Calgary - April 30 - May 11
Yay! I'm home! I was never so happy to be anywhere EVER!
Karen picked me up at the airport on Friday afternoon and within minutes, I was drinking on a patio under a warm sun. Life's good.
And that was our Friday afternoon - drinking on patios. Karen made margaritas for everyone as we soaked up the sunshine in her backyard. I made up for a year of missed bellyrubs with Osito and met Karen's new puppy, Rocky. Who should be renamed 'Bitey', at least until he figures out that people are not chew toys.
Sushi followed at my favourite fish joint, Sakana Grill. The sushi was great and made even better by the fact that Karen couldn't pronounce 'sashimi' and tripped over a car on the way in. Nolah and had a couple good laughs over that one. Goooood margaritas.
Nolah and Karen managed to procure a bike from Sandra for me and we went to Lake Minnewanka for a quick ride on Saturday. Sunny, warm, mountains, everything. Again, life's good.
It was even good when we accompanied Karen to the Banff Hospital. She took a spill and had to get stitched up so instead of the boring and institutional Foothills Hospital in Calgary, we went straight to the quaint, never-busy Mineral Springs Hospital.
While Karen checked in and got X-rays, Shannon and I managed to catch the last few minutes of the Flames game. Perfect timing.
We then sat in with Karen while she got the stitches in her leg. We even got to assist the good doctor by moving lights, refilling stuff and calling the nurses when we couldn't handle it. He rewarded us by letting us steal bandaids from the supply drawer.
Oh, and turns out the doctor and I were at U of S at the same time and have a few of the same friends. We were even at the same wedding a few years ago. Oh, Saskatchewan.
The next day - Sunday - I spent with the gang from Theatre Junction. Everyone and their dog was working as a volunteer at the TJ fundraiser, the Rat Race, so I tried to help out. In the process, I got to see a ton of people I hadn't seen in awhile. That's the way to visit if you're in for a short time. Stay in one spot where everyone is.
I had to leave early to get to the university to check in for my course. More on the actual course in the next post.
The rest of my time in Alberta was spent at the U of C, on course, or in Edmonton, visiting the CFB there. But in between times, I had some fun.
I watched the Flames eliminate Detroit at my buddy Jason's place. He lives near 17th Ave. so afterwards, we went down the street and encountered an amazing street party. I can believe the estimates of 10,000 people. Amazing! So much fun. And I managed to see a few old friends while I was there. Yes, out of 10,000+ people, I managed to run into 6 friends.
While up in Edmonton, we spent most of our time on the base, with a quick trip to the mall. I was lucky enough to hook up with my old friend, Tasha, while in Edmonton. We had coffee and caught up after not seeing each other since 1999! Yes, and I only lived in Calgary and she in Edmonton, but we still never managed to see each other.
I ran into another old friend while at O'Byrne's on Whyte Ave. We were there with a lot of the soldiers from the base (they were hosting a pub night for us). At one point, I looked up to see a guy that I knew in Korea walk into the bar. I hadn't seen Aubrey since 1997 and we had never kept in touch. I spent a lot of the evening catching up with him, subsequently losing my group when I couldn't find them in another bar. Whoops. I was never good at keeping up with groups.
I left Calgary this past Tuesday, after a few more whirlwind visits with old friends.
Of course, I didn't spend nearly enough time with everyone and didn't see as many people as I wanted to...but that's the nature of it, isn't it?
The really tough thing was that I realized that Calgary was still very much a place I consider home. So many important people are embarking on exciting and challenging adventures that I really would like to witness and support IN PERSON. But I'm on the move again and I'm going to miss a lot.
Maybe this is part of the getting older deal; wanting to be around the people you love and be a part of their lives, not just a voice on the phone or an email.
This is why people 'settle down' and buy houses and get married, right? Well, I'm not there yet (and may never be), but I can see the reasons behind it now.
Next: Military Journalism and my veer to the Right.
