MY CITY OASIS

POST # 32


When I woke up this morning, I had a totally different idea of what I wanted to write about, and then when I was standing at the kitchen sink and gazing outside at the beautiful sunshine beginning to bath the front yard, I decided I would write a few words about this wonderful place that I am currently housesitting at.
What caught my eye as I looked out was the proliferation of magpies hanging around a specific tree in the yard, a magpie convention of sorts. Now I know that plenty of Albertans don't like this bird, but I have to say that it is quite a beautiful creation, and it is amusing to watch as it goes about its business.
My friends have tied a red bandana on one branch of this tree, and the magpies always seem to be both interested and perplexed at this "creature" hanging out there. Each bird in turn will try to peck at the bandana, and when they get no reaction, or maybe it's because it doesn't taste like anything resembling magpie food, they move on to doing something else. And the something else in this yard, more often than not, is chasing a squirrel. Of course the squirrels don't particularly like this, because it usually takes place when the squirrels are busy collecting the seeds that have fallen down into the grass from the bird feeder. So every now and again, the squirrel chases the magpie. It's all very amusing and I have a front row seat at the kitchen window, as I wait for the water to boil for my morning cup of coffee.
Magpies and squirrels are in abundance here, and who can blame them as it's a little bit of country right smack dab in the city. But in addition to them, there are also jack rabbits which bound around every day and I can't think of many days since I arrived that I haven't seen at least one. The other day I was walking around the back yard next to the flower bed, and all of a sudden a jack rabbit comes flying out from under a bush and high tails it to some other part of the property. I don't know who was more surprised, the rabbit or me. And then just last night, I was at the kitchen sink doing some dishes and there was another rabbit running around the front yard at breakneck speed, going round and round and round. It would stop for a moment and then take off on another tear around the yard. Nothing was chasing it, and there seemed to be no purpose to its frenzied movements, but it certainly had me laughing as I watched. The speed with which it moved and its ability to change direction almost instantly was something to behold.
The largest creatures which make this place their home are deer. I had just returned from my grocery shopping the other day, and as I made my way silently across the grass heading towards the door to the house, out of the trees along the driveway there appeared a rather large deer. As soon as it was out into the open it spotted me standing there. Instantly it froze, and at the same time it looked right at me. It was so still, that it could have been a statue. As it watched me, I tried to remain as quiet as possible. It stared for a while, then took a few tentative steps forward before stopping again, and gazing over in my direction. I wonder what was going through its mind? A human with four legs? Ever so slowly it continued its journey and in a few moments it had blended into the surrounding foliage and had disappeared from view. I felt like I was living the scene from the movie "Stand by Me" where the main character is on the railway tracks when a deer appears right next to him out of the woods. They both stand there looking at each other, appreciating each others existence. For just a few seconds, the deer and I are all that seem to matter in the world as we stare into each others eyes. It's a magical moment, and then it's gone.
But it's not all large creatures that keep me amused. Just yesterday I found myself totally engrossed in watching a multitude of bees going about their work in the flower bed, moving from one flower to the next. It was as if time stood still and there was only me and the bees and the surrounding flowers.
I guess all this nature watching has been partly as a result of the fact that I have no pets to care for here. So my "pets" are all the creatures that I can discover outside, and I have not been disappointed.
I am on five acres and I am surrounded by all manner of trees and bushes, and depending on just where one is standing outside, it's easy to imagine that you are out in the country. It really is like an oasis in the desert, the desert in this case is the concrete city that surrounds this place. My friends who live here are very lucky and my guess is, is that they know it. And I am very lucky to have friends who allow me to stay here and care for their oasis, while they are on vacation.
The day begins with a view out to the front yard and the sunrise, and I like to make sure that it ends, sitting out on the back porch for a while, watching the sunset. It is a precious location and I am trying to absorb it into my being as much as possible before I move on to my next housesit.
Now that my writing work is done for the day I can go outside and just be. It's a beautiful sunny day, so I don't want to waste it being inside.

That's all for now folks.

