hi. my birthday is over. my feet are back on the ground. i'm just a regular person again. the magic has lifted.
as covid birthdays go, it was a good birthday. on my birthday even heather and i were texting back and forth about whether or not we should meet in vancouver for dinner or something the next day, but suddenly i had a notion. it was supposed to be raining that day, but although i drove through a localized heavy shower on the way home from getting my feet scanned for orthotics, it was now sunny and the sky was clear and blue. i knew there was a super moon that night. i knew it was called 'the pink moon'. so i was like "heeeeeey, wanna do this? i grab some foods, pick you up and we go up to the cypress look out and watch the pink super moon?" and heather was like "suuuuure." so we assumed we would get bao down to eat because that is one of my faves of all time but it was closed on mondays. then i spent a little time trying to pick the perfect place but in the end i was like, why struggle. let's make it easy. so we ordered take out white spot from the white spot by heather's house. i picked her up just before seven...i actually got there early but allowed her to finish watching the voice while i spent time relaxin on my phone. we picked up our bc burgers and fries. i got a choco shake and h got a strawb shake. when we got to the cypress look out i was all oh we have got to nab a spot! and h was like i wanna be cozy in the car with my fries. bless her kind heart she followed me out. fair enough most of the people out there left before the photog group showed up.
we had fun eating and talking and looking at the gorgeous view of the city. as time went on space was filled with tripods and huge lenses.i set up my tripod and was disappointed the ground was uneven. i was just about to say oh i'll have to put it behind us on the pavement, but all i got out, was something about not getting it straight and heather just nonchallantly said "oh yeah, you can just make one of the legs shorter to make it even." i stopped short. for some reason i thought all the legs had to be the same length at all times. i laughed so hard. heather thought i was joking. but no. a whole new world opened up for me in that moment. haha.
around eight we were wondering where the moon was. it was supposed to rise at 8:06. after a couple of minutes i noticed a photog by me getting intense in one direction and my eyes followed where her giant lense was pointed. i leaned out a little to see past a tree. (cypress faces south and the moon rises in the east.) and i saw it! and it was indeed pinkish. i think the setting sun helped with that. two very eager dedicated guys when partway down the bank with their tripods to get a better shot. heather was like if you want to do that i'll watch from right here. did she see the painstaking lumbering way i made it from the car to out spot on the stone wall?? even if i wanted to, i did not have the ABILITY to do that. even on a good able day, a laura may go down but a laura might have a hard time getting back up a steep bank.
so i was taking pics, and talking with heather and changing lenses, batting away real and imaginary mosquitos happy as a clam. in my element. feeling the adventure feeling. enjoying the wonders of life side by side with my kindred spirit. when a voice from behind asks me if i had any lenscaps. i was like hu? he was like you should put lens caps on because of dust. i was like "oh you caught me!" and just kind of joked with the mansplainer. i was not too proud to see if he could figure out the problem with my 200mm lens that i brought and was not working though. but he couldn't help with that.
it got quite chilly and although i knew my bare arms were like ice. almost as icy as metal, said heather when she touched them, i couldn't care less. we stayed until it was totally dark and the city lights were all bright.
i took a lot of pics of lady moon. none of them were that good but i still enjoyed attempting it. here are two:
before dropping her off h offered to be my legs and went into the safeway by her house to buy me some advil and a water. she's a good friend. while she was gone i got out of the car and laughed gleefully while running laps around it. well i got out and grabbed my phone and giggled imagining doing that.
heather sent me home with a cool new cookbook by jamie oliver and a big jar of the spice blend tajin, along with 2 frozen tubs of beef veggie soup, 2 boxed of kraft dinner and a crown of broccoli. the first two were my birthday present gifted to me in a christmas gift bag. the other stuff is an every day present of food that she is always giving me lately, and i gladly receive them.
when i got home i edited those 2 pics and had a shower sitting on a chair because i was tired and me limbs refused to support me.
next day i woke up at a 47 year old. truth be told i had to remind myself i wasn't now 48 because i already started thinking of myself as 47. you know what's weird? i started blogging around my 29th birthday. weeeiird.
most of the morning was spent receiving birthday love. i had a breakfast of sausages, fresh pineapple and re-crisped fry left overs from the night before. i successfully recrisped them and i am prouuuuuud of myself! i was just starting my scripture study when layne called. we had a nice chat. it was good to catch up with him. after our call it was time to get ready for physio.
my birthday outfit was my bright pink capris, with my golden love tshirt, pink circle earrings, and pink lips. i actually pinned my hair the night before. it's the first time i've pinned it since the pandemic, i think. it turned out quite nice because it was still wet when i woke up so there was no shirley temple problem. if you know you know.
at physio i was reaquainted with jasub. he's just a really nice guy. he was like what's going on, and i was like "i don't know if you rememb--" "oh i remember your rigid feet" cuts in jasub. haha. so i told him all the things, showed him the physio referrals from both dr. cardoso and dr. wong. i like that in physio they understand everything and they explain everything. i really like that. just to be seen, that this is a real issue is so validating it gave me a lil lump in my throat.
so we did some things. some horrid stretches and some not so bad stretches. he manipulated my foot and we found a real painful spot in my fascia when he was trying to stretch my ankle. like real ow. i also told him about my knee on the other leg and he said it makes sense and it all goes to my rock hard calves. aggressive stretching of the calves. that's what i got to do. i also had to walk up and down the hall doing spread toes and heel strike to toe push off like i was learning to walk again. it really felt like that.
jasub says we can\t start out as aggressive as we'd like. we have to build up to it. i'm like, this feels aggressive. so.
after physio was done i drove to boundary bay beach. it was a cloudy day but not without sunshine. not a dull sullen if you know what i mean. first i sat in my car and watched hawks glide and hover while talking to my friend ali on the phone. but eventually i got out and i got my bike down and put on my helmet and got all situated with camera gear and such. then i pushed off into my birthday bike ride at boundry bay beach. the alliteration does not get old for me.
i was picturing a ride on the inner trails that overlook the long grasses so i could watch hawks and possibly owls and probably herons, but i noted signs that said bikes were not allowed on those. so i stayed on the dike path which goes along side the beach.
i leisurely rode drinking in the world around me, saying hi to all the people i passed, giving them sunny smiles. when i saw a white blossomed cherry tree right beside a bench i stopped, sat a while and took some pics.
there were the fattest fuzziest bumble bees buzzing about the tree, in and out of blossoms. i tried to capture some but i was trying out another old lens, and it just was not too great. so those pics didn't turn out. but i enjoyed them.
i got up to get right into the tree, taking different pics and then from under a branch i saw this group of 3 eagles.
who then tussled mid air over what i think is a fish!
i followed the winner with my camera but it's not too clear what she's holding.
so that was exciting. here's the path.
i rode all the way to the bottom of the bay where the trail ends. i was hoping it followed it around but i have since learned from melissa that you can rejoin the trail if you go down the road a bit. so i will have to explore that next time. as it was, i turned around and rode back. on my way back i saw a lone heron with the waves lapping up against him. later i saw him flying low over the trees toward the long grasses. herons are always boys. try to tell me different.
as i was leaving in my car, i passed through an area where the long blonde grasses are on both sides of the road and swallows skittered in and out of view diving and swooping as they do.
it was just really nice and left me with a euphoric feeling of well being. when i got home i ordered a birthday supper and theresa came by with a birthday kite for me. i talked with heather and with mom and dad and uploaded my pics and edited these ones while watching sound of music. and that, was my birthday.
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