was lacking in faith due to the pain in my foot. But I persevered, thinking, I'll just go to Lost Lagoon. Then: I'll just go to the totem poles. But then it got less painful and I pressed on making lots of stops to read from my New Yorker before doing another lap of walking. As long as I can walk, I'll take it. I may recover; I may not. My walking may be forever compromised, but at least I can walk.

My new super-orthopedic shoes and the
guy who follows me everywhere.

My new favourite place for lunch. It's expensive but the
food is the best fast food in the park (See below) and there
is great seating and a washroom. Plus there was a totally
delightful chansonnier singing very French salon songs.