Camera?
Recently, a friend of mine left for her hom, Quebec, for a couple of weeks. This friend is named Llsa, and she's the Project Leader of the Katimavik group in Courtenay. Katimavik is a youth volunteer program (www.katimavik.org) that sends youth all over the country volunteering. It means that Llsa's job is to lead and mentor a house full of 12 youth, all from different parts of the country, as they live together, and volunteer in the surrounding commmunity.
In order for Llsa to get to her plane to Quebec, she needed to do some travelling on the ground first. As Im a super awesome and nice friend, I decided to do part of the trip to the airport with her. We got into Nanaimo late last night, and started heading over to a hostel where we were going to stay.
One part of my friendship with Llsa that makes it more unique than others is the fact that she also speaks spanish (although my spanish is getting rougher as the days progress :P) It was an awesome head trip, to be walking through a town that I dont know so well, carrying a pack full of stuff, speaking a language that I associate very much with globe trotting.
It made me think about what I want to be doing with my life right now. Travelling is definately a great lifestyle that lets you meet people, and feel unhindered and very free, but I realized that I am happy doing the job that Im doing, and living where Im living.
After checking into a hostel we went out for martinis.. but since she had to leave first thing this morning to catch a ferry we couldnt stay out too long.
Im very happy indeed with where Im living. Its beautiful here.
A few mornings ago, I decided to go for a run (Im in training, supposedly, for the Times Colonist 10k run in Victoria). I ran along some cliffs away from the outdoor centre towards Heliwell Park. Heliwell park is infamous for its loverly rolling hills and steep oceanside cliffs. It was raining lightly, and although there was a breeze I was warm. From the cliffs out over the ocean, I could see patches of stormcloud belting down rain. It looked vaugly like alien motherships hovering around, wreaking havok on the unsuspecting villages below, by heaving volley after volley of pummelling, shrieking... rain.
I continued to run. After some time, I happened upon what looked like a seal. A large one at that. Curious, I ran up the trail 100 more metres or so, and to the edge of a nearby cliff to get a closer look. I quickly noticed that this seal was very much in reality a VERY large bald eagle, and not a seal at all. This thing was huge. Ive never seen an eagle that large. After sitting and watching it for some time, I called to it, using some of the bird calls Ive learned recently. Both of my impressions of raven and owl calls caused it to look around in a panic-y way, but it wasnt until I tossed a rock into the water near its perch that it took flight and glided down the coast. As I turned to continue my 'run', I turned and noticed some real seals.. 3 of them, surfacing every 30 seconds or so, breaching like whales, as they cruised down the shoreline.
However, on my trip back, I came across something even more spectacular. As I came around a bend on the cliff trail, I was suddenly confronted by a pair of huge and thick.. rainbows. There was one rainbow starting at the base of the cliff to my left, rising up and over the trail, and back down into the shrubery lining the forest to my right. The rainbow made near to 3/4 of a full circle, and consisted of a bright colour pattern that REPEATED 1 1/2 times. Intense. The second rainbow was only a third of the length of the first, and was holding itsself just slightly higher.
I would have squirmed if I had a camera to take pictures with that morning. Maybe I should purchase one.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Tyler
In order for Llsa to get to her plane to Quebec, she needed to do some travelling on the ground first. As Im a super awesome and nice friend, I decided to do part of the trip to the airport with her. We got into Nanaimo late last night, and started heading over to a hostel where we were going to stay.
One part of my friendship with Llsa that makes it more unique than others is the fact that she also speaks spanish (although my spanish is getting rougher as the days progress :P) It was an awesome head trip, to be walking through a town that I dont know so well, carrying a pack full of stuff, speaking a language that I associate very much with globe trotting.
It made me think about what I want to be doing with my life right now. Travelling is definately a great lifestyle that lets you meet people, and feel unhindered and very free, but I realized that I am happy doing the job that Im doing, and living where Im living.
After checking into a hostel we went out for martinis.. but since she had to leave first thing this morning to catch a ferry we couldnt stay out too long.
Im very happy indeed with where Im living. Its beautiful here.
A few mornings ago, I decided to go for a run (Im in training, supposedly, for the Times Colonist 10k run in Victoria). I ran along some cliffs away from the outdoor centre towards Heliwell Park. Heliwell park is infamous for its loverly rolling hills and steep oceanside cliffs. It was raining lightly, and although there was a breeze I was warm. From the cliffs out over the ocean, I could see patches of stormcloud belting down rain. It looked vaugly like alien motherships hovering around, wreaking havok on the unsuspecting villages below, by heaving volley after volley of pummelling, shrieking... rain.
I continued to run. After some time, I happened upon what looked like a seal. A large one at that. Curious, I ran up the trail 100 more metres or so, and to the edge of a nearby cliff to get a closer look. I quickly noticed that this seal was very much in reality a VERY large bald eagle, and not a seal at all. This thing was huge. Ive never seen an eagle that large. After sitting and watching it for some time, I called to it, using some of the bird calls Ive learned recently. Both of my impressions of raven and owl calls caused it to look around in a panic-y way, but it wasnt until I tossed a rock into the water near its perch that it took flight and glided down the coast. As I turned to continue my 'run', I turned and noticed some real seals.. 3 of them, surfacing every 30 seconds or so, breaching like whales, as they cruised down the shoreline.
However, on my trip back, I came across something even more spectacular. As I came around a bend on the cliff trail, I was suddenly confronted by a pair of huge and thick.. rainbows. There was one rainbow starting at the base of the cliff to my left, rising up and over the trail, and back down into the shrubery lining the forest to my right. The rainbow made near to 3/4 of a full circle, and consisted of a bright colour pattern that REPEATED 1 1/2 times. Intense. The second rainbow was only a third of the length of the first, and was holding itsself just slightly higher.
I would have squirmed if I had a camera to take pictures with that morning. Maybe I should purchase one.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Tyler
posted by Squid at 9:56 AM
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