Pacifying Bill

 

Oh yes, you all both laughed and empathized with me when I got angry at the delay. Well, now, wouldn't you know it ... the long suffering, maddeningly optimistic, Mr. Blair, finally lost his cool too. Yes, last week, the man awoke; clouds so dark descending upon him, his face was invisible save for the intermittent snarls that emitted from the clouds. At one time, I heard, "We have got to get the fuck out of here." Yes, despair hit Bill as well.

 

Although this is his blog too, the blog does, admittedly, focus on my thoughts, my feelings, and my observations ... Ok, so I am exposing my self-centeredness. However, Bill has given up a lot as well. His Miata is sitting in storage and he has not been able to drive about this summer, looking super-studly in his little sports car. He hasn't been able to nonchalantly look about at stop lights, with Van Morrison or Bob Dylan tunes loudly emoting from his car stereo.

 

But that is not all. Oh no. Losing his spot on his bridge foursome has been a bigger blow. Bill has been playing with the same group of lawyers for about 20 years: Steve Lawhead, Brian Ross and Ken Walker. However, due to our leaving (supposedly in February), his longstanding position at the bridge table has been usurped by Thompson Rivers University President, Roger Barnsley. So, as a result, he is not playing bridge any further with his buddies. Not that his bridge score was high that often, but he really misses feasting upon the munchies he consumed each and every Tuesday bridge night.

 

The cursing due to the delay was in response to his other losses as well. Bill's aging is of concern in three ways. Firstly, now upon his return to Canada in two years time, he will be 70 years of age instead of 69 years of age. Secondly, he fears he will be too old to contribute in a significant way to international development work, but his third fear is that the delay is interfering with his future Mexican Beach time/travel. Not only that, his skin coloring is paling and this has him running outdoors and peeling off his shirt at the slightest snatch of sunshine. Yes, he had his moment of crank and unger as well.

 

Given Bill's mood state this week, and as his dutiful wife, I responded empathically to his angst . I know my husband well. He responds well to distraction. I sweetly suggested, given the delay, that we could go on a long cycle bike trip. Instantly, his mood brightened and he began buying gadgets: bike lights, bungee cords, rear view mirrors for our bikes and new front panniers. He rounded us up a tent (our tent is in storage), he bought two new sleeping bags (our sleeping bags are in storage), he outfitted our petzel head lamps with new AAA batteries and spent a fortune in baggies. Our dining room floor is littered and for the past week, we have been stepping around items of cycling apparel and cycling paraphernalia.

 

The distraction worked and due to the delay of our trip to Sri Lanka, we are off on a three week bike trip into the Okanagan and the Kootenays. We leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. We cycle to Monte Lake the first night, then onto Vernon the second day. On the third day, we arrive in Kelowna and link up with Wright Wheels Bike Tours for a week long bike tour of the Okanagan Wineries: Grey Monk, Mission Hill, Burrowing Owl, Forbidden Fruit, and the Naramata Bench which has no fewer than eleven wineries in a fifteen kilometre stretch of road between Penticton and the town of Naramata (sigh).

At the end of a week of wine testing and cycling, we return to Kelowna, leave the wine tour and head to Nelson, via Lumby/Needles/Nakusp. We expect to take about 4 days to cycle to Nelson. Once in Nelson, we will rest for a couple of days whilst visiting my sister and my daughter, both who live in Nelson. Then, heading back through Beaverdell, and onto Kelowna, we will pick up our passports in Kelowna. Reversing the first three days of our trip, we hope to arrive back in Kamloops about the mid of August.

Apparently, distraction works. I feel much better as well. See you in three weeks!