It is midnight on Sunday and I’m not yet in bed; I’m not sailing this week which is a weird feeling. Instead, I’m headed out to Montreal on Tuesday for Granny’s internment service. Tomorrow morning I’m still going down to the shipyard for morning devos and to orient the substitute-cook to “my” galley and then it is up to the doctors to get things all organised for Offshore.
It is amazing how much one can pack into a weekend. I think I managed to spend my entire fortnight’s paycheque in two days: foulies (serious jacket and pants for out on deck), a fancy-smancy new iPod (80GB… that should do me for Offshore), shoes, various items of clothing like board shorts for Offshore, books… Its quite amazing really. Everything I do seems to be somehow related to Offshore.
It is going to be good to get to see the whole family again this week, despite the circumstances. It’s a bit of a bonus visit since I didn’t think I’d see any of them until I get back from sailing. Yay for having 4 cousins under 1 roof again and oh the chaos that will ensue…! We might have John Mayer tickets for Wednesday night which would probably make my month… John Mayer on top of the 2 concerts I’ll be going to here in Victoria in May (I spoilt myself with tickets to see Feist and Loreena McKennitt when they are here)… wow!
I’ve decided I work with a great bunch of people (although I knew that would be the case before I started working with them, I just underestimated how fantastic they were/are). It is not that many co-workers that, after living with each other during the week, elect to spend their weekends off with each other too. Somehow, I have managed to spend time with at least one crew member every day of the weekend – tonight it was dinner with four of them.
And now, 7am draws even closer as I have taken half an hour to write this (interspersed with random other things on the computer).
Category Archives: Life
Happy Easter
He is Risen, He is Risen indeed.
This weekend was a rare and very welcome three day weekend. Thursday night a bunch of us from work went out to The Reef and had some fantastic food. It was a fairly early night since most of us were feeling pretty much completely knackered.
Good Friday was absolutely glorious in sunshine and warmth. It wasn’t the kind of day that leads one to contemplation of the reason for the holiday. I didn’t venture out until 11 because church wasn’t until noon and I needed to return books to the library en route. I get cold easily and am easily deceived by beautiful sunshiny days: it looks nice and warm out, therefore it must be, therefore I tend to overdress when I go outside. I was removing layers all the way to church. What struck me was the number of people out walking and the number of stores that were open, even in the morning; practically all of downtown was open and there were nearly as many people out as there are on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. Thus, I was struck with a conundrum: do I do all of my running around today when I actually have time or do I try and squeeze it in tomorrow before I start cooking a turkey (more on that later) and reserve the day for what it deserves. I left church around 1:45 and ended up scumming to the shopping (or part of it) because at that point I was feeling pretty much like crap (you know that nice achy feeling you get when you are coming down with something, plus the stuffy nose) and most of the places were on my way home. I figured that if I still felt that way on Saturday, there was no way I was leaving the house to walk downtown and some things I needed to get. So we did a few random errands and found about 50% of the things I was looking for, not a great success rate. I managed to get startled out of my wits by Jose, the mate on my boat, as I was walking down Fort. At this point, I need to back up and say that the day before I was annoyed by several bikers and runners on the Galloping Goose who persisted in passing within about 6 inches of my left elbow when the whole 4 metre pathway was wide open. So when, as I am walking down Fort St, I sensed a body within tat 6 inch space for an extended period of time, I was starting to get annoyed. Then said body slapped me across the back… Jose is very lucky I looked over at him before reacting! Yes, it was startling. Friday night, Karen and I went up to the Cathedral to hear the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra perform Mozart’s Requiem. After it was over, we wandered around downtown and saw these guys out again (first time I’ve seen them this year) with their usual massive crowd. We listened for awhile before wandering some more before heading home.
Saturday I woke up at the ridiculous hour of 4am and couldn’t sleep. So I read the Economist, like any normal person does at 4am. That lead to two hours of working on my country research for Offshore, which lead to me falling asleep until 9am. So I did get some sleep out of all of that. At 10:30 I called Sarnia to say hi to the gathered family for Granny’s memorial service. Somehow everyone thought everyone else had told Jen I was on the phone, so I never did talk to my sister… Karen came over just before noon and we went shopping for our bird, stuffed our bird, and stuck it in the oven. We ended up with seven of us last night for Easter dinner – crew members who didn’t have anywhere else to be basically. There are enough leftovers to last us for a week, however none of us will be around for a week because we are all on the boat… hopefully some of it freezes and then I won’t have to buy groceries for the next few weekends. It is always fun to enjoy fellowship with them outside of the boat.
