won’t you let me take you on a (ten minute) sea cruise?

I had two appointments on the mainland yesterday.  Even the stress of a town

of 20K is a bit much for me anymore, but I get to start and end each visit with

a ferry ride.  Come with me.

I walked on because I had the time and it’s much cheaper than going by vehicle.

It costs nothing to get off the island, but $8.20 for a pedestrian to get back.  That’s

reduced to $4.75 if you have a Coast Card.  A regular vehicle and driver costs

$27.35 full fare, $16.85 reduced.

When I turn 65 in July, I’ll be able to ride free Mondays through Thursdays except

holidays (except Remembrance Day).  I can barely wait.  I’m aging as fast as I can.

Our vehicles won’t get the same break until they turn 65.

These docks are to the left of the ramp.

This is a fairly small load for a weekday morning.

Bald eagles often perch in this bare tree by the ferry berth.  Not this trip.

The city, home of two McDonald’s’s.  I’m not sure how to pluralize McDonald’s.

Halfway there, looking south.

I talked to a neighbour a bit.  Then I spotted Mowat, Maese and their mom Jolie.

Maese was so excited about going swimming that she showed her tonsils.

Mowat informed me that the pool has a wave machine.  Please note that

Jolie is beautiful, like all the women in our community.  It’s hard to

believe that she just played a guy in a production of “Mamma Mia”.

And she can dance in gumboots.

At the mainland terminal, these chaps were reinforcing the foundation of the waiting room.

It required the slinging of so much stone they had to use the “Super 16 Stone

Slinger”. The “Meager 8 Pebble Tosser” simply wouldn’t have been adequate.

Walking around town, I had an epiphany.  The “Walk” figure in Canada has a

sprightlier step than its counterpart on U.S. stop lights.  Must be the Burden

of Empire.

My business done, I headed home after a stop at one of the two McD’s.

The building in the centre is our dentist’s office.

It’s really calming to watch the ocean during an appointment, but I wish he’d use

lidocaine as well.  (For legal purposes, I must state that the preceding was a joke.)

Just about there.

And the Eagle has landed.

Speaking of which, there weren’t any around on our return.

I met another neighbour on the way back.  The community actually does quite a

bit of socializing on the ferry.  And if you walk on, you’ll almost always be asked if

you need a ride.  For a commuter, $5 or $17 a day is a lot.  For the casual user, it’s

a pittance for two ten-minute sea cruises.

Mini-vacations really boost my well-being.  Official vacations can be highly

stressful in an exotic way, like when one (me) gets diarrhea in a Spanish-

speaking nation.  So I stay keen for the serendipitous, like giant gnomes.

For purposes of scale, Jude’s son Nathan is 6′ 2″.

I also have a half-hour holiday every day Jude works.  It takes about 30 minutes

from when she kisses me goodbye until she calls me from the ferry terminal to let

me know she’s arrived safely.  Sometimes I fall back asleep, mostly I lie in bed and

plan my day.  Today Jude was running late and forgot to close the bottom part of

the Dutch door of the office.  At night we leave the top part open to let heat upstairs,

and the bottom closed to keep the dogs downstairs.

As soon as Jude drove away, I heard Slinkee sneaking up.  I let her jump on the bed.

I had a different gorgeous blond in bed, guilt-free.  She lay with her head on my foot

while I wondered if the world had gotten any crazier overnight.

It had.  I hope you have lots of ferries, gnomes, Judes and Slinkees in your life.