If you look very closely at the buoy you will notice black birds. They are scattered around the base as well as on the scaffolding. The white paint is not paint at all but the sign that these birds come to rest on this buoy regularly. Perhaps there are birds on it all day long, every day of the year. I won’t ever know how true that is, since I was just sailing past.
Yesterday morning I took the ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland. Since it was just a trip to meet my father and bring him to Victoria for a few days, I left my car in the parking lot, and walked on. Normally when I take the ferry I can be quite anti-social and sit in my car for the whole trip. This time I was able to get a much different perspective. In my rush I forgot to bring along a book that I been reading, and my phone’s batteries were dying quickly, so I spent the 1 1/2 hours looking out over the ocean, watching the islands float by, experiencing the wind in my face. It was a very unexpectedly relaxing trip.
Normally my days are filled with work, catching up on work that was missed because of procrastination or forgetfulness, practicing for upcoming events, preparing for choir or lessons, or trying to keep up with the housework and grocery shopping. With my dad here for a short vacation I am looking at the next 4 days as a chance to really chill. There will be work that I have to sneak in while he is resting, but mostly I will spend the days planning for the next day, and enjoying the few plans for each day. And of course, rescheduling due to rainy weather.
First item on the agenda once we returned home was opening up a bottle of wine to enjoy in the back yard. The monthly bouquet of flowers was waiting for me at the front door. The flowers are a birthday gift from my children that I look forward to every month! The neighbours seem to have all gone away for the weekend so it was rather quiet, and very chilly for someone used to living in BC’s desert interior. A few minutes after the photo was taken, dad went back into the house to grab warmer sweaters and jacket!
When I was young I didn’t trust men. There was no way I would let any man get close, including my father. So besides the rare occasions during the summer where I would help dad with timetabling for the new school year, or when he would help me with my math homework, we had no relationship. But, starting about 16 years ago, each year the two of us would travel. Mom didn’t enjoy traveling, and dad didn’t enjoy staying home. Our first big trip was a 3-week self-guided Pub and Music tour of Ireland. He spent months planning that trip, and brought along a binder full of research, maps and things that we needed to see. Since then we have gone somewhere together each year, except last year—the year of the plague. Armed with double-vaccination and my strong sense of paranoia, we hope to avoid any transmission of Covid.
I started this post a few weeks ago. The trip was a success — dad enjoyed the break from care-giving, and I took a break from work. We stayed healthy, ate good meals, and saw many beautiful sights around the city and neighbouring towns. Another goal this year, now, is to try to set aside days where I can just be. Be quiet. Be still. Be chill.
Reflections 