And, before I forget… (I meant to do this last weekend!) CONGRATULATIONS Megan and Frank!
A funny thing happened…
… on the way home from work yesterday. I was walking home along the Galloping Goose which, at that time of day (6:30), has few commuters and mostly people exercising. There was this guy walking ahead of me in shorts and a running vest – looking like he should be running. He was walking merrily away and soon I get a wiff of something and realize he is smoking. Less than 5 min later, I see him chuck his cigarette on the ground and take off running. I guess even runners need a smoke break.
… at MEC today when I was buying a sports bra. The lady at the counter told me that if I needed any help with my new equipment I could just come back to the store. It is a sports bra; I think I can manage. Do I look 12 or something?!?
Week Two: In which Gillian learns that stoves are still hot, sailing is fun, remembers the beauty of camp, and has a hard ending to a great week
Trip two was with a group from Vancouver, Grade 10 and 11s mostly, 
so a bit older, a bit more able, and a lot of fun. This was my first 5 day trip and at first, it seemed to go on and on. There were a few problems, like almost running out of potatoes (so we had mac and cheese instead, which was a hit… no one really knows if you don’t tell them, I guess!). I had an intimate encounter with a pan of oatmeal cookies and my inner elbow (don’t know what that area is technically called), resulting in my first magnificent burn of the year. It is about 2 inches long.
We had a couple of good sails this trip, the first day being the best I think. We had to double reef the main because there was a decent wind out. Our first night was anchored at Bedwell Harbour, between North and South Pender Islands.
(Liz, before reading on, you have one guess to tell me where this picture is!)
From there we made our way up to North Cove, Thetis and docked at Camp. I got to say hi to Chris and Andrea, and Ben was back in the country for a bit before going back to Australia, so I saw him too. After the trainees went to bed, the crew took off to Bucks and Does for a lovely hot shower… ahhhh. The next morning, it was beautiful blue sky, not a cloud to be seen and no wind at all. The trainees played soccer on Junior Meadow and I made lunch. Then it was off down to Coles Harbour on the inside of the Saanich Penninsula. 
Thursday night was in Cadboro Bay where Jordan and I, with two trainees, took the Zodiac into shore to get some ice cream to surprise Karen for her 25th birthday. We had been giving her presents all day, and she loves birthdays a lot! I got completely soaked going ashore, being the only one with roll-up-able pants and no socks in my crocs, so I was the one to leap over and drag us up the beach, while splashing water all up my backside. The four of us must have been quite the sight wandering through Peppers Market in our orange life jackets, rolled up pants/rubber boots, unwashed hair, and video camera (yes, the trainees brought the school video camera so our actions can be immortalized forever). The best part was motoring back to the ship with one trainee holding a flashlight over the bow of the Zodiac as our bow light. Oh but it was worth it for Karen’s screams of delight.
Friday morning we were just “sailing” (at a speed of anywhere between 0.8 and 2 knots) south of the harbour before heading into the harbour to unload kids. Before I go any further, I want to say Friday was an interesting day. I had just come in to the aft cabin after breakfast when I hear my phone vibrate voicemail. I check the phone and it is a number I don’t recognize but an area code I do. So I go to check the voicemail and the reception has gone (it does that on the water). Up on deck I go and there is a message to call my uncle in Sarnia. Now I’m worried and go to call him back. My phone is out of credit… curses. And I didn’t even write down the number so I could use the boat phone. Double curses. Best of all, I just got a new credit card and I don’t know the number of by heart yet so I have to find my wallet, buried under clothes in the inaccessible stowage under my bed (think lift up mattress then lift up wooden slats then rummage around in small spaces with no light). Find wallet, locate credit card, top up phone, call Sarnia. My grandmother died Friday morning. My uncle was with her. It has been coming for the last little bit, we honestly weren’t sure she’d make it till Christmas, but she did, and we had a wonderful family dinner with her in December. My aunt and uncle in Sarnia have been doing a magnificent job of caring for her for the last few years and I am so thankful that Gord was there with her yesterday. Love you Granny.