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

SUMMER BEGINS

POST # 31

At precisely 5:09pm MDT (mountain daylight time) yesterday, summer 2012 began. Yesterday was June 20th so the solstice began a few hours earlier than we have come to expect. The most common date used for the start of the change of the four seasons, is the 21st of the months of March, June, September and December, however this varies somewhat from year to year. As I tried to explain many times to my friends in Australia during the years that I lived downunder, there was a specific point in time when each season began. But I was never successful in convincing them of this. In Australia, as far as most Australians are concerned, the seasons begin on March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, and December 1st. I think they must get this idea from the person doing the weather reports on the 6 o'clock news, because even they would use the first of the month as their guide. And no doubt some of these weather reporters were even meteorologists, who should know better. So if you live in Australia, for some strange astronomical reason, the four seasons start about three weeks earlier than normal. Of course they are reversed, so that today is now the beginning of winter there. And way up in Dawson City Yukon, summer has officially started. My guess is that today, there are more than a few locals walking around feeling either sleepy or hungover or both. The reason for this would be the fact that last night many of them would have been out partying to celebrate the solstice, and aside from the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, some of the more hearty folks would have taken the opportunity to stay up all night long. I too have had this opportunity, and it is really quite a unique experience at that latitude. Even though Dawson is just south of the arctic circle, and as a result the sun does set for a very short spell, the light cast from it never disappears. So one has the opportunity to watch a sunset turn into a sunrise which is a very unique experience. At some point early in the morning the subtle sunset colours magically turn into sunrise colours. It is quite something to see and I am glad to have had the opportunity to do so.
Six months ago on winter solstice I was hunkered down in Bear Creek, Yukon . I spent part of that long, long night outside walking around in the snow with my dog buddies, Skidder, Breaker and Roxie, and staring up at the stars, while the two cats, Dusty and Trouble were inside curled up by the heater. I had fun climbing up and down the snow covered hills with my four legged companions, and I sure could not have imagined that only 6 months later, I would only be able to hobble around, and very slowly at that.
So here I am without any dogs to hobble around with me at the moment. But that is ok for now and I am enjoying the fact that I have this place to recuperate in. I have a very undemanding schedule at the present time and I happy about that. Each day I try to give my right leg a bit more exercise, and I have a stationary bike set up so that I can do 30 minutes a day on it, in order to get some muscle strength back in my leg.
But today, because it is a beautiful summer day, I will make sure to get out and enjoy as much of that summer sunshine as possible, because even now as I type these last few words, the earth is continuing its relentless journey around the sun and has travelled about one million, eight hundred thousand kilometers since last night at 5:09pm and so the days are now getting shorter. The squirrels, the magpies and the rabbits are all outside enjoying the day, so I think it's time I joined my outdoor "pets" and took a walk on the grass in my bare feet.
Happy Trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