Yay! I'm home! I was never so happy to be anywhere EVER!
Karen picked me up at the airport on Friday afternoon and within minutes, I was drinking on a patio under a warm sun. Life's good.
And that was our Friday afternoon - drinking on patios. Karen made margaritas for everyone as we soaked up the sunshine in her backyard. I made up for a year of missed bellyrubs with Osito and met Karen's new puppy, Rocky. Who should be renamed 'Bitey', at least until he figures out that people are not chew toys.
Sushi followed at my favourite fish joint, Sakana Grill. The sushi was great and made even better by the fact that Karen couldn't pronounce 'sashimi' and tripped over a car on the way in. Nolah and had a couple good laughs over that one. Goooood margaritas.
Nolah and Karen managed to procure a bike from Sandra for me and we went to Lake Minnewanka for a quick ride on Saturday. Sunny, warm, mountains, everything. Again, life's good.
It was even good when we accompanied Karen to the Banff Hospital. She took a spill and had to get stitched up so instead of the boring and institutional Foothills Hospital in Calgary, we went straight to the quaint, never-busy Mineral Springs Hospital.
While Karen checked in and got X-rays, Shannon and I managed to catch the last few minutes of the Flames game. Perfect timing.
We then sat in with Karen while she got the stitches in her leg. We even got to assist the good doctor by moving lights, refilling stuff and calling the nurses when we couldn't handle it. He rewarded us by letting us steal bandaids from the supply drawer.
Oh, and turns out the doctor and I were at U of S at the same time and have a few of the same friends. We were even at the same wedding a few years ago. Oh, Saskatchewan.
The next day - Sunday - I spent with the gang from Theatre Junction. Everyone and their dog was working as a volunteer at the TJ fundraiser, the Rat Race, so I tried to help out. In the process, I got to see a ton of people I hadn't seen in awhile. That's the way to visit if you're in for a short time. Stay in one spot where everyone is.
I had to leave early to get to the university to check in for my course. More on the actual course in the next post.
The rest of my time in Alberta was spent at the U of C, on course, or in Edmonton, visiting the CFB there. But in between times, I had some fun.
I watched the Flames eliminate Detroit at my buddy Jason's place. He lives near 17th Ave. so afterwards, we went down the street and encountered an amazing street party. I can believe the estimates of 10,000 people. Amazing! So much fun. And I managed to see a few old friends while I was there. Yes, out of 10,000+ people, I managed to run into 6 friends.
While up in Edmonton, we spent most of our time on the base, with a quick trip to the mall. I was lucky enough to hook up with my old friend, Tasha, while in Edmonton. We had coffee and caught up after not seeing each other since 1999! Yes, and I only lived in Calgary and she in Edmonton, but we still never managed to see each other.
I ran into another old friend while at O'Byrne's on Whyte Ave. We were there with a lot of the soldiers from the base (they were hosting a pub night for us). At one point, I looked up to see a guy that I knew in Korea walk into the bar. I hadn't seen Aubrey since 1997 and we had never kept in touch. I spent a lot of the evening catching up with him, subsequently losing my group when I couldn't find them in another bar. Whoops. I was never good at keeping up with groups.
I left Calgary this past Tuesday, after a few more whirlwind visits with old friends.
Of course, I didn't spend nearly enough time with everyone and didn't see as many people as I wanted to...but that's the nature of it, isn't it?
The really tough thing was that I realized that Calgary was still very much a place I consider home. So many important people are embarking on exciting and challenging adventures that I really would like to witness and support IN PERSON. But I'm on the move again and I'm going to miss a lot.
Maybe this is part of the getting older deal; wanting to be around the people you love and be a part of their lives, not just a voice on the phone or an email.
This is why people 'settle down' and buy houses and get married, right? Well, I'm not there yet (and may never be), but I can see the reasons behind it now.
Next: Military Journalism and my veer to the Right.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home