THE RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING YEARS

 POST # 513

                                                           A cool dip on another hot day

"What on earth are you going to do with all this money?"

Those were the first words out of my manager's mouth, as he presented to me a cheque for the amount of $90 dollars and change.  I had never seen so much money in my entire life up to that point, and to be honest, when I took the cheque from him, I really had no idea how I would spend it.  The year was 1972.

This was my second year working part-time at the local grocery store, near where we lived in Calgary. Every Wednesday night, a group of us young lads would show up and stock shelves.  We usually worked for about four hours, and at $1.25/hr, none of us was going to get rich.  But then management decided to do some store renovations, and all of a sudden, there was as much work as you wanted to do.  Someone had decided that instead of having all of the aisles in the store run East to West, it would be better for them to run North to South.  You can imagine the amount of work and chaos this produced over a couple of weeks, but eventually it was all done, and that explains the story of my big cheque.  And here's a bit of trivia, especially for any Calgarian reading this.  There was a local band, called, "The Stampeders" and the lead singer was my manager's brother.  They had produced a hit song called "Sweet City Woman" and whenever that song came on the radio while we were at work, the manager cranked up the radio, to make sure that we all could hear his brother belt out this tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IRjl3SWC2U

So now what?  What was I going to do with all of this new found wealth?  About four years previous to this time, my good friend David had moved to Port Coquitlam BC, and so I figured that I could spend some of this money on a Greyhound bus ticket, and head off on my first big solo adventure.  I departed Calgary in the evening, and I found a seat near the rear of the bus.  Soon after we departed, some guy sitting in the same general location began to pass around a bottle of rum.  A few of us helped ourselves to his generosity, and I was thinking that this was going to be a fun journey.  However, when we arrived a short while later in Banff, the bus driver came to the back of the bus, and kicked the guy off the bus.  I was sweating for a few minutes, wondering if the rest of us would be as unfortunate, but thankfully we were allowed to stay, and the journey continued to BC without any other incidents.  (At this point in the story, I imagine the reader is wondering what any of this has to do with house/pet sitting, but I'm getting there.)

It was great to catch up with my old friend, and meet some of his friends as well.  At some point in the visit, it was suggested that a few of us head over to Port Alberni on Vancouver island, because that is where David's girlfriend at the time, now lived.  An adventure within an adventure.  After we all arrived and had spent a day or two there, Rosie's father, (David's girlfriend Rosie) who worked at the local pulp and paper mill in town, suggested to me that I could get a summer job working there if I wanted, and I could live at their place.  Before I knew it, I was working the remainder of the summer in Port Alberni, and making $4.25/hr.  Now I was earning the big bucks in comparison to my wage back in Calgary.  Here is where I lived that summer.

All of that happened fifty years ago.  It's hard to believe just how fast your life goes by, and before you know it, you're sixty-seven, instead of seventeen.  It's like that line out of the South Park cartoon, "and it's gone."

The following year, after graduating from high school, I once again returned to Port Alberni, and worked at the pulp and paper mill.  My mom and dad decided to take a trip out to visit me, and during their visit, we boarded the MV Lady Rose and took a cruise to Bamfield.  It was a memorable journey for many reasons, but one memory that stands out is sailing past a freighter loaded with new cars that had run aground.  For details, you can read this account.

https://www.portalbernimaritimeheritage.ca/post/2017/08/23/the-vanlene-bamfield-s-vehicular-grave

I enjoyed that voyage so much, that I have decided to do it one more time, and this coming Tuesday, I will be cruising to Bamfield on the MV Frances Barkley.  (The MV Lady Rose is now in Sechelt)

That explains my history when it comes to Port Alberni, so when I was offered this current house sit opportunity, I jumped at the chance.  This would be a good opportunity to have a second look at the place.  

As you can probably guess from the smile on my face, I am very happy at this location, right next to the Somass river here in town.  I even have my own private dock.  With the continuing hot weather, I make sure to take at least one plunge into the river every day.

Of course, a pet sit wouldn't be complete without a pet or two to keep me company, and these two furballs have done a stellar job in this regard.  Hammett on top, and Hendrix down below have been very enjoyable company, and they seem to have warmed up to the house sitter, so all is good.

A unique feature of this sit, are these very unusual tropical plants, called Nepenthes or tropical pitcher plants.  They do require a bit more attention than other plants, but their uniqueness makes up for the work involved in keeping them healthy.  The description of the name is below.

The genus name Nepenthes was first published in 1737 in Carl Linnaeus's Hortus Cliffortianus.^[22] It references a passage in Homer's Odyssey, in which the potion "Nepenthes pharmakon" is given to Helen by an Egyptian queen. "Nepenthe" literally means "without grief" (ne = not, penthos = grief) and, in Greek mythology, is a drug that quells all sorrows with forgetfulness.^[15][23] Linnaeus explained:

The other night, I was out in the back yard, and noticed this beautiful butterfly.  I was lucky enough to get a photo just as it was taking off.

Perhaps this butterfly is a good place to end today's post.  As it flew away, I pondered just how rapidly my own life has flown on by.  All the more reason to appreciate each day, and every sunset.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer