I got back into town yesterday (for the second time since mid December) and am, again, very happy to be back. People have been saying "Happy New Year" to me... and I've mostly responded with "Oh! Right! I'd completely forgotten!"...
This "Christmas Holiday" has been a wild-ish ride... with a lot of driving... and an unusual detour.
Spending 10 days in Edmonton in the middle of winter is ill-advised for anyone... and spending 10 days in a household with children is extremely ill-advised for someone who just isn't that into kids. Among other ill-advised activities, going to the West Edmonton Mall on boxing day is a really, really bad idea.
As my plane flew over the Georgia Straight, I became very thankful that I live on the island... where it's just not that cold... and where my nose isn't bleeding all the bloody time.
I planned to maybe go skiing before heading back to Tofino... I had a couple of days free between arriving in Comox on Sunday and having lunch with Sharon at the Wick on Tuesday... I had even packed all my ski gear in my car...
Alas, it was not to be... I ended up getting an invitation to dinner at T's parents' place (I had never met them)... and left their house two days later. Those two days undid all the damage that Edmonton inflicted (which were by no means trivial... I was a bit of a basket case when I got to YQQ)... and it ended up being my real Christmas. They didn't get around to having their turkey dinner until the 27th... and so it was that I was able to join them for what felt like Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They were so incredibly and improbably wonderful that for a while after I left I wasn't sure if it actually happened... but I decided that I couldn't have made something like that up... or... more importantly, given my declaration on the Third of October, would not have made something like that up. Besides which, there is hard physical evidence in the form of two fluffy knitted dishcloths that I am now very glad I accepted, for the reason that they serve as evidence.
Beside that they are exceptionally likeable people... I now suspect that a large part of my having enjoyed their company so very much had something to do with the fact that, finally, I met people who held T in higher esteem than I did! All my friends who know him have, over the last 12 years, developed a bit of disdain for him... much in the same way as a crack addict's friends would develop a contempt for crack (and I do feel a little bit bad about comparing T to crack, but you have probably already observed enough to see its aptness, and for that, I apologize (I promise, though, that I really am fine now)). Those friends who do not know him of course could not think very well of him, given that all they know is that he turns me into a fool, and not the good kind, either. And so how refreshing it was to meet two people who think the world of him... love him more than I do, and understand him better... that was the real relief.
Now, I'm back in Tofino... I'm surfing... and I'm okay. And nothing is going to fall apart any time soon. I hadn't surfed since the 14th of December... I was exhausted by the time I got past the break today. I missed a whole lot of waves (too far out, as usual)... but when I caught my first one of the day, of the year, and of the decade, it was a super awesome ride... a peeling left that went on forever... I went by a bunch of people... all of whom were watching this awesome ride... and... ULTE1's friend was there to see the whole thing. He also saw my second ride, which was almost as awesome as my first, but a right. I don't need the gaze to validate my reality... but it's sure a good feeling to be seen catching a good ride. There was a lot of waiting... but I got five waves and left. I found out later on that ULTE1 was there when I was... but he said he got nothing. I guess it was my welcome home gift. Happy New Year.
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