Monday Morning Musings

Posted on September 3, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Flowers and Footwear

A little later this morning, Peter and I will be beyond hope.

What? A little depressed with the thought of a 6000 kilometer drive across Canada?

Au contraire, mes amis.

Getting off Vancouver Island can only be done by ferry or plane and on the busiest weekend of the entire year, that can be a challenge. Last Friday, me and brother Tom went from Victoria to Vancouver for the day. Based on anticipated traffic, we took the first sailing of the day at 7:00 a.m. That is, until there was an accident on the vessel during an early morning training exercise resulting in the cancellation of this sailing. This would have repercussions that would ripple through the weekend.

Just a quick note. The purpose of the trip was for me to meet with a renowned physiotherapist to take a look at my fragile neck. I’ll spare you the boring details of my appointment but Carl was awesome and he also had a great sense of humour. When I told him that I could no longer play golf and that my pain started around the same time that I stopped drinking alcohol, he suggested that I take up golfing and drinking again. He was kidding of course… I think!

I really enjoyed my few days in Victoria, my favorite city in Canada. The day after I arrived, I took a walk into the city. Give or take, the population of Greater Victoria is around 400,000, big enough to be anonymous. I was a bit jet lagged and while strolling along a major thoroughfare, an SUV went by and the driver yelled,”Hey, MacDonald.” I wondered if it was fatigue playing tricks on me. She was wearing large sunglasses and I had no idea who she was. It has been 46 years since I first came to Victoria but these days, I only know a small handful of my brother’s friends. Through some sleuthing (and social media), I discovered that the lady in question was one of the first people I met over four decades ago.

I walked familiar streets and decided to have breakfast at the White Spot, a diner I frequented in the early 70s. It felt like a time warp as the music that was playing in the background included songs like “Lean on Me” and “Oh Girl”. I stood and observed one minute of silence at “the Bongo Pad”, my old apartment building. It should have been condemned back then but it’s still there.

Oh, that summer of 1972. Every time I hear a song from that summer, I am immediately taken back in time. How many of these great tunes do you remember that came out that year: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face; American Pie; Brand New Key; Brandy; Heart of Gold; The Lion Sleeps Tonight; Nights in White Satin; Rocket Man; Everything I Own (Bread. One of my favourite bands from that era); Mother and Child Reunion; Layla; Sealed With a Kiss; Taxi; Roundabout. I betcha that one of these will give you an earworm today.

And why, you ask, will Pete and I be beyond hope? Because last night, we stayed in Hope, B.C. and later today we’ll be well beyond Hope!

More tales from the road to follow.

Have a great day.

Advertisement