Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Back from bliss
Back in the city after camping on the beach, seeing the northern lights, swimming in the ocean, lying on warm rocks, sitting around a campfire, hanging out with good friends, being amused by chipmunks, walking to Brandywine Falls and eating lots of good (and sometimes junky) food. What a nice wrap to the summer.
The ferry dock that never was….
The emergency dock at Porteau Cove built in case slides on the highway necessitated taking vehicles out to Vancouver by water. As far as I know it has never been used.
Friday night campsite.
From an afternoon earthquake to a Friday night setting up camp by the sea…. busy Friday evening at Porteau Cove.
Getting my gym on.
I am back at the gym this week for the first time in months and I can’t believe how good it feels to be moving and stretching my body again. Not that I’ve been doing nothing all summer – we did have a hiking trip and there’s been a bit of running about – but really, physical activity hasn’t been at the top of my list since I got sick last April.
While I (happily) haven’t put on any weight in this recent downtime, the psychological effects of not exercising have been increasingly apparent. Work has been getting me down more than normal, I’ve been unusually worried about my relationship, and my general confidence in being fit and healthy has all but been sapped… really, all the manifestations of low-level depression (Good god, not again).
Fortunately I have an excellent fitness center right around the corner (yay YWCA) which I absolutely *love* and it makes starting again really easy. Yesterday was an elliptical workout, today I went to a pilates class – lots of warming and stretching to undo all that inner tension that’s been building. I’m hoping to blend some yoga, pilates and cardio this fall to build up my stamina, core and flexibility before I decide whether or not I want to move back into high-intensity interval and weight-training workouts again.
It’s only been a couple of workouts and I can already feel the tension lifting, not to mention some flexibility returning to my lower spine. Perhaps some massages are in order this autumn as well – some gentle lifting of the body into a space where everything elevates, including my mood.
September promises…..
I know I’m the odd one out on this – but the late-summer always gets me down a little bit. The blowsiness of gardens spun out and seeding, the malaise of all new projects put off “until the fall”. I feel like a late-summer wasp banging back and forth against the windows, and August is so cruel as to refuse to lift the window-sash and let me out.
But then Labour Day finally comes and it seems that life lurches into motion again – the hum of neighbourhood kids getting ready for the start of school, the return of a regular rhythm in the office, the potential for newprojectsnewfriendsnewideas echoing back to our childhood selves racing off to see who showed up on the first day and who didn’t. So much promise!
And my autumn offerings are plentiful indeed: grad school (begins tomorrow), camping at porteau cove this weekend, a friend’s fortieth hosted at our house, our first-year wedding anniversary, a trip to NYC in October. All welcome after a bit of a meh summer on the coast. So while I’m glad the summer sun seems to be sticking around a bit longer, I am so thankful that the start of my new psychological season is finally here!
Red Cedar 