My friend Jilly and I first “officially” hung out on September 11, 2001. We had started school at Simon Fraser University, and I was hitching a ride with her to a weekend camp our program was having. If you’re old enough to remember, and especially if you live in North America, I have no doubt you remember where you were and what you were doing on that specific day. There were MANY things and MANY emotions happening at that time, but one of the more lighthearted ones is that it was a stooooory that Jilly and I share about the day and period of time we became friends.
Almost 24 years later 😳, and on my third visit to her place in Haida Gwaii, I’m coming back home with a few stooooooories! 😝
Over the course of my week in Tlell – on Graham Island, in Haida Gwaii – there was . . . . .
- a dog attack (two dogs ganging up on her dog (who to be clear, didn’t provoke the incident) right in front of us and taking that fight to her place where one of her sons was home alone and able to get her dog into the house) – this was the talk of the neighbourhood as well as the talk of another of the towns on island
- a tsunami warning
- while paddle boarding, being provoked by river otters (to the point where we came onto land to let them pass and had sticks to use as weapons “just in case”), then getting back on the boards after the otters had passed just as fog started to roll in and freak us out (we ditched the boards and walked home figuring only eerie things happen when fog sets in)
- general drama of teenagers and small town livin’
- manifesting a store that hadn’t seemed to be open all season to be open on the day I left
- while helping to paint the backdrop for a music festival, a rat possibly peeing on my water bottle (but not realizing it was a rat peeing until a few hours later when the rat made itself visible 😱)
- consistent talk about “the covenant”
Now I could go into details about all of these stooooories, but sometimes the various stooooories of our lives are best shared in person (so if you really want to know more about these tales . . . . let’s connect! I’m always happy for reasons to see/talk to my peeps ❤️). I realized recently, that sometimes this blog IS about going into the details, but sometimes it’s simply about keeping point form notes with pictures as a way to jog my memory to bring back the feelings, experiences and stories I had when I look back at a particular moment in time and adventure I’ve been on. The by-product of this may include possibly introducing someone to a new place/idea/adventure they want to experience, or simply showing a new country/city as seen through my eyes..
Haida Gwaii is an extremely beautiful place. Its remoteness and the extra effort it takes to get there makes it even more special. I was really lucky this time in that I probably had sunshine 50% of the time I was there (which is more than I’ve had in my past visits), and I’ve always maintained that sunny days on the west coast of Canada are truly ✨magical✨
The majority of time was spent hanging with the Putters (my friend & her sons) at and around their place, with their friends and in their general area. It was a time to simply unplug, chill out and reconnect which was exactly what I was hoping for.
We were always wandering through the trees, ✨🌲✨
or being on the beach ✨🌊✨
I looked forward to my daily quad ride with “C”,
and I LOVED paint night (minus the rat incident!)
We paddled the river
Since Jilly knows me so well, not only were jump shots talked about and intended, but there was a goal to up the jump shot ante by doing a jump shot everyday. We achieved that and more! Thanks Jilly for helping me do my “thang” (I didn’t HAVE to keep telling you to let me live my life! 😜)
Thanks Putters for the good times!
See you again soon!
