A week in the life Nov 21, 2021
Forest Bathing
One week ago today I went Forest Bathing. I’ve been a part of a group for many months, and haven’t been in town or available to join them. They’re a bit last-minute, I am generally not last-minute. So on a super rainy Saturday (you know, while the rest of the lower mainland was flooding), some new friends and I ventured out into North Vancouver for a moist Forest Bath. I cannot tell you how happy I was that I went. It was an hour and a half of fresh air, happy people, beautiful canyons, hiking, a mini-scramble and meditation. My skin was glowing by the time I arrived back at the car. I took my camera and although these aren’t my best photos, they are symbolic of a very Wet Coast winter experience, one that I hope to repeat. The MEC mantra applied, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.” Having hurt my knees earlier that week, and canceling plans I had to be away that weekend, I decided to attend because miraculously I had the time, I wanted to get some fresh air, keep my knees somewhat active, and meet some new people. ❤️ Check, check and check.
The Storm
The next day I attended my weekly online Breathwork session with Michael Stone. I get great peace and insight from these breathwork sessions and highly recommend everyone try one at least once. It’s a time of active meditation and a most excellent activity for when it’s raining cats and dogs. Which it was. In fact it rained so much, that by the end of the day, the lower mainland of BC was destroyed. The west end has a new resident barge that washed up on shore during the highest water anyone alive now has ever seen, that has since been unable to be removed. It’s still there. The memes have been fantastic and it has it’s own Twitter account (@EnglishBayBarge) which is almost enough to encourage me to get a Twitter account, but not quite. In less entertaining news, Abbotsford spent most of the week underwater and I learned about a lake that they drained 100 years ago for farmland, that started filling back in. Merritt and Princeton were evacuated and Hope is now disconnected, with roads on all sides broken with no timeline for repair. The footage from the wreckage continues to haunt us and recovery efforts have been, and continue to be, Herculean. Today I donated $200 to various GoFundMe’s and I’ll be donating much more as time goes on. This image is the Similkameen River in Princeton, last winter. I can’t believe I spent so much time there and all over the Province on roads that are now undriveable.
English Bay Barge
The West End’s newest Tourist Attraction!
Calendars! Success!
On my list of goals for 2021 was to (make and) sell 2022 calendars. With the help of Christin, I did it! I actually managed to create and promote my calendar (you got the newsletter right?) and actually sold some. I made almost nothing per calendar, but that wasn’t the point. They arrived this week so I’ve been delivering them in person, which has been delightful, and resulted in me running into various people I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’m looking at you Tamara! Running into Tamara spawned a plan for her and Helena and I to attend the Culture Crawl last friday. (This super cool waterfall on the right happens to be May.)
Brevity is not my strong suit
No week is complete without at least one friend asking me for some sort of photography related support. A friend had some issues with her wedding photography and videography and needed assistance in how to deal with it. I like to think I was helpful. But also…she gave me the most beautiful camera strap with my name on it!! I can’t believe how thoughtful that was ❤️
See? This is already getting long, and likely boring. You are free to move on.
Handmade Christmas Cards
Another friend, and ex-photowalk guide, Isa Socorro, and her two year old son Elias, made some Christmas cards that I went to purchase. They are literally the cutest things ever, and with such a good story! She’s raising money for her friend in Venezuela (she’s from there) because his belongings were stolen, because, Venezuela. I ordered ten of each, and went to see her on Tuesday and had lunch with her, her husband Davide, and Elias. Lovely! While I’m away traveling, I compile a list of people I’d like to see while I’m in town, and they were on the list. The universe has a way of ensuring that I see the people I’m supposed to see.
Eastside Culture Crawl
The rest of the week saw a headshot shoot for a Mortgage Broker company (shout out to Abacus North), attending the Culture Crawl, going to see the Barge again, and putting a down payment on a townhome in Summerland. You know, the usual.
By the way, one of my favourite places to go in the Culture Crawl is Parker Street Studios. I just love it in there. My friend Jesse Toso creates the most beautiful wood art and you should check him out!
The remainder of the week I attempted crossfit but canceled pole dancing classes because of my knee injury. What knee injury you ask?
The Knee(s) Injury
Yes, both of them. The backstory: on Tuesday Nov 9th, I fell off a Lime scooter in San Diego. At high speed. Onto pavement. This is relevant because it explains why I went to the urgent care clinic yesterday (yes, 12 days later) and why I keep talking about my knees. I was stopped at a traffic light, and a fellow scooted up to me. We exchanged smalltalk (me complimenting him on his fancy scooter with drink holder and seat), but he was a little odd, and I didn’t want to continue the conversation. When the light turned green, I zipped away with him in close pursuit. He was still talking to me, and asked me where I was from, and as I looked slightly sideways and yelled “CANADA” I went over some train tracks and launched myself onto the pavement (aaaahhhh) in front of oncoming traffic. Weird guy stopped to see if I was okay, so did a car, and when I said no he continued to talk to me. Not able to listen, breath, or talk, I slowly gathered myself and surveyed the damage. No blood, nothing broken, battery fell out of scooter.
I managed to get myself and the scooter off of the road, and sat drinking my (surprisingly unspilled) iced decaf americano for several minutes. Eventually, weird guy left, I replaced the battery in the scooter, and scooted to a parking spot.
I was able to walk, no major damage, had lunch and scooted home to Alexis’ and awaited her return. The next morning we went to yoga. I expected to heal quickly, but after a week (Tuesday of this past week) I wasn’t much better. This was the moment I realized I’m not 25 anymore.
A friend of mine recommended something called “Red Light Therapy” for general energy and targeted healing. I went twice this week to see if I noticed any difference. With two bum knees it was hard to tell. I eventually made my way to an Urgent Care clinic yesterday where I got a Tetanus shot (useful) and was told to take anti-inflammatories and go to physio. Sprained (strained?) MCL on both knees but worse on my left. Boo. But, given the circumstances, it could have been a LOT worse.
And that, folks, is my week.
P.S. Comments about some of the pics below. I like how someone has tied up the Barge in case it drifts away, when it has thus far proven impossible to move deliberately 😂. Also, I thought I’d throw in a few pics of San Diego because why not, even though it was the week earlier.
A final note. This ended up not being spontaneous in the slightest because as the writing continued I wanted to include more and more things, and also, it didn’t save any of my changes (despite CLAIMING it saved) for the last several hours and I had to redo it all. Anyway, it is here, and I can now move on with my life.