A Ring of Endless Light
Here endeth my first week of work. Last week was great; we spent four days doing an Old Testament survey and talking about our relationship with Creation and how we can convey it to the trainees. It was also a great way to spend time with the rest of the crew not on the boat.
Today was the first day in the shipyard! I spend the morning in the galley (actually, I spent the whole day in the galley…) exploring. Sarah taught me how to light the stove and it began to get warmer in there. First, I had to find the galley. Not locate it, but find it underneath all of the things which managed to accumulate over the winter. There is a new cabin being built in the hold, so there are lots of tools and miscelaneous other things lying all over in the hold and galley. Then, there was cleaning of the counter tops. Next I had to sand the rail around all of my counters in preparation for oiling this afternoon. After lunch, it was cleaning out cupboards and investigating what is in the galley. I found a binder of info and notes from previous seasons and offshores (!!!) which will be a HUGE help! Bring on the season!
Last night was nice and still. I went to bed early but woke up around midnight/1am and couldn’t go back to sleep right away. I decided to walk down to the waterway and take some pictures… becuase I do that kind of thing and it is only about 50m down to a little wooden, covered platform that juts out over the water. I spent about half an hour out there enjoying the silence… well, the silence broken by ducks making lots of noise. My favourite surprise when looking at the photos when I got back in was a heron standing in the water which I couldn’t actually see when I was out there.
Here is the Bay Street Bridge in time exposure. You can see the Johnson St Bridge in the background. This is the one with my heron standing in the reflections from the bridge!
This one is also a time exposure of the appartment/office/?? across the waterway from here. The tide was going out.
The covered wooden thing I was standing in and taking pictures from. There were lots of clouds… apparently there was a storm last night, probably after I was outside, but I didn’t hear it… and they were all blowing across the sky at a fair rate.Ever feel like you know something or have something to say that is earth-shattering but no one else knows/cares about?
Unrelated joke of the day:
How do you introduce a hamburger?
“Meat Patty”
This one never gets old… or at least it hasn’t since I heard it 2 weeks ago…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
Have a great weekend in Whistler.
Back in Victoria everyone. See you at Ring Out tonight.
Journal Thoughts: Carpe Diem
I spent little time with the Internet on the weekend (in stark contrast to right now) and had lots of time to think on flights etc. These are some of the latest thoughts from my Journal… (the one and only look you will ever get inside… until I decide to transcribe something else)
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and Gandalf are talking at the Mines of Moria and Frodo, speaking of the Ring, says to Gandalf that he “wish[es] [the Ring] had never come to me.”
“So do all who live to see such times.” Gandalf replies, “But that is not for them to decide. All was have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
In my opinion, this is the clincher, the most important statement: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” This, essentially, is how I try/want to live my life. It is not up to me to determine whether I live or die or some of the things which happen to me along the way. What I can do, however, is decided do with the time that is given to me.
People I have talked to in the last little while have expressed envy at my life. To me, it is just my life; what I do, how I live. I hear such things like “I wish I was you,” “Do it while you are young,” or “I want your life!” Australia. Cuba. China. Europe. Now Offshore… Yes, I will admit, sailing around the South Pacific in a tall ship is a pretty darn cool prospect, but what have I done other than what Gandalf told Frodo. I just made a decision to do these things when the opportunities arose. This doesn’t just apply to my job or my travel schedule or the number of stamps in my passport (not very many believe it or not). It is more about how I want to live every aspect of my life.
People say “Do it while you are young.” But I don’t think that is it; how about “Do it while you can”? One thing I learned from Mum’s cancer and eventual death is that you cannot put off things to a more “opportune moment.” When is the moment going to be? Will you be able to recognise it? What happens if you miss it? As important as it is to live our lives, as Christians, with our eyes on the future – on the prize, as Paul said, for which God is calling us heavenward – do we not have to live here and now? In this moment? It is the decisions we make now and in this moment which will influence us forever and bring us to that prize. Not making a decision is still a decision (and I am so guilty of this. I would rather put things off than make a tough decision sometimes).
That all being said, not everyone has the same life as everyone else. We each have to decide what to do with the days given to us. Carpe Diem. Seize the Day.
gillian's island 