Tag Archives: holiday

Restless relaxation

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I’m relaxing in a hammock, in the shade, at a campground, listening to a playlist titled ‘Writing 2’, and I’m restless. I dealt with a work issue earlier. Nothing challenging, just needed to give some quick guidance around an issue and all is well. Still, that put my head in a bit of ‘work mode’ and now I don’t feel like I’m relaxing, but rather that I’m being unproductive.

Stupid… I know.

But that’s where I go sometimes. I get into a mode where relaxing feels like ‘not doing anything useful’. And so, music on, blogging app open, and I can suddenly feel productive. I’m writing. The good news is that this actually feels relaxing. I’m still in the hammock, I’m comfortable, and my impulse to be productive will be a little more subdued after I hit the Publish button.

I think it’s time to head to the lake now, and switch to my audiobook. Again, a chance to feel like I’m doing something… useful. Because I don’t know how to relax doing nothing.

Novel worlds

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I enjoy reading novels when summer comes along. I seek out books that take me to different worlds and different realms. I seek magic and the majestic. I don’t really enjoy historical fiction. I want dystopian tribulations, lost kingdoms, and kingdoms lost. Give me magical orbs, forbidden powers, fragile Gods, and alien encounters.

Set me free in a novel world, where I can escape on the pages, written or read, paper or digital, visual or auditory. Places I can visit in my mind; places that could never exist save for an author’s imagination.

Summer is a time to escape to places only the mind can go… thanks to a good book.

Strangers in a familiar land

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My wife’s cousin and her husband are visiting from England. They did a bus tour book-ended with family visits. Listening to their itinerary made me realize just how little of BC I’ve actually seen. I’ve now lived in this province for over 30 years and many tourists have seen more of it than me.

I spend so much time thinking about all the countries I want to visit, in order to explore more of the world… and yet I’m a stranger to where I live.

I’m heading home

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It’s almost noon and I’m sitting poolside, but in the shade. I had a shower and really don’t want to lather up with sunscreen when I’m going to be taking a cab to the airport in just over an hour. After writing this I’ll put my audio spy novel back on for 20 minutes before heading to a shack restaurant in the strip of restaurants and shops across the street. I’ll order one more delicious breakfast burrito and savour it.

I usually prefer more active holidays, rather than planning my day between pool chairs and meals, but I have say that this was a fabulous trip! I was with great people, and my wife and I had more quality time together than we’ve had in quite some time. It’s easy at home to get busy and live side-by-side lives, without spending enough quality time together. It sometimes takes a holiday to really enjoy each other’s company and not just spend time planning the next thing, the next meal, the next shopping list, the next… and the next, and the next ‘thing’ we need to do.

I’m heading home today, but I hope to be able to find some chill time at home that keeps this holiday-time feeling going, ‘small slices of relaxation every day’ or ‘holidays in a cup’. I won’t have this gorgeous poolside view, but I can still find moments, slices, and tiny tastes of holiday every day.

The quest for food

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I’m on holidays and I’ve had the privilege of watching a few sunrises over the ocean. Before the sun rises, but the day has brightened, and before the glare gets in the way, birds nose dive for small fish feeding on the turmoil of the ocean; as waves crash near the shore. I’m reminded of another privilege we all have: we don’t have to spend most of our day seeking food.

These diving birds must constantly be on the move, seeking their next meal. Food is life, and the quest for food makes up a significant part of most bird’s and mammal’s day. We don’t have to do that. We have the luxury of grocery stores, restaurants, refrigerators, and means to store food without it going bad. Much of our innovation and subsequent convenience comes from our ability to spend precious time not in the quest for food.

But it’s not just about innovation and convenience, it’s also about creativity. I think we are on the threshold of a new era of creativity. AI and robotics are going to move us into an era of greater innovation and convenience, and ultimately give us more precious time to design, create, and be artistically inspired.

The quest for food will be replaced by the quest for self-expression. A new chapter is about to be written… it will feel much more like fiction than reality.

Hear the ocean breathe

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I could listen to the ocean all day.

Put some headphones on and enjoy the sound of a couple waves crashing

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The ocean never sleeps, it’s always in motion. A rhythmic chorus of crashes, followed by the hiss of foam on sand. A heartbeat on the never still edge of shore. Another crash, another hiss, and another. And another. Speaking to me and asking me stay and listen… And another.

So delicious

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We are in Mexico and tonight we went to a small restaurant with an octopus in their logo. I took that as a hint that this might be their specialty and so I ordered an Asian Octopus appetizer. Spicy and served in a mild soy sauce it was a mouthwatering treat. I also ordered the Octopus ceviche, which again was a real palate pleaser.

I was not disappointed! The meal was wonderful. And so was the service. And so was the company. There is more than just good food that makes a meal delicious, and tonight’s meal really had everything I could ask for.

Sometimes life can be just so delicious!

Gimme a break!

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It’s the last school day before the March break. I’ve got a few ‘To Do’s’ to get done this morning then we are taking our students bowling this afternoon. It has been a while since we did a bonding event with our community and I’m looking forward to it. Last year we took the students bowling around the same time and I was in so much pain with my herniated disk I couldn’t join in. It’s amazing what a difference a year can make.

On top of feeling physically better, last March break I went to visit my parents and my dad had a stroke about 5 hours after I arrived home. I spent my holiday sleeping on a couch and at a hospital. It was uncomfortable, stressful, and exhausting. I’m hoping for a significantly different kind of a holiday this year… I’m looking forward to a wonderful break.

Extra down time

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It’s Sunday night and tomorrow is a holiday. I will be doing pushups for a monthly challenge, and meditating before bed, but I will be skipping my cardio workout today. No guilt, I’ve worked out every day since my last workout missed on January 27th, and I’m not up to getting my heart rate up before bed.

I feel like the Sunday of a long weekend is a very special kind of down time. A day like today was spent being productive, doing things that I like to do but seldom have time. I also got laundry done and it didn’t feel like a chore. I also just finished watching a couple episodes of a show my wife and I have been watching together.

…And I still have another whole day off! It seems like every long weekend I’ve been writing about how much I value 3 days off. It makes me wonder if we will ever see a shift away from the traditional Monday to Friday work week?

Even if it does change, education will probably be a last bastion of the 5-day week. Until it’s normal for everyone, kids need supervision during the work day. So from now until I retire you can expect a little social commentary on the joys of a three day weekend almost every time they come up.

into the dark

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I drove home from work well after dark last night. It’s 7am and it’s pitch black outside. I saw the sun out my window yesterday just before lunch, and that was the only natural light I really saw for the day. At least we could see the sun, there were quite a few days last week where you didn’t know where in the sky the sun was, because the cloud cover was too heavy.

I know I left Barbados at the young age of 9. I know that most of my life has been spent with winter days being short and dark. Still, I just can’t get used to it. I want to live somewhere that the shortest day of the year is still over 11 hours. Yes, it got dark shortly after dinner every day in Barbados. Yes, that’s a stark difference from summer nights here, when we can still see the sun in the sky after 9pm. But that consistency of seeing the sun every day, the wonderful experience of having it be bright and clear… and warm… every morning, this is something I wish I had.

I don’t think I’d ever end up living full time anywhere except Canada, but when I retire I’m going to do my best not to be in the dark for January and February. I am going to seek out holidays that are filled with long, bright, warm days. These short, cold, dark winter days are really not my thing.