The above photo could be an example of what happens to very old bike riding pet sitters and their canine friends. I really can't be sure, but this scene which I captured on my daily bike ride, makes me chuckle every day when I pass by. It's that time of year again and I'm reminded of when I last went out "trick or treating" in my old home town of Calgary. My guess is that it would have been 1965. Accompanied by my best friend, Victor, we decided to try just one more city block of houses, in order to add to our already abundant hall of goodies in our pillow cases. In order to accomplish this, we took a short cut down a dark alley. As we walked down the alley, a large (compared to us) shadowy figure approached us, slowly at first. He then began to run towards us. We both froze, not knowing what to expect next. Moments later he ran past us, but not before reaching out his arm and grabbing my pillow case and disappearing into the darkness. It all happened so fast, we couldn't believe it. Victor still had all of his goodies, and I lost all of mine. He tried his best to console me, as I cried all the way home. Of course I couldn't know this at the time, but by wanting to get even more goodies of which we already had more than enough, perhaps I had just learned a lesson about being too greedy?
Moving right along to another adventure, or at least a date that reminds me of the beginnings of another one. Today is one of those dates. The year was 2002, and I was living up in the Yukon at the time. I decided to call my friend, David Jones in Melbourne, Australia to wish him a happy birthday, and during the conversation, I asked, "What's new?' He told me that he was having a sailboat built in Durban, South Africa, and by early in the new year, he wanted to sail it back to Australia. He asked me right then and there if I would like to come along as part of the crew? I accepted his offer, and in 2003, David, myself and one other friend, Anthony sailed from Durban to Perth. The journey lasted 43 days, from March 6th to April 17th and it had a bit of everything thrown in. More than once on that trip, I thought that it would be my last day on the planet, and yet here I am over 13 years later, still kicking around. Amazing. And seeing as it is that date yet again, I'd better make sure to contact David today to wish him a happy birthday.
In addition to my daily bike ride, I have taken to doing a brisk afternoon walk as well around a small lake nearby. It's certainly not to the scale of the Lake Louise that I remember from back in Alberta, however it's an enjoyable way to spend about 40 minutes, doing a lap around it.
Some days I even meet a few canines along the way, and thankfully they all still have a covering on their bones, unlike the one in the photo at the start of this post.
On one of my walks I happened to come across these magnificent specimens.
MAGICAL??? MUSHROOMS
And now, on to the podcast which I mentioned in the title of this blog. Through my extremely good fortune, I had the opportunity to be the guest on a podcast recently, courtesy of Deb Ozarko and Deb Gleason. For those who can spare some of their precious time, the podcast is linked below.
The entire podcast runs for 1 hour and 40 minutes, so if you feel so inclined, sit back, grab your favourite beverage and listen in.
Finally, for this last post of the month, I've managed to dig up an old photo from the year 2000. A comment from someone named Steve Tober from last week's blog inspired me to add this. I had a look at his blog, and there were many photos from the mountains around Calgary. So Steve, if you happen to be reading this, here's a picture from way back when. Enjoy.
L-R Don, Me, Daryl
Tim took the photo and on the back, he wrote:
"July 22, 2000 The three (of 4) wise guys-having just summited 3 (of 4).
Paul hoisting his dad's 5lb. silver flask on Mt. Cornwall (9800') a mere two minutes before the lightning strike and Don and Daryl disappear but Tim offers Paul the lightning rod and all turns out well in the end. Didn't even leave anything on the summit."
I'm quite sure that the lightning strike mentioned above was the closest that I've ever been to getting "vapourized" by mother nature. What a way to go. At least it would have been quick. The funny part was that after the lightning struck, we all wanted to get flatter to the ground than the other three, just in case another bolt was on the way. Like Tim said, it all worked out well in the end, but we all had to check our underwear later. :-)
Wait. Just one more thing. I took a stroll up a small mountain near here the other day. It was a beautiful day for an autumn walk, as I crunched my way to the top.
OK, I think I'm almost done, except to say that I heard through the grapevine that something ?? could happen over the next few days in this country that might be quite disruptive, to put it mildly. Who knows? But with the craziness over the upcoming election here, anything is possible. All the more reason to enjoy each moment.
living a life of profound acceptance,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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