Living on an island has its advantages and disadvantages. I like the weather here. In the middle of the city, including my yard, are huge trees. Flowers bloom all year. But, when I need to visit family I really have to plan.
There are three ways to get to the mainland; either a 95 minute ferry ride, including about 1 hour of waiting in line, a 15 minute flight including arriving at the airport 90 minutes early, or a 35 minute flight on a float plane from the harbour. Each option is time consuming and expensive. When I only need to travel to the Lower Mainland I usually take the ferry.
The pricing for the ferry has changed significantly since the beginning of the pandemic. Now if we reserve we save, and if we reserve on a very early morning sailing or late night sailing, we save. So on my trip last weekend, I had reserved on the earliest sailing, arriving several hours before it was practical for a visit. On the way to my daughter’s house I stopped at a park. I had packed an orange for a snack, and walked around Como Lake.
This past Sunday happened to be the first warm day of the year. People were out walking around the lake, fishing, chatting, playing in the park, watching the ducks and geese. I found a bench and sat eating my orange, and thinking. It is so much easier to think and clear my head when I don’t have books to sort, dishes to wash, shelves to dust. Sitting in the park that day took me back to the year when I would stop on my way home from piano lessons in a nearby town to sit by a creek and spend time by myself sorting through my thoughts.
As I continue the process of clearing my schedule of extra work, I need to keep looking for opportunities to clear my head.
Reflections 