Day 326 – Grateful

9

I never knew that I could be so grateful to have discovered what I think is the best line of outdoor clothing around. Icebreaker came to Vancouver in about March and I was interested in it from a travel perspective at first. Lightweight wool seems like a strange concept to stay cool in, and I started to toy with the notion of a smaller number of travel pieces that are easy care. But OH that price tag!

I picked up my first piece in late summer and was hooked. Then they had a fabulous promotion during October and I picked up about 15 pieces over the course of the month, including a wonderful wool coat. On one hand, it cost a small fortune to build the pieces I wanted, but on the other hand, that promo saved several hundred dollars. It layers up so wonderfully, and no itch. And with the field work I am doing these days, I am so incredibly grateful to have icebreaker layers instead of poly-fleece. It’s nice to be warm and not feel like the Pillsbury dough-boy because of bulk.

I dragged my body out of those warm flannel sheets at 5:30 am this morning to head out to Cultus Lake to help with the sockeye spawn. Cultus Lake sockeye were pulled back from the brink of extinction by a small group of fisheries biologists and hatchery staff that decided they couldn’t stand by and watch the stock disappear because bureaucracy was holding things up through indecisiveness. So they jumped in and started a program that has seen a great deal of success over the past ten years or so. I’m always thrilled to have an opportunity to be involved in it.

And as I looked out the window at the dark, at the deluge, at the wind, I was happy to snuggle into a few layers before making the trek out to the Valley to work outside in inclement weather. It’s funny. Living in North Vancouver, many people express pity at having to cross the North Shore bridges. But when I have to drive out to the Valley I feel the opposite. As I drove out across the Port Mann and looked into the distance, all I could see were headlights twinkling off into the distance. Like a line of fireflies. All I could think was that I’d rather live close to the city and do with less house space than put myself into a commute like that to justify a bigger home. A bigger home that would have more room to fill with more stuff that I really don’t need anyway. Oddly enough, that’s how we ended up with the boat. We were looking for a bigger place, and had found a townhouse we thought we would buy, until I threw myself into traffic to try to get into town. That sealed the deal that we didn’t want to leave the North Shore – ever! So we stayed put and bought the boat instead.

If things work out the way we hope in the next year or three we may move to something bigger, it’s hard to say that, since it would mean a new mortgage and it’s been nice being mortgage free. We’ll see what the days ahead bring – we have that sailboat to buy. But I still wouldn’t make that trek. If we do move into something larger it will be over here, close to our boat, and close to the community of friends that we have built in the years we have lived here. Location, location, location is what they say. But to us that mantra includes proximity to the people that populate our life. In my book that’s more important.

That’s a lot to fall out of being grateful about being warm and cozy. But I DO love this clothing!