Friday Fire

Welcome to another Friday Fire, and it’s been a fiery week indeed. As in, it’s been very, very unseasonably warm. As nice as it is to have a 9 degree day in early February, the anxious part of me immediately goes to climate change and how this is something we probably shouldn’t celebrate. The non-anxious part of me tries to at least accept what is. It’s an internal battle, friends.

That said, much lit me up this week. Let’s get right to it.

1. Guests: We’ve had very few guests since settling into our little mountain town. I suppose a pandemic will do that. But this week, friends we hadn’t seen for over two years popped into town and stayed for a couple of days. What a delightful way to shake up a routine work week, and how nice it is to catch up on life in three dimensions instead of a laptop screen. Here’s hoping easing restrictions will mean more guests this Spring and Summer!

2. Daim cake: Our dear friends kindly brought us a Daim Cake from IKEA. I love guests who show up with dessert. They are my favorite kind of guests. I had never heard of Daim, and don’t recall ever seeing it at IKEA, although I also haven’t set foot in an IKEA in well over five years. It was a dream. Wafer-like layers, caramel, almond brittle, milk chocolate: how can one go wrong with that combination? The answer is that you cannot. If you live near an IKEA, pick up one of these bad boys.

3. More fresh air!: After lamenting my (self-created) lack of exposure to nature last week, I made up for it in spades this week. I had at least four walks and/or outdoor adventures, including a lengthy nature walk with our guests. I love seeing the mountains through visitor’s eyes, and found my energy and spirits much higher this week just by virtue of breathing in more fresh air. The moral of the story: nature really is restorative.

4. Donuts!: Our town has what I consider a severe lack of donuts. So far, I’ve seen one bakery with donuts, and they look sad. Some time last week, I decided to Google donuts in our neighboring mountain town and found all sorts of reviews and comments about a pop-up donut business called Frankie D’s Donuts. They don’t make donuts daily, so imagine the good fortune of finding their website one day prior to their next pre-order day. I decided to give it a go, and I’m glad I did. The chocolate donut has the best chocolate coating I’ve had on a donut, and the maple glazed donut wasn’t cloyingly sweet. And for a yeasted donut (full disclosure: I am usually team cake donut all the way), the texture of the donut itself was pretty damn good. They are pricey but they are made in small batches by locals and sometimes that comes with a higher price tag. Bonus points: tips are donated directly to the local SPCA. If I can help animals and eat donuts, I am a happy camper. I’m extra excited for the apple fritter, which we are saving for Saturday morning breakfast. Hallelujah for access to decent donuts, even if it’s only every once in a while!

With that, let’s ease into the weekend. I plan to soak in as much sunshine as I can, and to let go of the tension I’ve been carrying (or at least get to the real root of where it’s coming from). May you find time and space for whatever feels necessary to you right now. Happy weekend, y’all!

Friday Fire

And just like that, we’ve made it to Friday. We may not have arrived at Friday without our fare share of hardship, whether emotional, physical, financial or otherwise, but we are here nonetheless.

I have a short list of things that lit me up this week:

1. New friendships forged entirely through technology: A former peer who I haven’t spoken to in years reached out to me out of nowhere to virtually introduce me to one of her colleagues. She thought I could share some of my work on change. I admit, I wasn’t super pumped about it when I first scheduled our video call.  I was wrong to be doubtful.  We had an amazingly bright, spiritual and engaging conversation–all entirely by video chat. For anyone who doubts whether true connection can occur virtually, I assure you that it can. Connection is not about being in person; it’s about listening, sharing ideas, and being vulnerable with one another.

2. Pancakes: Yes, I went from waxing philosophical about connection to pancakes. Look, I know that flour and eggs are harder to come by these days. But if you’ve got them, whip up a batch of pancakes this weekend. There is comfort in pancakes. There is also deliciousness. They are an unabashed excuse to ingest massive quantities of butter and maple syrup first thing in the morning. I use this recipe (minus the ridiculous step of adding egg whites separately…who has time for that nonsense?)

3. Anne of Green Gables: I have a stack of bargain bin books that I’ve bought over the years but have never read, and they stare at me from my bookshelf (forlornly, at that) every time I complain about having no new books to read. They are a constant reminder that an $8 price tag alone is not sufficient reason for buying a book. This is a long pre-amble to how I ended up re-reading Anne of Green Gables. None of my bargain bin books looked remotely interesting, so instead I pulled out my battered and beaten copy of this LM Montgomery classic. What a delightful flashback to my childhood, and what a light and lovely read it’s turned out to be. What seemed like a behemoth of a novel when I was a kid now seems like a short read I can blaze through. Up next: Anne of Avonlea. I’m pumped.

Stay safe and healthy this weekend, and please stay home (unless you are contributing to essential services, in which case THANK YOU).  And if you don’t want to take my advice, maybe you’ll take this guy’s:

Friday Fire

Happy Friday and happy Valentine’s Day! You can hate on Valentine’s Day all you want but I will always opt into a holiday that promotes extra chocolate consumption. Whether you’re in love or not, chocolate is always a good thing.

Let’s take a look at what lit me up this week, shall we?

1. Catching up with old friends: One of my bestest friends from one of my favourite periods of life was within an hour of us this week and we got to see them not once, but twice. It had actually been a couple years since I’d seen her and yet it was like no time at all had passed. That is the mark of a good friendship, and my heart is full.

2. Winter winery visits:  Okay, so in terms of wine selection it may not be an optimum time to visit wineries. Lots of varietals are sold out by this point. This is precisely why we rarely visit wineries this time of year.  But this week we took our friends to a few wineries and I am a winter winery visit convert. We had amazing service because there was no one there. We got extra samples, didn’t pay for most tastings, and learned infinitely more about all of the wines than we normally would because staff had the time for us. It was my best winery experience in ages.

3. Amazing Sunshine Run: I only got out for one run this week, but it was a doozy in the best possible way. The sun was out, the air was cool, and I was in the zone. Sure, I had to dodge some ice, but I managed to emerge unscathed, feeling pumped for the day and in love with cold, sunshine-y winter days.

4. Canada Reads: I’m writing about each book separately so I won’t speak to specific books here, but I am loving the selection of books. They’re different than what I would choose on my own, not because the content or topics aren’t of interest, but because I would never have visibility into these books had they not been promoted through Canada Reads. Canada Reads provided a platform for these authors, and it makes me think of all the books that exist out there that I will never hear about because no one is promoting them.

With that, I’m off to enjoy my own Valentine’s Day, which involves cooking dinner at home, a snazzy new bottle of wine we picked up during this week’s wine tastings and, quite likely, chocolate. May your weekend be full of things you love, experiences you crave, and deeply relaxing downtime.

Happy weekend, y’all.

Friday Fire

Hello, hello and welcome to another instalment of Friday Fire. This week was a pure delight and I am so excited to share all the things that lit me up this week. Let’s get right to it!

1. There, There: I’ll do another Bookstravaganza post in the near future, but for now I’ll just say that this book was so incredibly moving and powerful. There were sections I reread multiple times, and then had to just walk away for a while to digest before I moved on. How many times can you say that about a novel?

2. Banff with friends: We have a couple friends who moved up to the arctic last year, so we rarely see them now. On their most recent leave from up North, they invited us to meet them in Banff  (which is, of course, my favourite little former home/mountain town). It was such a good couple of days full of hiking, post-hiking bevvies, and catching up on our lives. It certainly did not hurt that we were constantly surrounded by all the beauty that is Banff. My heart is full.

3. My TRX: I have no idea why it took me so long to buy my own TRX, but all I can say now is better late than never. I absolutely love it. I have to use a door anchor because I’m not willing to install a ceiling anchor in my home and there’s no way to do it on my lower patio. I read a lot of reviews saying the door anchor is awkward, but I haven’t found it to be awkward at all. There are only a couple of variations I can’t do with the door anchor set up. It still adds so much potential variety to my at-home workouts that I am over the moon with my decision. If you’ve been on the fence about getting your own TRX, do it!

4. Doing things you never thought you’d do: I come from a long history of declaring that I would ‘never’ do certain things. This week I confronted a couple of big nevers–getting up at 5am and fitting in a super early morning run–and came to realize how fired up I can get when I prove myself wrong.  The experience raised for me the bigger questions of how often I don’t do things simply because I’ve always done them a different way, or because I assume that a whole bunch of conditions must be met for something to go well. My old story was that I couldn’t have a good run if I didn’t get a ton of sleep, eat breakfast first, have time to “wake up”, etc. etc. etc. Seriously, the list went on and on. And it’s all crap. I had a perfect run without any of those conditions being met. So my big question for you as we wind up this week is how might you be holding yourself back with your own self-created conditions and beliefs?

With that, it’s time for the weekend, which for me will be part true weekend and part working to make up for the fact that I turned my Wednesday and Thursday into my real weekend. Flexibility is a beautiful thing. May you find all sorts of fuel for your fire this weekend doing the things you love. Happy weekend, y’all.

Friday Fire

Hello and happy Friday! I’ve been on the road this week, back in my former city, and it’s been a nice change of scenery.  Any time I get to visit some of my favourite people and favourite old haunts, it’s a pretty good time. Let’s see what lit me up this week:

1. Reconnections: I somehow managed to balance work and non-work perfectly on this trip and was able to see almost everyone I really wanted to see, including a friend I hadn’t seen in probably a couple years. It was lovely to see what life looks like for her now. I also met up with a handful of former colleagues, one of whom I hadn’t seen in well over five years. It was truly a week of reconnections that warmed my heart and left me feeling energized.

2. Amazing customer service: The day before I was set to leave town, my car battery suddenly and inexplicable died. And totally dead. Not a single light on the panel dead. Imagine my surprise when the local dealership sent their customer shuttle driver to jump start my car so I could get it to the dealership then did all the testing on the battery free of charge. When does that happen in this day and age? I was super impressed and grateful.

3. Morning run: I went for my first “road” run in years this week (I used quotes around road because it was in a park and part gravel trail but mostly concrete paths). It was a grey and cool morning, but even the less-than-stellar weather couldn’t dampen the thrill of running! On concrete no less! If you read my post earlier this week, I’ve been telling myself that I can’t run, and certainly had this idea that only trail running was okay because the running surfaces are softer. All of that was just total crap. I ran on concrete, in shoes that aren’t really meant for running, and I was fine…it was hard work, but I was fine. In fact, I was better than fine. I was lit up.

4. White Noise App: Of course there are apps for white noise. There are apps for everything. Somehow, it has never occurred to me to look into one while travelling. We sleep with a fan on at home so I’m super used to that constant hum. Plus, it’s generally super quiet where we live so I wanted to block out city noise. Not only did I find a white noise app, but it had like twenty different settings to choose from (including lawnmower….which, to me, does not sound like something that would be soothing, but to each her own!). I opted for the fan setting and was lulled into peaceful slumber each and every night.

With that, the week is coming to a close. I’m super excited to be headed home to my favourite person and my favourite cat. I have high hopes for a weekend of golf and trail time. Hope you find what lights you up this weekend, too. Happy weekend y’all!

 

Monday Musings: 4 weeks to go

Ever since we bought our place in Vernon, it’s seemed like something so incredibly distant.  We bought back in July knowing that our place wouldn’t be ready until January at the earliest.  That seemed a lifetime away. Even as we sold our old place and moved into a rental in October, January still seemed like a million years away. Then our possession date got pushed back to March and I really started to feel like we were never going to make our move. Long story long, it’s never felt like our move was coming any time soon.

Now we suddenly find ourselves just four weeks away from a scheduled possession date. That’s four weeks to get our place packed and reorganized, get everything organized to move into our new home and, most importantly, to say goodbye to the people and place that have been our network and home for the vast majority of our adult lives. As we start to make lists of things to do and people to see, and slot those people in to dates, it’s clear that there’s really not much time left at all.

I’m generally pretty pragmatic about such things in life. I’ve moved a lot, left people behind a lot, managed the logistics of big moves more times than I want to remember. There’s steps to be taken and things to be done.  In some ways it’s old hat to me, but what never gets familiar is that sinking feeling when you realize: right…things are actually going to change in a really big way. 

A move to a new city shakes up all the comfortable, routine patterns of your life. It’s little things, like your local grocery store, the place you go to get a bottle of wine when you realize you’re out of wine, where you find the best coffee, who makes the best donuts, or where you go when you want an ultra satisfying dinner out.  But it’s also the big things, like being able to call up a friend and see her at the drop of a hat, like realizing the Sunday family dinners (which, ironically, were mostly hosted on Saturdays) that you used to have monthly are at risk of never happening again or at very least will require some serious logistical masterminding, like realizing we’ll have no family closer than a four hour drive away from us, like absolutely everything being new and different, even if only a little bit.

Don’t mistake this as second-guessing our decision to move. I couldn’t be more excited to go. I’m excited for the potential positive impacts to our lifestyle and to our careers, and incredibly excited to be so dangerously close to all of the wine. But one can be excited for the future while still experiencing a feeling of heavy loss for all the good I’ll leave behind, of which there is a lot.  Amidst the excitement of leaving, and all the waiting and having it feel like it took forever to get to moving day, I carry a bit of that heaviness and grief with me every single day. And I know that feeling of loss will continue to grow over the coming weeks as I start to realize that every time I see friends or places I love, it’s one visit closer to not seeing them in person as often.

In some sense, it is beautiful, this conflict between excitement and sadness. It tells me that this place and its people matter to me and that I need to make sure that I stay connected even if at a distance. It tells me that, even though I am leaving, there is a lot of potential to expand the people and places I love once we (finally!) get to Vernon.

Real Talk Thursdays: cars are giant money suckers

This is the most obvious statement about cars that I could possibly make. Everyone knows cars are money pits.  But to be fair, my little car, a Hyundai Accent affectionately nicknamed Accent Aigu, has been fairly reliable over the years. Really, he’s had only two offensively expensive services in the eleven years I’ve owned him. But today, today he cost me $2081. I think the real kicker was that I went in for a standard oil change and to swap my winter tires for all-seasons. I was not expecting him to need so much extra TLC.  Well, that and the fact that today’s repair cost more than his current value. I am now at the point where any dollar I put into that car is nothing more than a sunk cost.

Did I debate whether to repair him? Not for a second.  It’s not like I can buy a new car right now. I’m not working.  But even more importantly, I am incredibly emotionally attached to my car. The thought of getting rid of my little sidekick is unthinkable to me.

Together, we have driven through dirt roads in Montana.  We have driven back and forth between Vancouver and Banff countless times.  He provided my post-Mount-Robson-marathon nap location. He has put up my with penchant for driving Washington State’s unpaved and often “rustic” forest service roads, where I abandon him for hours on end to explore the trails. He’s even had to survive three winters in frigid Alberta temperatures without even having a block heater.  It’s safe to say, we’ve been through a lot together and he’s been very, very good to me.

So yes, cars are giant money suckers and mine cost me over two grand today, but I’m not ready to stop pouring money into Accent Aigu quite yet.

This isn’t actually accent aigu. I like to think my little guy has an extra “je ne sais quoi” that no other Hyundai Accents have. But other than that, they are twins.

 

Mid-Week Q&A: Being Friends with a Mildly Obsessive Hiker

Generally speaking, my friends have always been pretty good about my obsessive need to hike. Still, sometimes I wonder how they really feel about it.  But when I really think about it, I’m actually fairly confident I know what they’d say. And so, in a quest for the truth, I came up with a list of questions, responded to them with what I think my friends would say, and then asked one of my friends to comment on just how accurately I’ve captured their sentiments.

Join along in the fun!

What is it like to be friends with a mildly obsessive hiker? No really, what is like?

What I suspect she’ll say:  To be honest, most of the time her hiking has zero impact on my life, unless she’s trying to drag me out on the trail, which I hate.  Usually I don’t want to hear every little detail about the hike itself either, although I do appreciate the photos. Mostly I just wonder why she likes it so much.

Also, I hate when she asks me to be her safety check and then goes AWOL. It only happened once, but it was way too stressful.

Her thoughts on my answer:  Very accurate and pretty much my thoughts exactly, but maybe she doesn’t know that as much as I love her gorgeous photos, I am also completely jealous that her hiking ability allows her to see such majestic beauty, in person.   

How many times has she declined other plans in favour of hiking? On a scale of 1-10, how insulting do you find it when she does this?

What I suspect she’ll say: It’s not so much that she declines other plans after she’s committed. It’s that she won’t commit to anything on weekend days, so we’ve pretty much learned not to ask her.  I don’t actually find it insulting unless it’s a special occasion, but it’s kind of annoying that she still expects to be invited to everything even though she never accepts…and I guess, come to think of it, it’s actually kind of insulting that we always come second to hiking…I probably should talk to her about that…

Her thoughts on my answer:  It’s like she read my mind! I think I have to add that it also means that get-togethers often have to happen on weeknights and that’s probably the worst part for me. Otherwise I totally understand why she wants to spend the weekends in the great outdoors. 

Just how bad do her trail runners smell?

What I suspect she’ll say: Words cannot describe it.  You’d think ‘they can’t possibly be that bad’. Yes, yes they are. And trust me when I say you do not want to experience the smell yourself.

Her thoughts on my answer:  Uh yeah. And my sense of smell is particularly sensitive so keep those things far, far away from me.

Has she ever tried to drag you out onto the trail? If so, what were the good things about hiking with her? What were the not-so-good things about hiking with her?

What I suspect she’ll say:  Yes, though thankfully she’s stopped asking me. The good things….hmmm…are there any? I guess I got to see some scenic views. I can’t really think of anything else that’s good but, man, let me tell you about the bad. She lies! She lies about things “not being that hard” and then they end up being insanely steep and unenjoyable trails. I usually want to die. Also, she’s not very good at slowing down and waiting for you. She tries to motivate with songs or peppy cliches but these efforts don’t motivate.  No, they only inspire rage.  The last time I went hiking with her, I was defeated by the end and rendered immobile for hours afterwards. Don’t believe a word she says.

Her thoughts on my answer:  Right again. There is a certain sense of accomplishment when the hike is finally over, and I love that feeling, but my body just can’t keep up. Maybe if she let me take more scenic breaks of the hour-long variety, then I’d be on-board. 

What do you think she thinks about when she’s out in nature alone for all those hours?

What I suspect she’ll say: I don’t want to think about the dark thoughts that might weave their way through her mind while she’s on the trail. She is a chronic over-thinker, after all. Nothing good can come from her being alone with her own thoughts for hours on end.  But I also think that, when she reaches a summit or particularly nice view, she probably is at her happiest and her mind is at peace.

Her thoughts on my answer:  Not quite. I’ve always figured that hiking is what allows her to clear her mind and escape from the over-thinking. Maybe that’s why she needs to do so much of it, to balance out the sheer volume of deep dark thoughts. Now I’m worried.

Do you ever worry something might happen to her on the trail? What do the most likely tragedy that could strike her?

 What I suspect she’ll say: Dear God, yes! She has a bad ankle and a bad SI. She goes off into the wilderness by herself way too often and without sufficient gear.  She doesn’t carry bear spray.  She doesn’t carry enough extra food or water. I really don’t like to think about it because there’s a million ways she could meet her death in the wilderness. A million!

Her thoughts on my answer:  Yes, I think the trails must be where she uses up all of her luck. How has she not had a bear encounter yet? If her luck every runs out, please don’t let me be her safety check.

If you could give her one piece of hiking advice, what would it be?

What I suspect she’ll say:  I’d give her two pieces of advice. 1) STOP GOING OFF INTO THE WOODS BY YOURSELF and 2) If you’re going to have a safety check, make sure you send her a message when you’re back safely!!!!*

Her thoughts on my answer:  Yeah! Get some more gear. I’ve never understood how she can hike with so little water. Makes no sense. Although, more recently I would probably tell her that she needs to rest her SI stop pushing herself to such crazy limits. Of course, she would never listen to me.

And yes, please tell the story of when I was your safety check and I was genuinely worried that you had been attacked by either a bear or an ax-murderer.

*I feel as though that’s a story I’ll have to tell in a future Throwback Thursday!

 

 

Throwback Thursday: If You Hike with Me I Might Lose You

Last week we had the great pleasure of visiting two of my dearest friends (and their adorable son and puppy) en route to my brother’s wedding. Naturally, this got me thinking of my many hiking adventures with dear Erica over the years.  For friends who only lived in the same location for a grand total of two months roughly 15 years ago, it is remarkable the number of hikes we’ve done together.

One stands out for me, though, and that is the hike on which I was certain that I lost Erica.  This all occurred on the fourth day of a whirlwind visit and hiking extravaganza that, I’m fairly certain, nearly killed poor Erica despite her ambitious spirit and determination to hike each day of her visit.

Alas, let us recap the calamity so that anyone reading can immediately and logically conclude that should they hike with me, I may lose them.

Imagine that you have just hiked three days in a row, on hikes ranging from a mere 10km to 26km. Imagine that you are from sea level, and have had no time to acclimate to mountain elevation. Imagine that you also haven’t hiked since the last time you visited me, which was likely a year prior.  Imagine after all of this, I suggest a 14 km return hike with 1060m of elevation gain to round out your vacation. Would you be surprised to hear that Erica didn’t want to continue to the summit of Cirque Peak after reaching Helen Lake, about 5.5 km into the hike? I wasn’t.

Champ that she is, she suggested that I keep going while she returned down the trail to the car (perhaps for a much needed nap). Well, the summit turned out farther than we anticipated, so I also failed to make the summit that day.  I feared if I kept going towards the peak and took hours to return to the car, poor Erica would be bored out of her mind and never visit me again.  And so, I left my other friends to their quest for the summit and (literally) ran down the trail looking for Erica.

I assumed I would run into her while she was still on her way down. After all, I was hauling ass downhill and, in my head, it seemed as though it hadn’t taken me all that long to go part way to the summit (not surprisingly, it had actually been a considerable amount of time).  But as I got closer and closer to the trailhead, I still hadn’t seen Erica. I wondered if perhaps she had stopped to rest along the way and I had run right past her. It just didn’t seem right that she would still be ahead of me.

Then I got to the car and she wasn’t there either.  I checked the outhouse. I wandered around the parking lot. I backtracked up the trail for a while. Still, there was no sign of her. I had a horrible, anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. Could she have veered off course? Had she misunderstood and thought that she should wait for me at Helen Lake?  Then, just as I was agonizing over the thought of re-hiking 5.5 km on extremely tired legs, Erica calmly sauntered into the parking lot.

In response to my confusion and anxiety, she merely said “I left a note.”

As an aside, back in Banff (where I lived at the time), someone (I never figured out who) was always leaving strategically placed items on my car. Sometimes it was bags full of McDonald’s wrappers. Sometimes it was random pieces of paper. Once it was a fairly substantial tree limb (delicately placed so as to cause no damage).

Back to present day, as I had walked past my car in the trailhead parking lot that afternoon, I had noticed an Excel gum box tucked under my windshield wipers, very low down so you could barely see it from inside.  But, since I was always finding random garbage on my car, I assumed it had been there the entire drive to the trailhead.  Alas, it was actually the note from Erica, kindly informing me that she had gone across the highway to the Crowfoot Glacier pull out.

Amidst all the weaving story lines here, let the true moral of this story not be lost: if you hike with me, I may just lose you.*

* It’s true.  It’s happened more than once.  Maybe next week I’ll write about the time I lost Caleb…