A year ago I was in Canada,taking care of two huge lab-type dogs. I was lonely, really lonely for the first time in my nomad experiment. I'm not sure why I was lonely. I had a car to take me to the nearby town. I had a neighbor who showed me his show care with the pearlescent paint job and the Harley Davidson orange interiro. He also showed me the trail out behind the house and returned my dogs when they escaped out the insecurely latched front gate. If I wanted, I'm sure he would have been willing to share some beer and time with me. But I didn't want it. I didn't know what I wanted.
The weather was both spring and winter: snow happened regularly and I got to start a fire, and then it went away and I went on muddy walks above the lake. I tried to blog, but intead I wrote letters and posted pix to Facebook. I set the roomba to taking care of the dog hair. I walked the dogs. I fed them. My hosts had prepped five weeks worth of raw-meat meals and every week I brought in 14 tubs from the freezer in the garage and started them thawing in the small pantry fridge. I monitored the yard pump, which was dealing with the spring melt. I knitted. I cooked. My hosts were on the Keto diet, so I was tasked with finishing up all the pastas and other non-Keto foods that were languishing in the pantry. For the most part I did not use the expensive Keto ingredients, but I did make the Keto non-baked chocolate desert which was WONDERFUL (utilized coconut oil, nut butters, shredded coconut, pecans.) I sat in front of the huge-screen TV, eating the sweet crunchiness and watching the curling championships and Stanley Cup playoffs. I drank Tim Horton coffee. I felt like I was turning into a Canadian. And I felt lonely.
I took a 10-day break while one of my hosts returned to take care of some busiiness. He didn't want to share the house with me and was going to stay with friends, and I thought I might as well explore a bit. I went to Calgary and stayed at the Fairmont hotel next to the old Olympic Torch, where I dined in the revolving restaurant. I walked along the river, visited the amazing library (and got a card just for the fun of it.) I walked through the Dior exhibit and attended a hockey game at the Saddle Dome. I checked out the First Nations exhibits. I swam in the hotel pool and had a good massage. Then I drove up to Banff where I hiked a bit, climbed the Tunnel Mountain by my lodge, and drove to Lake Louise to walk on the frozen waters. On the way home I stopped by the Terrell Dinosaur Museum. Each day was wonderful, full of images, which I took, and stories, which I did not write.
I did send some vignettes in letters:
Serenity, the black dog, is lying at my feet, wagging her tail and watching me intently. Chloe, the yellow, was lying on the couch (illegally) but has gone back to her cage where she feels most comfortable. Earlier today I took them for a walk, turning around when Chloe stopping pulling on the lead & getting home before she collapsed. Reportedly you get pulled half way and then pull her the other half. I wanted to avoid the latter.
I'm rather wiped out. Maybe it's altitude, maybe it's the week of travel, maybe it's time for me to stop this wandering around and settle down. I feel like I should be using my time more actively and productively, although I guess walking dogs counts as something. But I am beyond unmotivated. I took Vicodin for a bad headache on Saturday, and another yesterday just because I liked being drugged into immobility. Suddenly I understand how people can become addicted. I've never done that before, never self-medicated. Clearly something is wrong, but I don't know what. Still, there's no point in stopping this nomadic lifestyle. The issue is not homelessness, it's aimlessness.
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It's pouring snow today: it started April 30 has continued off and on. The snow dries up, then the skies empty out again. Today it's pretty constant, but we'll see if I can manage a short walk through the woods behind the house. The dogs get antsy if I don't take them out.
Last night I watched the Denver Avalanches (Hockey team) win Game 4 in the Stanley cup playoffs, Round 2. On April 19 I saw them live, winning Round 1 in Calgary against the Flames. I was in the very top row of the Saddle Dome, and it was a heartstopping climb up narrow, steep, beer-coated concrete steps. M & I are messaging throughout the games. He's pro-Avs of course, and now that I've gotten over the Calgary trouncing, I am too. After all, if they beat 2nd-seeded Sharks, that will justify the Flames' loss, right? and they are my most local team. Right now the matches are tied.
My host thinks I'm turning Canadian, watching curling and hockey and drinking Tim Horton's coffee. but it's my way of learning the community. Alberta's too much like Texas, in industry and politics, so even though I like the snow, it's just not a long-term solution for my final stop. We'll see what Quebec is like, end of August.
I'm still very dozy and unmotivated, but that is probably my life-long attitude coming to the fore. I just had too many commitments before to let the laziness really blossom into full-fledged sloth. I'm not hanging upside down yet, but that will probably come in due course.
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