Family

 On Sunday Mar 17 at the late hour of 11 pm PST my daughter Lauren and grandson Kieren arrived at Victoria International airport.BC. The airport is in Sidney BC and to get there I was determined to make the most of having wheels so I stopped at a place where i could take a beach walk at Island View . I have learned that all walking trails are well used and well maintained with parking, gravel paths, clear and informative signage and even bathrooms (washrooms in CA). The weather was brisk and cold but not really raining so I was all set. This stretch of beach which is pretty long overlooks Sidney Island and for the entire length it is a bit pebbly and  strewn with the debris of logs and tree limbs everywhere. They are left intentionally to break the waves and protect the beach. 

As the rain forced me back the rental car, I drove on to Sidney, the small town just minutes from the airport . I Parked the car right outside a restaurant and grabbed my phone because the most spectacular rainbow was right there , literally hanging on the water from end to end . The colours were so intense and almost opaque in character with an especially bright indigo that it's tough to believe it was a natural phenomenon . After that excitement , with  the food and drink right there and at least 4-5 hours to kill before the plane's  arrival, I settled in with a window seat, a beet salad and wine. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly and this enhanced  the view of the ocean and the rainbow. 

After I felt i could not sit longer without purpose, i added black coffee to my bill.   The short drive to the airport was easy but  the parking was the part where i decided to pretend the 2 hour max. time would find its way to 4 without admitting to it and I was preparing to plead ignorance if need be. 

As someone who has always liked to read, but rarely found time to do much in recent years, the pleasure of opening the page where the bookmark holds your place is a small but significant indulgence . Thinking about it as one who has rediscovered this pleasure has caused me to relate how in former times, before all things were moving images, the space in ones life for a novel is where one would  escape to another world. That world invites  the same level of reality as a tv drama . My practical experience of being here alone in Canada   may have heightened the pleasure of reading because  I keep my own company almost all the time.and only have access toa laptop computer.  So, with novel in hand to read, I settled in for a 3 hour wait for the plane to deliver me the most joyous gifts.  I journaled recently that there is a distillation process of being alone and i have come to learn what REAL feels like .

 It's a place where nothing needs to be questioned because there is clarity and certainty . This is what i wrote in that journal the next morning:

Real was feeling the deep love and more love in the hug and smile and closeness of Kieran when he saw me at the airport and ran forward, ducked under the barrier and did not want to let go.

Kieran is 9 . That was truly real and such a precious moment.

Lauren and I have learned that the hugs we have for each other are just as special but we are happy to wait for Keiran . 

 

Several photos to follow tomorrow .