It was kind of nice to not need to be up and ready to get to work today, after 13 hours on the road yesterday. I woke up at the usual early hour, but I appreciated being able to just roll over and doze for awhile, before taking my time getting moving. Eventually I made a coffee, had some breakfast, and went for a drive to the estuary and beyond, down to the recreational site at Clayton Falls. I didn’t go to the falls this time, just parked and wandered down to sit at the nice new picnic table, take in the view, listen to the gentle lap of the waves, and watch an eagle fly by. A harbour seal poked its nose out of the water near a floating log. The sun eventually came up enough to bring light to the hills across the inlet. The old derelict boat still sits, rusting, on the rocks to the right. A fishing boat comes back into port, as another one leaves. They pass each other and, through the camera lens, I can see them greet each other with a wave.
Across the inlet, an old cannery looks older. It reminds me of an old red barn.
It was peaceful.
Eventually I went back to the hatchery for some lunch, and then drove to the Community Hall and fair grounds to visit the Fall Fair. I caught the tail end of the always entertaining zucchini races and watched a bit of logger sports, then perused the competitive entires for everything from baking and pickling, to photography and leather crafting. A colleague’s two boys both did very well and walked away with some cash prizes.
I tried my best to avoid a run, but somehow I guilted myself into one. I’d thought I’d just run from the hatchery to the airport and back, particularly after a colleague had said there has been very little bear activity around town since there are so many pink salmon in the river this year and so they have lots of food. But as I drove back to the hatchery…..I looked ahead down the toad and watched a bear cross just this side of the driveway into the site.
Soooooo…nope. I spent a bit more time trying to talk myself out of my own guilt trip, before eventually putting the damned running gear on, getting into the car, and driving down to the waterfront where I parked near the ferry dock and ran up to the site where the bench used to be at the estuary. There and back gave me 3km. Good enough; I’m not back up to 5km yet, not even doing the 3km straight. I’m afraid to hurt myself again so I’m trying to take it slow and steady.
But on the run back I looked into the marina and saw a boat I knew. It used to belong to friends in Vancouver and they’d sold it years ago. I had seen it up here shortly after they’d sold it, and had spoken to the new owner at that time, but I hadn’t seen it since then. It was nice to see it again, and even nicer to see that it’s been well looked after.
And that’s about all that today brought.
