My 25th Blog

Me at Sony

Well look at that! I have actually reached blog post # 25 today.... which I didn't think was actually possible with me. (I don't like long-term commitments.) But while we're here, I might as well fill you in on some of the eventful events that have happened since I last wrote. I just realized I'm getting pretty repetitive with my introduction on most of these things... I gotta come up with something a little more creative perhaps. Something to consider for blog # 26.

Let me start off by saying that this town seems to be full of Kindred Spirits. I'll tell you a few stories. Thanks to this place being considered as a "small town" I realized that I often see familiar people around various parts of Kelowna, which reminds me a lot of Dauphin (the small town where I was born.) Every day that I take the bus, no matter what time of day, I always see someone I recognize from before. As one simple example, there is a girl who I usually see on the community bus who I have now seen around the mall, around downtown and around Rutland, the neighborhood below Black Mountain. (A little fact: she is a scary clone of my friend Miranda back in Winnipeg.)

To start getting to my point, I keep having encounters with random strangers who then turn into these so called "Kindred Spirits" of mine, humble people I will run into from time to time and say hello. This whole thing began when I first started to work for Telus knocking on doors back in January, when on the weary night I had quit, I happened to be walking down a dark, snowy highway in the mountains. I knocked on the door of a giant farm house and when it creaked open, out came a tall and slender man who resembles that of Farmer Hogget in the kids movie, "Babe". He was a friendly looking fellow, he had kind eyes and a warm smile that right away welcomed me in from the cold. As I stood there in the doorway of his house, mumbling the introductory speech I had memorized only days before, assuring him I was conveniently "in the neighborhood" making sure that he and his neighbors were receiving the best value for the money they spend on their home services (Look at that, I still got it) he smiled and told me in a delicate voice that he was already a customer of Telus. After confirming that he was satisfied with his television set up, he offered me a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven granola bar that he had made himself. I may have shared this story before, but to sum this chapter up, we ended up exchanging email addresses and he sent me recipes of all of his favorite, wholesome goods. Then he offered me fresh ground flour straight from his farm.

Still to this day he sends me emails once in a while, and under similar circumstances I met a family out on Vernon who made me a hot cup of tea after I walked for 30 minutes knee deep in snow up an inclined slope to reach their house. After I had finished my job at Telus, I saw one of my ex co-workers, Jayde, wandering through the mall. Turns out she found a job just across the hall from me at Sony, working in a clothing store. Guess she didn't enjoy walking in the night alone either.

Three weeks ago I was helping two ladies find a laptop for a new business venture they had both begun. I inquired as to what the business was, and it turned out to be a growing women's community supporting healthy lifestyles geared towards losing weight & feeling good. I was so intrigued that we exchanged emails and phone numbers, and as they purchased a laptop from me they also invited me to be a part of the "Healthy Together" community. They organize fun events like evenings of wine and cheese, along with day trips out hiking in the hills and doing various exercise activities. In fact, Sydnay and Nicole both frequently stop by Sony when they are nearby to say hello and see how things are going.

Looking like summer in Black Mountain

Nearly two weeks ago now (wow time flies) I was headed home from work in the late afternoon on a Saturday, trying to make my connection in Rutland to catch the community bus that takes me up the hill and to my home. By a wild strike of what I originally thought was unfortunate fate, I missed my bus by one minute and chased it for several blocks before I gave up. I was panting and cursing in the heat as I began to trudge up the hour and a half long walk (inclined) up the hill in the unexpected heat. For the first time the bus was too early, and as I chased after it I was still wearing all of my work clothes, carrying a full heavy backpack and had a black jacket on over top. As I hiked in my own pathetic misery of hate and rage, I noticed a dog running loose on the shoulder of the highway up ahead. Panicked for its life, I ran up and caught her by the collar before she raced onto the busy road. I was basically only beginning my hike when I found her, and I looked around the highway from the shoulder trying to spot her owner. No one was there. We were in a pretty remote spot on the hill, so I slouched over holding her by the un-useful collar and walked to the nearest house I could see.

There was no luck; I tried four different houses and no one seemed to be home. I called the number on her collar once before but an answering machine for city hall in a town four hours away came on. Sitting at the side of the road I dialed every place I could think of where I could take her to, in order to find her owner. No luck. It was Saturday evening and all the shelters & societies were closed, so I ended up walking her awkwardly up the hill with me for the hour and a half journey left to face in the blazing heat.

Hazel

When I got her home, I gave her a giant bowl of water and made more phone calls. Still no luck. Mike agreed to letting her stay until we could figure out what to do with her on Monday. Late Saturday evening I had the thought to post ads on local classifieds like Kijiji and Castanet looking for her owner. No bites. The next day while Mike & Jessica were in Vancouver for the Canucks' final game in the playoffs, I put her in the garage with some dog food, water and a blanket (with an old stuffy) to keep her occupied while I was at work. Later in the afternoon I got a voice mail on my phone from a woman crying with happiness that I had found her dog, Hazel. We arranged for her (Monique) to pick me up from work at the end of the day to go and fetch the dog from my house. (No pun intended.) When I met her out at the front of the mall, even as complete strangers, she ran up and hugged me immediately, thanking me and crying for looking after Hazel. She passed me a freezing cold Slurpee, (a sweet reminder of home) suitable for another hot day outside, to thank me for my "act of kindness". We chatted the whole way home and she explained she just moved to Kelowna a month ago and she hadn't been away from her dog for this long before. Long story short, both Hazel & Monique were ecstatic to be reunited and as she offered me a cash reward, I declined, hoping that maybe putting a good deed out into the world would come back to me at some point. She smiled and told me to visit her at the restaurant basically down the street that she works at for lunch. It's a small world after all...

So as you can see, I'm starting to believe in this whole concept of "everything happens for a reason". Well at least some things have to. I was certainly meant to miss the bus that Saturday afternoon.

And there you go. While there are still plenty of stories like this that I have to share, it will have to await the next blog as I think I have outdone myself on my iPhone typing this beast before work. I do promise to share more of my musings with you all again on Blog # 26.

But for now I think I need to go tend to this carpel tunnel I have now just obtained.

Looking forward to more experiences to come and sharing these humble moments with you again. Just remember kids, the Dalai Lama once said:

The Dalai Llama

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples, my philosophy is kindness."

Big thanks to my calendar for providing me with that quote.

Love you guys,
I'll write again soon.