BACK TO WANDERING, AND LOVING IT

 POST # 466

 

I'm back to wandering, and I love it.  There's no telling where this trait comes from, although I suspect that I may have inherited it from my grandfather on my dad's side.  In any event, it is who I am, and with each passing day, as my life gets closer to its end point, there is no time like the present to get the wandering in while I still can.

I completed my house sit in Duncan on August 6th, and after a quick visit with the owner, she drove me to the Gabriola ferry terminal in Nanaimo.  A short time later I was met by my friends Talyn and Mike.  They now live on Gabriola, and this was my first opportunity to see their newly constructed home.  It was wonderful to have a few days to catch up, and they are very gracious hosts indeed.  I've known them since my Aquabus days in Vancouver, and it's nice to know that some friendships endure.

I finally had an opportunity to meet Jake the furball.  He's quite the character, and he certainly has a cushy life with them. He has the curious habit of having you follow him to his food dish, and satisfied that you are paying attention, he then starts to chow down.  I've certainly never seen this behavior before, and one of the mornings that I was there, I was alone with Jake.  And sure enough, he taught the new human to follow him to his dish.  What a character. 

 

 Talyn has a new E-bike on which she travels all over the island upon.  She looks pretty happy as she gets ready to head off to the nursery to work on the tomato plants.

It was now time to make two ferry crossings.  The first short trip was back to Nanaimo from Gabriola, followed by about a forty-five minute walk (see top photo) to Departure Bay.  Once there I boarded the ferry for the mainland.  I sure do like this business of getting a free ferry ride from Monday through Thursday now that I am a senior.  I plan on getting in as many free rides as possible.

Once back in Vancouver, I settled in for a couple of nights at a motel that I have been at before, and then as of last night, I am house sitting for my friends Jody and Mei, while they are off to their property on Gambier Island.  I expect to go with them next week, and experience the island life, along with their two trusty boneheads, Cha Cha and Hana.  It should be fun.

Here they are yesterday at Horseshoe Bay, getting ready to head over to Gambier.

Once I returned to their place, I decided to take a walk to the West End, and find one of my favourite benches to sit upon, and just enjoy watching all the people.  The smoke from fires has rolled in big time, and moments after I took this photo, the sun set, long before it got to the horizon.  It reminded me of the time that I spent living in Los Angeles back in the mid 80's.  The smog was so bad every day, the sun disappeared long before it should have.

 

 

grateful for every breath, (even in the smoke)

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Next Saturday, August 21st, I will be on an island without internet access, so I will post that entry on August 23rd.