Saturday, July 16, 2005

in town for the day

Oh Baddeck library, how do I love thee...

I used to spend so much time here, when I was an adolescent and didn't have a computer at home. I used it for emailing relatives, and doing the kind of silly surfing that adolescents do. Now, it is my day off, a warm Saturday, and I came in town with Kathy to do errands (dump run, breakfast at the Yellow Cello, etc).

Not much news except that last night I went kayaking with Mat and Colin, watching the first quarter of the moon rising over the glass-like waters of North River and St. Ann's Bay. Gorgeous! Then I sat and drank beers with Kathy and Donald (who are more like older cousins than surrogate parents, really), talking about the future of the area. Always kind of a depressing topic.

Now I am in town, able to relax, hang out at a cafe, write letters on paper, and later hang out with Catriona. Summer has been having some strange weather (rain and then sun within the space of an hour, or so cool and damp it feels like Fall), and Mat and I are both wondering why...climate change? regular Cape Breton capriciousness? We don't know, and we wish we did.

Not a very remarkable post, this...just to say that I'm still alive, still breathing, still thinking and writing and reading, singing and talking, doing all the things I'm so lucky to be able to do. Living life, in all it's grandeur and quiet beauty.



****Update**** (10 minutes later)

I realized I have more time on this computer than I thought I did, so I thought I might ramble on for a bit longer. Fill you all in on what has been going on in my life, like.

There have been lots of interesting tourists, that's for sure. Folks from Iowa, Ontario, New Mexico, lots of people from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Vermont, that area. These people come in and we have short conversations about weather and driving, pottery and scenic routes. Sometimes they dig a little deeper, or I do, and we make something resembling a connection. That's always nice.

This morning Kathy and I went to the Yellow Cello (and I was served by a former classmate, that's always a bit of an etiquette quandary) for breakfast, and I saw a couple from yesterday! The crazy people from Iowa who wanted a pot that sang. The husband told me stories while his heavily-made-up wife looking at pots. He told me about Economics, and then when I said I wanted to study English, basically said I will be unemployed forever. He was friendly enough, but...yikes!! Anyway, I saw them in the restaurant this morning and after a few minutes of trying to pretend I didn't recognize them (as well as wonder if I did recognize them, peering covertly in their direction) I waved. He waved back, Mr. Iowa.

"Hello!" I said, "I wondered if it was you."
"Oh, I knew it was you." He said. We let each other alone to eat breakfast. Later he approached me as I was paying my bill, ribbing me about being an apprentice. I wonder about people like that: do they ever talk seriously? What must that be like?

Baddeck is quieter than it used to be. The number of tourists is down. The number of young people who come back for summer is down. This means that all our old affectations must be thrown out the window: we have to make friends with each other! Otherwise there is no-one to hang out with. People I used to hate, who would make snide remarks to me in the hall, or about whom I would make snide remarks in private, are now my age, and we are getting along. I find it both strange and refreshing. Life's always surprising me.

That's enough for now, I think.

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