I've been giving my perfect day a lot of thought... and I want to retell the story from the beginning. But to jump ahead for a second... I went out for a surf tonight in the microwaves. It was probably the most disappointing surf since June. It was small and crowded... and I ran into SAIS in the parking lot. I wasn't very friendly... I'm afraid I might be harbouring a bit of resentment about his role in the thwarted sticker bombing... that, and I find his conversation dull and uninteresting-- there is nothing about either his nor my B&B that interests me enough to be a topic of conversation. In fact, at this time of the year, I'm sufficiently done with it that I find myself almost pretending that I don't have a B&B to run. But never mind all that...
How did I end up having to rely on the kindess of strangers?
I have, as evidenced by an earlier entry on here, considered the possibility of getting stuck in Ahousaht and not being able to get back to Tofino before even committing to going on this hike. I knew that it was a possibility... but chose to do nothing about it. This was due mostly to the fact that I've been trying something different lately. I decided to train myself to count on other people... and DCMS, being a far superior outdoorsman, seems to me to be the perfect person with whom to complete this training exercise. To this end, I did a few things differently. First, I left the transportation details to him entirely. Second, I did not research the route we are taking, except for to find out how long it is. Third, I decided to under-pack for the hike, despite that I always over-pack with emergency supplies and extras for others. Previously, people counted on me to be prepared... now, it was my turn to count on someone else. Without consultation or coordination, I assumed that he would be packing the emergency supplies. I brought only what was personally required for myself, with nothing for contingency. My assumptions proved to be correct very early on. DCMS had packed everything, up to and including a neck brace-- seriously.
This is more control than I have ever relinquished. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that difficult.
On one of the many beaches we walked on, there were many moonsnail shells strewn about. I have not been one to take things away from beaches... but while on this beach, I thought it would be an excellent idea to take a moonsnail shell back to Tofino to send it to Tina, who would then be obligated to bring it back to Flores Island. I haven't heard from her in far too long... so I decided to poach this shell and make her come out. Of course, I've got to get it to the post office first...
I want to go back to that trail again, and-- I can hardly believe I'm saying this-- would probably camp for a night in order to spend more time on the beaches. On our way there, I was looking forward to seeing every beach again on the way back... but because DCMS was seriously limping by the time we got to the end-- he was really not in a good way... walking with two sticks and took up my offer to carry his pack for him (this was actually a little impressive, almost every guy I know would have been too macho and stupid to hand it over)-- we didn't come back the same way we went out... so now I feel like I'm not quite done and want to go back.
As much as this was an exercise for me in relinquishing control, I believe it was an exercise for DCMS is figuring out what to do with me... I was stuck in his "to sort" pile and didn't quite fit in any of the categories with which he organizes the people in his life. It felt at times like he was testing the properties of an unknown substance.
(I had to back-date this post... I fell asleep while composing it... and I'm not likely to finish it any time soon... this is bad... I'm bordering on narcoleptic...)
No comments:
Post a Comment