I just picked up the last piece of my replacements from my lost wallet. The passport that took three months to replace and a pretty penny to boot. Periods of sun greeted my day as I rushed to get things done this morning. After my meeting last night I felt a bit empowered to pursue the unknown again. After talking to my sis I made a plan to call the folks in the morning. 

  
I spent a good portion of the morning in a panic over where I put the receipt. It’s been so long ago that I applied. It gave me a chance to rummage through the pile of unopened letters and bits of paper that has accumulated since my time in this room. I found it eventually a small baggie with the word “passport” written on it. One forgets how things look when put away. I knew it had to be in that envelope. I was surfing the couch at that point. I only had a meager amount of possessions then. 

  
I decided to have some breakfast and then make the call. I promised not to spill the coffee and shatter the mug like the other guy. I was waiting to be seated at a table that they wanted to clear. I saw the whole commotion and the freeze that came over the room as the mug shattered on the ground. The guilty party like a deer in headlights with a container of maple syrup in hand that was about to be poured over the French Toast. 

  
Not much interested me in the paper as I diligently worked through my deluxe breakfast. There was that op-Ed piece about the symbolism of Trudeau’s boxing match win and the results of the leaders debates in the run up to the elections. As I walked towards the consulate I made the phone call and didn’t enjoy the response that I got. The passions that rise out of religious ferver dissapoint me. I was walking along digesting the emotional response when I noticed a young Asian couple crouched as if tending to a child. As I walked closer I couldn’t see any child so I thought he was tending to his partner who had her back to me. As I walked past I noticed the bibles in their hands and he turned to me and said “the end is near…” I turned away from him and mumbled expletives under my breath and thought about how surreal this feels. 

The rush to pick up this document today came out of the realization that it is ready and has been for a while. Yesterday’s get together with Daniel was just an extra impetus to get things going. It’s been a while since we had a pint. Daniel is partially responsible for me leaving Canada for the UK. Anyways we have been emailing each other over the last couple of weeks in order to meet up while he is here in Vancouver. I proposed that we meet at the Three Brits Pub. Somehow it is a filling name for two well one Englishman and a former resident to meet. I got there first and to my horror discovered that it was closed down for some renovations. Damn it. I sat there for a bit out on the bench and periodically checked to see if he was coming from the other side. I could see in the distance that a crowd had gathered along the sea wall. I think the whale is up to its frolicking in the bay. 

  
Daniel showed up a bit past the time we were scheduled. I noticed him walking down the street. We exchanged hellos and I told him the bad news about the pub. Luckily there is another one across the street. We went in the the full impact of the Monday Night Football game hit our senses. We found a spot and eventually got our beer. Stella in a mug…. Sacrilege. We got to talking and I told him about my thoughts about leaving here and the reasons behind them. We had limited time as he had to meet up with someone else before leaving for London the next day. He gave me a suggestion. He told me to make a list of the options I would like to take. It is something that I thought of and in a way I’ve made a list of my options when deciding based on numbers. As a locum I don’t have security but the money is good. For the immediate future that is the important part. 

  
It was a good chat and I promised him to keep him updated with my progress. I had a long chat it’s my sis about the state in which we find ourselves in. Hence the phone call earlier and hence me sitting right here in Coal Harbour pouring out my thoughts thinking that things have changed like the leaves. 

  
A new season is upon us literally and figureatively. There is no convincing them with compromises there is no going back and changing it to how it was. My dad is upset that it won’t be our denomination under which the baptism will be performed. His fervor an example of some of the reasons behind his feeling. There is a loss in continuity with respect to religious tradition but I don’t think the values will change. 

  
Generations always battle with each other the younger always winning eventually but always at a cost. Progress is built upon the shoulders of those who came before. I hope that somehow this schism will heal within our family in time.