At the end of the day things are a bit clearer now. Options that were out there are no longer viable. It wouldn’t have been easy but things aren’t flowing as smoothly as I’ve  hoped. Loosing the wallet had a lot to do with it I think. The rest of the things just pile on top of it. Today was a pretty good day overall. Got to see the little guy again. He got to see a lot of people besides me. 

  
I told my brother that I wouldn’t post pictures of him. I won’t. I don’t really post pictures of myself that much either. This one I want to be preserved for posterity since I got in trouble for not having one taken with him. 

 
The pick up time was seven a.m. in the morning.  We needed to pick up various people along the way. I was the first on that list. Hilary was a bit early but luckily I was ready. We continued on to pick up Rachel downtown by St Pauls and then onto North Van to pick up James. We were pretty full with everyone and everything that we carried. It was time to meet and get to know each other as we drove to the terminal to get the ferry. We talked about our jobs and what we did in the preceding immediate past. We all needed coffee and we went to get some in the spare time that we had before the ferry’s arrival. 

  
Once we got onto the open water the wind really picked up. There were relatively lots of people taking the trip across to the island. There was a lot of sunshine and a lot of conversation about our lives. Hilary went to do some looking around and Rachel was asleep in the car. So me and James talked about different things relating to his hobbies and work. I kept watching as the kids had fun running against the strong wind that was blowing. Winds that strong were and are a trip to experience. 

  
We commented that taking this early ferry actually helped us have a more relaxed time getting to Duncan. There was no rush to get there and that allowed us to stop at a market and get some fresh fruit. We made it to town and got dropped off at Time to Heal. How can I describe this place? What is it? Andrew and Erin are business partners who are endeavoring to bring healing to those who are seeking it. They along with their employees are employing alternative methods based on their research to bring about positive changes in people’s lives. There use counseling both group and individual along with massages and other methods to ease the tensions inside people. The people gathered there on this day to celebrate this anniversary are some of their success stories. They have broken the patterns that have blocked their progress in their lives and have gathered here as a community. 

I have been away for a long time and this is new to me. I had an idea of what they were doing but I was never really involved with this aspect of their lives. It was my first time meeting many of them. From the sounds of it many have found peace and acceptance with their lives and are looking forward to the future with optimism and better tools to deal with whatever comes their way. They also have each other to rely on in times of need. 

I took on the task of cooking burgers. One needs to be present in order to cook a good burger. These were packaged burgers pre-made and still frozen. At least there was some BBQ sauce to infuse them with some flavor. If it was up to me I would have made them myself however having a task kind of got me a chance to meet everyone who wanted a burger. The little kids were cute as they requested what they wanted. I probably missed out on some socializing but at least the burgers were cooked well according to those who had one. I got to listen to the songs that were performed by a few of the attendees. Hilary even got to sing in front of a crowd for the first time. There were some poignant lyrics there written by others and some inspired by the events in their lives. 
  
We needed to catch the ferry back and gave ourselves plenty of time to do that. We had an extra passenger this time. We took Cheryl my host for the past few days. By this time the weather was a bit different. The clouds rolled in and drizzle began to fall. We talked about many different things on our way back. In the lineup before the ferry the car decided that it didn’t want to start. There was a sense of “WTF” especially since I joked about not catching this ferry. I got out and asked the drivers behind us if they had jumper cables. Many did and soon we had the car running. We did this all before it was our turn to get onto the ferry 😀👍. 

 
By the time we got across it was dark although it shouldn’t of have been. The clouds were thick and a little bit of much needed rain was falling. There was debris everywhere and it seemed like strong gusts of wind loosened the weaker branches and leaves strewing them all over the road. We took an exit and came upon a tree that was blocking the road. I tried to take a picture but just didn’t have enough time. We maneuvered away from this and when we got to James’ place it appeared that the power was out in his neighborhood. 

  
We got back safe and sound though and me and Cheryl had a chance to discuss the present arrangement and moving forward. I’ll be on the hunt for a flat even though there was a chance to live here. Nicole will be moving out too. Things aren’t going to be smooth in the next little while but in time they’ll become sorted all the while my cloud forms an impression of how it feels to be back.