WALKING IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

POST # 30 "You're good with dates." Most people who know me well have made this comment to me from time to time. And for the most part I would have to say that it is true. I'm not sure why that this is so, but it just is. However, a date that I have no memory of even though it would have been a significant milestone in my life, would have come to pass sometime probably between December 3rd, 1955 and March 3rd 1956. At least that is an estimate according to the experts on this subject. When this event took place exactly is anyone's guess at this point. The only possible surviving witnesses would be my four sisters, and the chances of them being there when it happened are probably slim, and even if they were there, I doubt if it would have made much of an impression on them. We are all so close in age that they were most likely developing their own technique and wouldn't have had the time to worry about what their baby brother was up to. The experts will tell you that somewhere between 9 and 12 months, most children begin to walk. Now I don't know if I fit into that category or not, but it does offer an approximate timeline at least. It's very unfortunate that this human development begins so early, and that we don't have any memory of it, as I imagine that it must be one of the most magnificent things to happen to all of us along our journey through life. One day, we are crawling around from place to place and before you know it, we're just cruising around effortlessly. Of course the reason for thinking about all of this today, is that only two days ago, JUNE 12th, to be exact is the very first day after 100 days, that I took my first tentative steps on my right leg. This will of course be filed away as just another one of those dates that I will remember. I didn't get to remember those first steps so very long ago, but I will remember these ones. Even though I have an air cast that I can wear on my leg, I decided to put on my running shoe instead. A few short weeks ago, I doubt that I would have been able to do this, as the foot was still quite swollen, but by June 12th it was down to a manageable size, and I figured it would be better to start walking in a balanced manner as opposed to the lopsided walk I would have if I was wearing the air cast. It was a beautiful day so I went outside on the grass as my first venue to take those first cautious steps. Both the doctor and the physio told me that I should only put about 25% weight on the leg for the first couple of weeks, but the physio also said, that I would know if had overdone it, by the pain level. So that is what I am using as my guide. After numerous walks around the yard, I decided that it was time to get somewhat more adventurous, and seeing as I needed a few things from the supermarket, I headed off down the road in that direction. This journey which on a healthy pair of legs would have taken me somewhere between five and ten minutes, took the better part of a half an hour each way. But I was in no rush and because of the extra mental effort of concentrating on each step so that I didn't fall, the time passed by quite quickly. Upon returning home safely, I was quite happy with this first little accomplishment. I won't be climbing any mountains again for the foreseeable future, but one has to start somewhere. In the evening, my friend Don came over for a visit and he brought with him a device that is now hooked up to the back wheel of one of the bicycles here which allows me to use it as a stationary exercise bike. I was on it a couple of times yesterday, and since riding a bike to me is so second nature, all went well, and my leg didn't complain too much, so it will be something that I will be doing daily from now on. After all, prior to the accident, cycling was a daily routine for me anyhow. There are actually two bikes here at my disposal, so once I get a bit more confident, I will contemplate taking the other one for a ride, at least to the end of the driveway and back. I don't think I am ready to share the road with cars just yet. However there is a bike path to the supermarket, and so that could be my first "long" ride in the future. So I have covered the "walking" part of the title, and now let's move on to the "Garden of Eden" section. My current housesit here in Calgary, is on a 5 acre parcel of land which many years ago wouldn't have stood out in this area at all. Back in the '60's when I was attending junior high school close to here, all of the land surrounding this property would have looked very similar. In other words, it was all undeveloped for the most part. But not today. With the exception of a couple of neighbours, all the this part of town is now infested with suburban sprawl, but fortunately for me, I can barely see any of it, due to the fact that this place is surrounded by a variety of trees. I can be sitting outside and really feel like I am out in the countryside and that makes me happy. Just to give an idea of how densely built out this area now is, a similar 5 acre block just south I where I am has 26 houses on it. HOLY CRAP!!!! Looking out the window from the computer room here, all I can see are trees, lilac bushes, blue sky and the occasional bunny rabbit, squirrel, magpie or deer roaming by. So it is a garden of eden of sorts, and I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to be housesitting here for a month. The most steps I have to negotiate inside the house are two, which is a big change from my last housesits, and that makes life easier. And in addition to that, for the first time in a very long time, this is a housesit without pets which feels a bit strange I have to admit. I like having the critters around to talk to and interact with. On the plus side though, it makes for a very easy housesit so I am not complaining. And finally, I think it's rather appropriate that my first steps this week have been taken in my old hometown where all those years ago, on a date that I can't remember, I took my very first tentative steps. Happy Trails, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer

POST # 29EXPECT DELAYS-MUDSLIDE S'ATTENDRE A DES RETARDE-COULEES DE BOUE Ahead of us on the highway, the overhead sign flashed it's warning about the upcoming mudslide. Because we were in a national park, the signage of course was flashing in both French and English. Everyone on-board this Greyhound had been informed about the mudslide and now here we were, on our way to see what was what. It was this mudslide that caused my blog posting to be a day late. If we would have arrived in Calgary at the scheduled time yesterday, June 7th, I would still have had enough hours left in the day to at least get something posted. But by the time we got back to my friends house, it was well past midnight and it had been a very long day, so the blog would have to wait until today. My day began quite early in Vancouver, waking up around 6:30am but I remained in bed while my friends got themselves prepared for their workday. This was an "off" day for the Thoughtful Wanderer, as I was currently in between housesits, and I had no responsibilities for any house or animals for a little while. Eventually I had all my gear packed and I shifted locations to another friends house for dinner and a visit prior to the trip to the bus station, arriving there just before 11:30pm. And it was here that I first learned about the mudslide on highway number 1. I was informed by the attendant on duty that the highway was closed at the current time, however the bus would still depart, and if the road was open, we would be able to make the trip all the way to Calgary. We were meant to depart at 12:30am however we never started until 1:20am, and I wasn't too concerned about that. In fact, I thought it might be a positive, as it would give the highway crews more time to clear the slide. In spite of the late departure, the driver did his best to test out his formula 1 racing technique on the road to Kelowna, with some interesting g forces being experienced on some of the curvy mountain corners and so we would arrive at Kelowna only 5 minutes behind schedule. Our journey took us via Princeton, and the various towns located on that route, and it was a magnificent night, with plenty of moonlight which eventually transitioned into a lovely sunrise. I tried to remember when I would have last been along this road and my guess was probably 1975, or '76, so it all felt brand new to me, and I very much enjoyed the passing scenery. A journey across Saskatchewan might not be as gripping I'm sure. At Kelowna, there would be a change of drivers, and we were informed that there would also be a highway update about the mudslide. At this point we all had the option to stay in Kelowna for 6 hours, and wait for the bus that would go via the southern route through the Crowsnest Pass and on to Calgary from the south. However, that would add many hours to the trip, and my thinking at the time was it was better to take the chance on the original route, because by the time we get there, maybe it would be open. We were assured for a second time that as long as the road was open, we would be ok. On that advice, everyone re-boarded the coach and we were on our way. The area in question was a patch of highway somewhere between Revelstoke and Golden, and as we got closer and closer to Revelstoke, I was trying to gauge what was what by the amount of traffic coming from the other direction. Although it was limited, it appeared that there were at least some vehicles getting through, and I thought that maybe we would be ok. I soon changed my mind a couple of kilometers outside of Revelstoke, when we saw the dozens and dozens of trucks pulled off to the side of the road, obviously not going anywhere. When we arrived at the bus depot, we waited to hear about a road condition update, and we were all very happy to hear that only minutes after our arrival the highway was now open. But what we weren't expecting to hear was that the driver who brought us there was now off duty, so even though we had a bus, we were still stuck in Revelstoke. That was the part that everyone was annoyed about, as no one had told us that the driver was leaving when he arrived at Revelstoke. We ended up being stuck there for just over 5 hours, and even though it would have been more desirable to leave earlier, it did allow us to get to know each other better than if we would have been on the bus, so it wasn't all bad news. Just after 5pm we were finally on our way and for the first time since I have been doing all this bus travel, this coach was as they say in Australia, "chock a block", in other words full to capacity. Thankfully for me I don't need to have as much leg room as I did a few weeks ago, so it wasn't too much of a burden to bear. We passed the remains of the mudslide and even though it was cleaned up, one could see just how much rock and mud had covered the road previously, and as we motored through it, the highway crews continued their work. I hadn't been along this road in years, and I was struck by just how deteriorated the road surface had become. Here again is just another clue of what happens as industrial society continues to break down. Infrastructure begins to break down as well, and my guess is, that there won't be the resources to fix all or even a small portion of it going forward. And this is just one section of one highway in one province in one country. What about all the rest of the highways and bridges etc. in the rest of the industrialized world? The kilometers continued to fly by as we passed through Field, Lake Louise, Banff and continued motoring down the highway to our final destination of Calgary, or Cowtown as it is known by the locals. As the bus drove through the city on the way to the terminal, my mind began to recall so many memories from so many years spent growing up here. I imagine that in future blogs I will dredge up a few select ones and write about them, or maybe I'll just go with the flow of what is happening in the here and now. We'll see. I will be housesitting here for 4 weeks or maybe longer, and it will be a good opportunity to catch up with old friends and some extended family members who still call Calgary their home. It will also be the place where I get to finally begin putting some weight on my right leg, and I am both keen yet anxious about that. So now everyone knows why the blog was late this time. It was out of my control due to a mudslide. But next week I don't anticipate having any excuses to be late, so all the readers can expect my next blog as scheduled on June 14th. Who knows what my brain will come up with then. Until the 14th, Happy Trails, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer