Making It Up As I Go Along #431

The Washed Up Boot on Sandy Cove


Dad looking out to sea at Back Western Shore (or as dad would say (Backwester shore)


Brimstone Head at Sunset

Things I learned in a Week.

Sports
Softball is a great game when people actually work together... Standing around, wishing for it to hurry up and end, ruins it for all.

There is something magical about a lit ball field at night. Softball or baseball. Seeing adults or kids running around, catching lazy fly balls, picking up one hoppers and throwing them in on a rope, or just flicking the ball around the infield at the end of a play... it’s all amplified and theatrical under the lights.

The only thing that could make me wish I was 16 again is a lit up softball field.

Movies
Guilty pleasure movies are unexplainable. How someone could prefer Drop Zone over Gone With the Wind defies all logic... but it happens. Good ol’ Drop Zone.

Alan Doyle (of Great Big Sea)... will not become a full time actor... and Robin Hood (of great Hollywood Blockbuster material) is average.

The Air Up There really is a good movie. And it’s okay for men to think George Clooney is cool.

There are moments in Chariots of Fire that still give me cold shivers.

Fogo Island
The ferry to Fogo would give tourists, going for a first time, fits.

No Ferry terminal should be placed in the middle of a gravel pit.

No recycling sign should say “Please remove all bottle caps... We do not accept crushed cans... Please wash bottles and cans before recycling”.... when they could instead say “No Stoppers... Not Squat... Fairly Clean”.

The term, Newfie, should never proudly be displayed on a t-shirt.

A washed up boot on the beach holds greater impact than a washed up sneaker. One appears as a tombstone for a lost fisherman... the other as a tossed overboard prank by American tourists.

Sunsets at Brimstone Head qualify as one of the wonders of the natural world.

There are trees on Fogo Island... but my memory of the place always happily leaves them out.

Anytime Back Western Shore is in sight, it must be visited.

Scaffolding can be as holy as any church choir.

Travel
Ottawa is a horrible city to drive in at 4:15 on a Thursday afternoon.

Long Term Parking at the start of a trip makes you feel just a little bit more alone.

Looking out an airplane window at night is still mesmerizing. Who’d ever think one could get more interest from a window to blackness than to a touch screen of multi-media choices.

Sometimes, in arrival sections of airports, mothers can walk right on by you.

Flying with only carry on baggage is incredibly freeing to the soul.

A pot of soup is always a nice thing to find at the end of a day of travel.

Sometimes mechanical malfunctions on planes bring the greatest of opportunities... an unexpected lunch with your dad... and an unexpected upgrade to luxury.

Halifax airport is best when you’re asked to remain onboard your plane.

Long Term Parking at the end of a trip makes you feel very alone.

Five days away allows you to see first hand exactly how much garbage gets jammed into your mailbox.


MONDAY...
— An old cheesy movie before work. Drop Zone, with Wesley Snipes, is on Movie Pix.
— Work is ok... not much out of the ordinary.

TUESDAY...
— Not a fun game of RCMP softball. Don’t like it to much when people quit before the game is actually over.
— Work until 12:45... Hardly seems worth being at work so late for ball when people don’t try at ball.

WEDNESDAY...
— Sleep in until 11:00. Pack and laundry before work. Supper with Annick and Janice... sort of... takes a half hour to go get the food and bring it back.... so eat while I work. Home early to prepare for days tomorrow.

THURSDAY...
--- woke at 3:50. Work from 7 to 4 makes for a long and tiring day.
--- hour to drive the 15 km to the airport. --- fly home. Basically get in, have soup, go to bed.

FRIDAY...
--- up early and on the road. Drive to the Fogo ferry terminal. Get there by 2:00. But between delays and missing a run due to crowds, don't get on the way to Fogo until around 6:00. Supper is about all we do on the island today.

SATURDAY...
--- start early. Joe Batt's, Tilting, Sandy Cove, lunch at Nicole's Restaurant, walk to a studio being built (where the wind through the scaffolding sounds as lonely music), little break at the room, hike the Lion's Den trail, shower, back to Nicole's for supper, rain and wind pick up once we get back. Just beat the rain while the wind has been a gradual increase from nothing this morning to 40 km/h tonight.

SUNDAY...
--- up early again. To the ferry and then to uncle Bert's for lunch. Back to St. John's from there. Home by 7:00 and to the Riggs family house by 8:30.

MONDAY...
--- dead most of the day. Just dragged out from the running around of the last week. Lounge around the house... Supper is turkey and the fixings with mom, dad, Wince, Brenda, Wayne, and Sylvia. Stuffed. Cards after that.
--- Del pops by, as does Dave, for an hour of catch up in the late evening/night. To bed after that.

TUESDAY...
— Up early for flight back to Ottawa. Alarm went off at 5:00. About to board plane at 6:30... and delay. Maintenance. And more delay... and more. By 7:45, they tell us it’ll be 1:30... so I get my stuff back and dad picks me up. While home, cancelled flight. Ends up ok as the phone call to Air Canada gets me on a 2:30 flight quickly. Dad and I eat lunch at the airport, and then I try it again.
— Bumped up to Business Class... Del appears to be my good luck charm... he works on the ground crew for the flight, and I get a good seat. Need to get him working all my flights... keep the good luck rolling.
— Home by 6:20. A bit off the 8:20 AM that was originally scheduled. Forget work on this day.
— Unpack and clear up stuff like computer... digital pictures... iPod Touch.