Good morning!
It’ll probably be afternoon by the time I finish writing this. The past few weeks have been difficult, interjected with moments of joy.
I caught last Friday’s space magnet show, not just in my video game but also from my backyard. I’d read reports about the northern lights possibly being visible as far south as Victoria and didn’t pay much attention. AS FAR SOUTH AS VICTORIA? Not likely.
Clouds permitting, it was a spectacle available to the whole country (and even the UK). Jordi drove me home that night, and when I got out of the car to hug him, I looked over his shoulder and noticed how strange the sky looked. Then I remembered what I’d read earlier in the day. This was the aurora borealis, as seen from my backyard! So close I could smell hams steaming.
I did not feel the need to pull out my phone to take photos. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event meant to be savoured, and I knew millions of people would be taking pictures. Because of light pollution, the colours weren’t as vivid as they appeared in most of the photos I saw online on Saturday morning.
Now, I want to travel to the Yukon to experience them again. Wow. What a treat.
I also got a super-early birthday gift from my workstation neighbour:
A set of pliers! He’d asked me the week before what kind of tools I had at home. More than most women, probably? I have a chain whip, a cassette tool, hex wrenches, and a hammer.
Pliers? No, no pilers.
Never again will I have to struggle with gripping or twisting bits of metal. Cool! I cut the packaging in half so it’d fit in my backpack.
The garden isn’t blooming, but it is rooting! This morning, I noticed the gleaming ruby blub of a radish protruding from the soil. The roommate says one of his current pleasures is drinking his morning coffee, talking to the sugar snap peas, and helping them grab the trellis.
I visit the garden every day, sometimes twice. I take photos, too.
This was how it looked less then a month ago.
As per Zoèe’s suggestion on diverting possible aphids from the kale, I planted a few nasturtium seeds between the kale, where you see the popsicle sticks. I might be over-crowding the garden, but a few of last year’s potato plants have sprouted next to the plans with no ill effects.
Trust me. Trust future.
Perhaps I’ll end up growing mutant vegetables requiring pliers to remove.
I spotted this mural on the Co-op Food Store in Saanichton:
This is what I aspire to be: a demented grower of monster tubers. I admired the mural for a few minutes while my riding buddy, Claire, bought space-themed Oreos to surprise her partner, who worked nearby. Was this snack choice inspired by the imminent space magnet show that night? I don’t know, but now I know how fast Claire is on a bike. I’ve known of Claire since I joined Strava, as she appears on the leaderboard for nearly every segment in Victoria. Naturally, I was flattered when she complimented my speedy legs. Still, Claire had already done about 40km before I met her at 7:30 that morning! Also, I passed out on the couch for two hours after our ride… even after drinking a can of the hyper-caffeinated Guayaki Yerba Mate.
I’ve been having such a rough time getting up these days. I wonder if my latest anti-anxiety meds are to blame, although I’ve been dosing around 9:30 in the morning. Why would it affect my ability to get up the following morning? A bunch of the women I’ve been riding with have been getting up at 5:30 for the 6am group rides that one of the clubs does. For me to pull off a 7:30am ride last Friday was a feat!
I have yet to sign up for the hill climb race on the mainland next month. I’ve yet to find a local climb of similar length and steepness. Last week, I did the backside of Mount Tolmie thrice, and on Wednesday evening, I did Neild. The former is about 100m shorter than Oxford Hill and not quite as steep, and the latter is a 2.18km-long beast (4.12km if you do the whole thing, which has a dip after the hard part of the climb). I felt good on both these climbs. I guess I’m just intimidated by the idea of doing an actual race.
Maybe I just need to…. trust future?
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