A day in the life

A run-down of my day. A good one. I guess because there is time and energy on this no-obligations day, here it is.

Black Jack's first trip outside, this morning.

I walked up to 10th Avenue, taking some tree pictures on the way. I heard a child ask her mother what that lady was doing. I guess photographing trees seems odd to some.

I caught the 99 and got off at Main, for a very good latte and a muffin at Our Town Cafe. I had to jump over a huge puddle, just to make it onto the sidewalk. A lady spontaneously held out her hand, caught mine, and gave a little pull to help propel me over the water. No words to offer help - just a look exchanged and a perfect understanding. Then smiles because it was the right amount of pull, and I landed exactly where I hoped to, on a little patch of non-slip sidewalk. I was wearing runners, a fact dp has already commented on. I thought of her, and regretted not ordering what looked like great boots when she suggested them some time ago.
I came out of the coffee shop, and decided to walk back to Cambie, and then up to 12th for a workout at Fitness World. Nobody to help me this time, and my runners were soaked through, as I navigated Broadway.

On the way up to 12th, I turned to look back over the mountains, and took this City Scape.

And a zoom shot of the same scene.

Continuing up Cambie, I looked to my right, and loved this side street view.

Since Cambie Fitness World is in a shopping centre, I decided to buy the first pair of waterproof boots I could find. That was more difficult than I anticipated. I circled the shopping area twice, but not a shoe store to be found. I did my workout in very wet shoes, and then walked back down to Broadway, determined to find some boots. I finally found a store, and one pair of boots that fit. They were guaranteed not to leak. I left the store, and walked happily through the slush in my new boots.

The 99 was coming, and, a rare thing, the driver waited for me to run and catch it. He made me pay for that kindness by not appearing to slow down for my stop in Point Grey. When I asked him if he was going to stop, he said no, he was going to take me all the way to UBC. I was just beginning to panic when I caught the twinkle in his eye and the grins on a couple of the passengers' faces. His joke kept me smiling as I began the short walk home in my new, and amazingly comfortable boots. I cannot remember the last time I bought boots. It may actually go back to the 70's.

A pink blush and blue undertone made a candy-cotton sky.

And a Christmas scene in tune with the sky.

Tonight, Bill and I walked up to 10th for a latte and supper at Bean Around the World, and then, home to cuddle Black Jack and watch a video: Turtles Can Fly. A painful movie to watch, but the child non-professional actors were outstanding, and I think (my sketchy knowledge of politics aside) it represented an accurate reality of daily life for the Kurdish youth and elderly, living near the border between Iraq and Turkey, just before the U.S. declared war on Iraq. It will stay with me a long time. Bill says he wishes he hadn't seen it, and then qualified that by adding, "I could have just skipped it." His objection has to do with his confusion as to whether the U.S. is being portrayed as the villain, something that he feels is an easy trap to fall into, and not always fair. He may have regretted watching it, but our later conversation was good. Edited in the morning to add some further talk about the movie, Bill felt the real reason the movie upset him is that he doesn't easily handle seeing injured children and being forced to look at the ills of the world. And one more edit to provide a link to an excellent review I found this morning.

And a P.S. I had lots of time to read today. I am loving Bel Canto.

Here is one small descriptive passage about the opera singer's performance:

Her voice, if he could be very honest, was not flattered by the acoustics in the living room. It made him uncomfortable to notice the supreme athleticism of her mouth, to see so clearly her damp pink tongue when she opened up wide and wider still. The lower teeth were not straight.