ANOTHER DECADE SPENT

POST # 47




I awoke early today, with the thought that I should get up and start writing this post but I was trapped. Most mornings when I awake I am lying on my side with my legs slightly bent at the knees. I don't know why, but it just is the case. Sometimes at this particular housesit, I find myself as the filling in a "cat sandwich." At some point during the evening the cats, Oscar and Felix slink into the bedroom, hop up on the bed to find the warm human and settle in and get comfortable. REAL COMFORTABLE. It's always the same. Felix takes up station just behind my knees nestled into the curve of my legs, and Oscar is on the opposite side curled up near my belly button. (checking for belly button lint???) So when I awoke, this was the situation I found myself in. As you might imagine it is a very warm and cozy arrangement, and the furballs looked so content, that I didn't have the heart to just get up and spoil the whole thing. So ever so gently I managed to turn myself over to my other side, and drift back into a peaceful slumber surrounded by two of my favourite cats. So now here I find myself after 9am only beginning to write my thoughts for the day. O and F have been fed, and they are now curled up sleeping yet again. What a life!!

I came across an article this week which was talking about a particular Greek island not that far from where my friends have settled in Crete, and it is known for the longevity of the people living there. Some of the things that come to mind now as I recall the article is that the people wake up naturally, as opposed to having an alarm wake them, they drink coffee, wine, have afternoon naps, and grow plenty of their own food, amongst other things and they have a solid sense of community. Sounds like a pretty good recipe for a pleasant life. It's probably difficult to distinguish between a cats' life and a humans' on this island. Both of them relaxed and happy day after day. Perhaps my friends in Crete have known about this Greek island lifestyle for a while now, and that is why they have relocated there from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Now, moving right along, to the reason for the title of this blog. I get reminded time and again how I am good at remembering dates, and today, October 28th is no exception. In fact I remember exactly what house I was living at that day, in Dawson City, taking care of two dogs at a friends' place, one of my many Dawson housesits. The year was 2002, an entire decade ago. Now, people might wonder just how the heck could I be so clear on a memory from ten years ago but for me the answer is a very simple one. The reason I remember October 28th is because of October 29th. How does that make any sense? Well the 28th here means that it is the 29th in Australia. If that is so, then it means that my friend David in Melbourne is having another birthday. And the reason I remember his birthday so vividly from a decade ago was because when I called him that evening to wish him a happy birthday, I also asked him, "What's new?" A very simple and normal question to ask a friend that you haven't spoken to for a while. But it was his answer that caught me my surprise as it was at this point in our conversation that he told me he had just purchased a new sail boat which at the time was being manufactured in Durban South Africa, and he then went on to ask if I would like to join him for the voyage from there to Australia, early in 2003. After almost dropping the phone, I accepted the offer, and of course that forty three day voyage is now history, and has been written about elsewhere, so I won't go on about it here. But it's because of the content of that phone call, that I so vividly remember when and where I was all those years ago.

So as I sit writing these words, another entire decade of my life has passed by since that day, and it makes me pause to reflect on the time gone by and the events that have brought me to this point in my life. It also makes me appreciate yet again, how fast time flies by and I hope that with that realization I am even more appreciative of each moment that I have to spend. And we usually use the term "spend" when we talk about time and I think that is a rather appropriate way to look at it. Thoreau, when deciding on any course of action in his life, always wanted to work out how much the decision of whatever action he was going to take, was going to cost him. Cost in his terms, was how much time was going to be spent as a result of taking the action.
I think he had it right, all those years ago. It's a maxim that I try to follow as much as possible. And right along with that then comes the question, of how much value is gained from the time spent? Another good question to ask oneself every now and again.

OK, this entry is getting a bit on the lengthy side, so I'd best start to wind things up for now. As happens more often than not since I began writing this blog, I awake on the day wondering what on earth am I going to write about and then the words just fly onto the page. Whether or not they are words worth reading, depends on the point of view of the reader, however from my point of view, the time spent writing them is time well spent, and for me at least it has value.

This will be my last entry from Orcas island at least for this go around and the next scheduled post is for November 7th, which for me is a travel day back to Vancouver to start the next housesit. I seem to end up having travel days on blog days. It's not by design, but there you go. Hopefully I will get the writing done on schedule.

Now, time to go for a bike ride to exercise those legs of mine.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer