50 Crazy Things in my 50th year

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #32 – Go rock climbing

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

20160129_195222This is another thing that I have avoided because my brother is really good at it. He has been a rock climber for years, climbed mountains, and naturally gravitates to this kind of activity. I have next to no grip strength, never have, and I’m short and uncoordinated. I know my attitude toward this stopped me from having fun or joining other friends who enjoyed it so I knew it needed to be on this list.

I discovered that Jaydan Dick, Krista’s son (she was one of my Brides Maidens, ate bugs, etc. etc.). Jaydan is 14 and growing so fast we can almost see it happening. He’s currently 5’11 and built like a spider – long limbs and hardly any torso. I, on the other hand, am 5’4” and built more like a bumblebee – an improbable flyer. Jaydan had done it before and already knew he loved it. I was not so sure.

Jaydan – spider man!
apparently these are very important
I only dropped him twice

We made plans for Friday night, January 29th. This was after I had done my ice skating crazy thing in the afternoon – I was already kind of dead. Cliffside Climbing Gym is pretty much the only place in town to go and it’s excellent. It was packed with a birthday party and loads of university students but there was always lots of room to move around.

We took the little orientation session and then started on the easy walls – I would call them the bunny hill of climbing walls. When I called earlier they said runners would be OK for a first timer. I learned quickly that this wasn’t the case. Just save yourself some agony of you go and rent shoes there – it’s worth every penny of the $3.

Jaydan flew up and when it was my turn I crawled up slowly. Then I got to the top. Then I realized why I really hadn’t wanted to do this before. Just like with Trapeze School (or maybe not quite as dramatic), when you get to the top you have to let go and there is a brief moment where that sensation of falling appears. I practically threw up right there. That would have ended our night pretty quickly because Jaydan was right below me and you know I wouldn’t have missed that target.

We kept going up and down and I got better at letting go at the top. The nice thing about a climbing gym like that is you can go with someone who is much more advanced than you are. Each time you have to unhook everything to switch positions – one person climbing and one person at the bottom – so you can quickly go from a bunny wall (me) to a spider wall with overhangs (Jaydan).

Although my arms were absolutely dead at the end, I really enjoyed this and Jaydan and I had a lot of fun. We plan to keep going and now there are others who want to come with us so we can have some fun as a group. I may even get my own climbing shoes. I think when my brother reads that he’ll fall over in a dead faint. “Who is this person calling herself my sister?” Perhaps I should warn him ahead of time.

Why was this crazy?

Fear of falling. Fear of jumping. Fear of public humiliation. Fear of not immediately being good at something

Would I do it again?

Oh yeah! Gotta get me some shoes!

20160129_201543

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #31 – Go ice skating

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment
skating pic

Then….

20160129_135908

now…!

When I was a kid I used to take figure skating lessons and I was OK. I was never daring but I was a pretty good skater. The thing I hated, though, was falling on my knees. My knees are really sensitive and I still remember the shooting pain when I fell on them on hard ice. Band, swimming, and other activities took over and I just never skated anymore. This held me back a bit because people would invite me to go skating on a lake, or other events. I never had skates and I didn’t feel confident – my knees throbbed at the thought of it.

Finally, I realized I was missing out on a lot of fun with my friends by turning down any and all skating invitations. I knew I had to get back on the blades and I knew it would be a crazy thing.

One of my best friends, Michelle, is a single mom to an awesome 4-year-old who was taking skating lessons. The Logan Lake Recreation Centre had free skating for parents and tots on Friday afternoons. I’m off every other Friday. Most of the time there is just Michelle and her daughter there, occasionally someone else will show up. I knew this was the perfect opportunity because I could get my feet under me without a billion people running into me. And the public humiliation factor was non-existent.

 

skating – first time in 40 years and I didn’t fall

I went to consignor sports and got a pair of used hockey skates. I thought they would be more functional for general recreation skating. There are lots of things I didn’t know about hockey skates, even though my brother played for so many years. I never knew that hockey skates are sharpened in a curve so you actually rock back and forth. Figure skates are flat. I knew hockey skates didn’t have the pick – obviously, but I didn’t realize that my body, after all these years, would have such a strong memory of using the pick to stop, start, etc. Also, hockey skates don’t come up as high on the ankle as figure skates do. This meant they felt less secure and my ankles had to work a lot harder. Now my ankles were flopping from side to side and I was rocking on the blades from front to back. My shins got a workout! Hockey skate blades are also much shorter in length than figure skates – it’s a whole new motion. I was not expecting this!

4 year old camel specialist
up and down the boards I go
Michelle helping our other little friend

I started out going up and down the boards, trying to get my balance and get used to the sensations. Michelle’s daughter and the other little boy we had with us were under strict instructions not to go near me since I was still learning. She was whipping around with one of those cages for a while, and then without. Did you know they make those cages in adult sizes? I REFUSED to go there. I used the boards instead. Another thing I noticed is that my ankles are so used to being in cross country ski boots where they have a lot of movement. It was hard getting my head and body adjusted to the new sensations.

It took about 20 mins and I was feeling a lot more confident so I ventured away from the boards and across the centre of the ice. The 4-year-old was thrilled and was desperate to skate with me. “Miss Vesta, did you know I can do this?” – she does a camel with one leg stuck out behind her – still in the cage though so I don’t think it counted. “Miss Vesta, wanna see how fast I can go?”… No! and you’re still in the cage so it still doesn’t count! “Miss Vesta do you want to borrow this? You could have it!” She motions to the cage.. No!!!!!!

We don’t need those cages
skating selfie

Still vertical. Then I started doing laps and I knew I was getting my groove back and getting used to the skates. Next time I work on going backwards and employing stopping techniques that don’t involve running straight into the boards. I skated for a full 90 minutes and my hips and shins were dead.

Why was this crazy?

Fear of death, knee mutilation, and public humiliation. Duh!

Would I do it again?

Absolutely! I’m a skating fool now… but the kids still aren’t allowed to come near me.

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #30 – Climb a tree

/ Vesta Giles / 3 Comments

As I described before in the rock climbing blog (coming), I’m not really built for climbing things. So, the thing that kids just spontaneously do and I have avoided like the plague seemed crazy enough to qualify for my year. I would climb a tree. Even when I was a kid I didn’t really climb a lot of trees.

IMG_4912

Since I’m also a geocacher, I thought I might has well kill two crazy things with one climb. Sometimes geocaches can be found in trees. The degree of difficult for the geocache itself is relatively low – you can often see it easily. The terrain difficulty, however, is another thing. For those who are geocachers this cache was SITC#6: VV Abies. I think SITC means Stuck In Tree Cache. The terrain difficulty on this one was 4/5.

I put it out to some geocaching friends who have helped in some of my crazy things – the Conair plane crash hike, motorcycle riding, etc. John, Yvonne, and Tracy all leapt at the chance to do it with me… or at least laugh at me while I did it.

“Let’s go watch Vesta get uncomfortable” is now a popular pastime for many of my friends.

We knew there was a tree climb cache in Valleyview, one near the Safeway in Sahali, and another in some trees on the hill above Costco. The Valleyview one seemed to have the less public humiliation attached to it, and it was probably the most accessible. Crazy thing – here we come!

IMG_4911 sm

John brought a stepladder, which we didn’t really need because the bottom branches of this lovely tree were fairly low. Still, I used it (crazy… not stupid!). Tracy warned me about the sap, which I hadn’t considered… ew! John went up first and blazed a trail so I could see a good route to go up. I went next. Once I got up there I had to figure out how to hold on to the tree while unscrewing the lid to the cache and signing the log inside. This I hadn’t considered! At least I remembered to bring a pen. I if I hadn’t I’d have had to go down and come back up again.

Going up was OK. It wasn’t great, but I made it. Coming down was another matter. You know that piece of advice “don’t look down!” – well how the hell are you supposed to come down the tree without looking down??? I finally made it and after a few minutes at the bottom I stopped shaking. When I was up at the top an elderly woman walked by wondering what they are all looking at. Was a cat trapped in the tree? Was there some other wildlife? Was there an interesting bird? No, it was a 49-year-old woman built like a bumble bee clinging desperately to a branch about half way up a tree. When Yvonne told her what I was doing she thought it was great.

oh yeah, I climbed a tree!

Why was this crazy?

Fear of falling, fear of public humiliation, lack of coordination or spider limbs… the usual!

Would I do it again?

As long as John brings the ladder!

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #29 – Take an art class

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

20160118_203151My brother is the artist in our family, I am the writer. He is guitar, bass, and a host of other instruments he picks up and plays by ear and heart. I am clarinet and reading music and playing with heart and technique. I have done some painting but I generally avoid it because he’s so good at it.

When my friend Donna, who I work with, invited me to Paint Night on January 18th with some of our other coworkers she suggested it could be a bit crazy. I agreed. I grabbed Jody for moral support and we were off to Paint Night. I’m not sure Paint Night qualifies as an art class but it was a lot of fun and took some of the seriousness away from art.

Jody in her snazzy apron
me rocking the apron
my coworkers rocking their aprons
now what?
we got this!

Paint Night is an event style program held across Canada. It’s kind of Bob Ross with appies and drinks. Everyone goes to a pub or bar, paints the same painting (or a facsimile thereof), and has a lot of laughs. Surprisingly, even people who haven’t held a paint brush since they were five come out with some pretty awesome paintings and they all represent the style of the person doing the painting. It was quite remarkable.

Look! no pink!

I knew the painting we would be doing would be of pink cherry blossoms. Some of you may remember I have some issues with the colour pink so I suspected going in that I would end up rebelling and coming home with a painting that wasn’t pink. Oh yeah, it happened!

I sat next to a guy who had never been there but his wife, on the other side of him, obviously had. He was also the only guy there and it was packed with women.

We started with the sky. That seemed easy enough. I noticed I’m more slap happy when it comes to painting and Jody is very meticulous. I think that represents our personalities pretty accurately. Then we did the mountains and the long path coming down the mountain. Me slapping paint on and Jody carefully making perfect Japanese styled mountains. My painting pretty much doubled in weight by the time I brought it home.

The guy next to me was really funny. We all added the branches and body of the tree next. Mine was slapped on, Jody’s was perfect, and the guy next to me created a tree that looked a lot like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. I love Groot! We had lots of laughs about his Groot tree. By the end, when his was done, it looked Groot imitating Peter Frampton or Robert Plant – lots of pink and white rock n roll hair.

The last thing we added were the pink and white cherry blossoms. I was shocked at how good everyone’s paintings were. I was also amazed at how different they were. People like me, who weren’t too into the details, and people like Jody who worked hard on making theirs what they wanted, not necessarily exactly like the original – it wasn’t that kind of perfectionism, it was more that they had a vision and even if they’d never painted before their vision appeared in their paintings

Some women next to me were painting their landscape purple, they’d obviously been there before. I decided to make my flowers more grey and I love the result! My mom says we should hang my painting right next to an amazing watercolor my brother did a few years ago. I think it would drive him insane next time he visits…. Therefore it’s a good thing!

Why was it crazy?

Painting in public, being a beginner in something my brother excels in – all crazy!

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. I still want to take drawing and other painting classes, and we’re already trying to decide on the next paint night we’re going to – it’s like a party with paint!paint night

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #28 – Take control of hills

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

Perhaps you’ve heard that I have a bit of a thing about going down hill, speed, being out of control, falling etc. It’s been a recurring theme for many of my crazy things. It was driving me nuts that I’m so paranoid about falling when I cross country ski that I automatically take my ski out of the track and turn it into a break at the merest sight of a downhill – whether the hill warrants it or not. I wanted this automatic response to stop.

A few years ago I was night skiing and I had some really bad falls. It was really icy, the temperature was ridiculously cold (in the -20C range) and my glasses didn’t just fog up, they froze so I couldn’t see anything. I fell hard and my body has this locked in memory that I can’t let go of.

My fear started getting worse. Senior citizens would kick snow in my face as they skied past me going down hill. I developed a killer snow plow. It got so bad a few years ago my friend Wendy wanted to take me up to Sun Peaks to the top of a black diamond cross country trail and push me down to desensitize me from the sensation of going fast. She assumed that by the time I stopped screaming I’d have this fear thing handled. I never let her ski behind me on a hill after that.

They day was January 17th. Jody and I were going for a short, happy ski in fresh snow. For most skiers the snow would have been annoying because it was slower. For us it was perfect!

We did a route of easy green trails for about 6Km. There are some nice rolling hills and I knew I had to put some effort into getting over this fear. I told Jody that for that day I had to keep my ski in the track on all hills. She laughed and agreed, and got out her phone to video it. I was determined.

As we did each hill I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My heart was in my throat and I was shaking by the time I got to the bottom. There were times when my foot just jumped out of the track by itself. When that happened I had to stop, go back up the hill and try again. Frequently, when it happened, I may have said some bad words… I know… if you know me you’re probably shocked! (but not really).

We did Ponderosa, Hoss, and Little Joe – all fun green trails near the day lodge at Stake Lake. On one particular hill on Hoss I had to start at the top three times before I finally made it.

The snow was fresh and slow, perfect conditions. I told Jody I had to do it and she was willing to stop while I battled my fears. My leg jumps out of the tracks to act as a break – it’s like an instinct I have a hard time stopping. It just shoots out the second I start to pick up speed.

So, with the Wendy Lehar desensitizing plan firmly locked in my head I vowed to do our entire route without sticking my foot out. It was really hard and when my foot shot out part way down a hill there may have been some F-bombs as I stopped, climbed the hill, and started again.Good thing Jody lost the video she took with all the f-bombs in it… no proof!

Eventually I made it through the route doing all the hills. I was exhausted! No pictures for this one but Jody is my witness – I did it!20160117_101910.jpg

Why was this crazy?

Oh, the usual, fear of falling, fear of going fast, fear of being out of control.

Would I do it again?

If the conditions are right I am trying to do it as much as I can – my own desensitization at my own pace.

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #25 – Make a Snow Angel

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

20160103_134905 1Sometimes my crazy things are just reminders that it’s important to be young and remember the joy that can be found in doing things that children do – swinging on swings, hopscotch… the list is endless. If we only did adult things then we get stuck in an adult world and that can be boring, limiting, and it likely means closing the door on joy.

Early in the ski season I saw a snow angel on the side of a ski trail. Just out in the middle of nowhere particularly special. It made me smile, and I tried to remember when the last time I made one was. I couldn’t remember actually ever making one. I must have made them when I was a kid, bundled up in a snowsuit, but I had lost it. That door to childhood was closing. I knew then that a snow angel had to be a crazy thing.

20160103_124837 1

Jody Lenarcic and I went for a challenging but awesome snowshoe up to the bluffs at Stake Lake on January 3rd. While were out enjoying the sunshine and sparkly white snow (my favourite days) I mentioned it. She looked at me… she has a look… it says “let’s make this happen!”… kinda scary sometimes! As we progressed up toward the bluffs the snow was deep, powdery, and bright white. It was perfect. The bluffs rose above us, basking in the sunshine. The snow was at least two feet deep and it was pristine – completely untouched. We both knew this was the spot!

the snow was amazing
our shadows like the fresh air too

Setting this up to get good pictures was actually trickier than we first thought it would be. We wanted to get video and photos. The first problem was having me pass her on snowshoes on the deep narrow trail – not a lot of room and it was almost a game of twister but we managed to survive. Next, I had to figure out how to fall backward on snowshoes. They are long in the back so it’s actually kind of difficult to fall backwards. I have no problem falling sideways – I’m a pro at that.

IMG_4725 sm

Basalt Bluffs

Once we got that organized I fell backward into the deep, fluffy snow and flapped my arms and legs. It’s hard to flap in deep, pristine snow, and I learned that snowshoes don’t really flap very well – this had a high degree of difficulty. Once I’d done enough flapping to make a decent angel we realized Jody would need to pull me up so we didn’t disturb the pattern. We spent a lot of time thinking about how we would manage this feat and all the while my butt, back, and legs were freezing and starting to get pretty wet – should have thought of that sooner! Where was the snowsuit of my childhood???

2016-01-03 21.50.14 from Vesta Giles on Vimeo.

When Jody finally got me vertical, and we could breathe again after laughing so hard, we looked down and saw the most perfect snow angel ever. It was awesome! The deep snow really did the trick.

IMG_4738 sm

We made our way back to the parking lot – it was a long snowshoe and we were pretty tired at the end of it, but I noticed I felt just a little bit lighter – not in body, but in spirit. Every once in awhile I picture that angel and I wonder how many people went by on the trail and smiled at the angel beaming up at them. It makes me smile more.

Why was this crazy?

I propped open the door to that childhood energy that dictates we do things purely because they are fun, make us laugh, and just feel good.

Would I do it again?

Any chance I get!

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #24 – Polar Bear Swim

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

My whole 50 Crazy Thing Adventure started when I told a library patron of mine, Dawn Nelson, that I was going to do the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Florida two days before my 49th birthday. Dawn is an artist who loves living life, bright colours, and big ideas. I love her! She is in her 70’s and when I told her I was doing this because it was the craziest thing I could think of and I was dreading turning 50 the next year, she looked me right in the eye and said, “You need to do 50 Crazy Things in your 50th Year… you need to hit that birthday head on. Don’t cower from it, hit it with all you’ve got!” That’s what started it all… you can blame her!

20160101_113959

Dawn and I at the Polar Bear Swim – it’s all her fault!

 

Every year Dawn drags her husband to Nicola Lake on January 1st to do her own Polar Bear Swim. When I mentioned it was on my list, she said she would do it with me and come into Riverside Park for the Kamloops event. It was locked in stone – we were doing it!

When New Year’s day came, the air temperature was -11C with the wind chill. the water temperature was 0.5C. There was deep snow on the beach and ice along the shore. Go big or go home! This wasn’t one of those sissy Polar Bear Swims that my cousin and uncle did in Vancouver, this was hard core!

I read up on tips for the polar bear swim ahead of time:

  • wear shoes in the water – your feet will be frozen and won’t feel anything sharp so you could cut yourself and not know it
  • take a towel to put on the sand (what sand?) so you can easily step out of your frozen water shoes and into dry ones
  • have your clothes ready – it’s not the water that will kill you it’s the hypothermia from the air temperatures and exposure after

Admission to this informal event was by food bank donation. There were a limited amount of commemorative t-shirts so Dawn and I each scooped one up.

Now we were ready and people, lots of people, started to stream onto the beach. I would say there were at least 200 people there, and maybe 100 went in the water. My mom came, and so did Dawn’s husband, Dale, and my friends Jody and Gerry – mainly to take pictures and make sure it actually happened.

As the people were arriving I saw herons across the river, some pretty startled ducks, geese, and swans near the shore where we would be jumping in. And when I looked up, I saw an eagle fly above us. Seeing eagles is always special to me. It’s like a reminder to pay attention, when eagles are around something special is happening. This wasn’t just a party for people with hangovers who wanted to do something stupid on New Year’s Day. This was special. I was about to find out just how special.

Ruby

The beach began to get really crowded. An elderly lady with a peaceful expression on her face, relaxed and curious, stood next to us. I asked her if she was here to watch someone. She said no, but she had always wanted to do it and thought this would be as good a year as any. Dawn and I nearly fell over. Ruby, it turns out, is 90 – soon to be 91. She lives alone and decided she would just show up this year and do it. I had three support people with me. Dawn had her husband. Ruby came alone. We quickly adopted Ruby.

Me, Ruby, and Dawn (plus Dawn’s husband, Dale, before we started
Picking our way across the ice on the way out
Who me? I’m not cold!

 

3…2…1…!

I wore running shorts, a bright orange long sleeved running shirt (so rescuers could find me), a pink Disney running shirt over top  – I got it at the Princess Half – it seemed fitting – this was so nobody would recognize me since we all know I have some issues about pink. I also wore gingerbread deelybobbers on my head to celebrate the season. Dawn was wearing shorts too, as well as a Santa hat. Ruby stripped down to just a simple bathing suit.

When the time came Dawn and I held Ruby’s hands because there was at least two feet of ice between the shore and the water and we didn’t want her to slip. The current was strong and the water gets deep quickly on the Eastern side of the beach so I kept holding on to her. I didn’t want her to float away!

I ran in, tried to inhale, and discovered I couldn’t breathe! I went down to my shoulders and we paddled around for a bit before dragged Ruby out. She wanted to stay in. Apparently she has an ice cold bath every day and that’s the secret to her youthful appearance and longevity.

When we got out we all helped each other get warm clothes on. Ruby’s canvas water shoes, her other shoes were in her car, were frozen solid and squished from her stepping on the backs of them. We couldn’t get her feet in them. When she was walking back to the car she stepped out of one into the snow and didn’t even know because her feet were so cold!

Home after the swim – I look most refreshed
the shoes I wore in the water filled with snow before I got in and froze solid when I got out
Got the shirt!

 

When we got back to our cars we made sure Ruby would be OK. I gave her my business card and told her to give it to her family if they wanted any pictures. A few days later her daughter in law contacted me. They were happy we were there with her and were very grateful for the pictures. I even sent her the link of us making (barely) the CFJC TV News!

So, the eagles were right. Something special did happen. We met and were inspired by Ruby.

Why was this crazy?

Seriously?

Would I do it again?

Dawn and I are already making plans for next near! Anybody want to join us?

 

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #23 – Go Out for New Year’s

/ Vesta Giles / Leave a comment

Again, this might not seem crazy to most people, but to me it’s big.

20151231_171720 2

The day lodge at Stake Lake – so pretty at night.

New Year’s Eve is pretty much a holiday I ignore. I’m an introvert. I’m not big on parties, and I’m really not big on getting dressed up. I have also been described as being ‘possessive about my sleep’ so late nights aren’t really part of my bag of tricks. When I was little I shocked more than one set of parents when I kicked visiting kids out of my bedroom and put myself to bed. I also fell asleep at my own 16th birthday party. New Year’s Eve? Apparently things happen at midnight that I see on the news the next day.

So, to slightly expand my options I decided to accept the open invitation to go to the Overlander Ski Club’s New Year’s Eve potluck and ski. I’ve avoided these events before because I don’t know anybody but when doing crazy things – point yourself toward what you avoid. Now, this potluck only went to about 9pm, but still … the point is I went.

It was ridiculously cold that night. Even with extra layers my legs and arms were burning. I skied for a bit on my own, and then went in and discovered that despite all my crazy activities this year, I was still an introvert. Sigh. Like a true introvert I hovered on the outside of a packed room filled with skiers who have all known each other for decades. I had fun though, I met a few people there who were new and didn’t know anyone else either, and I hung out in the corner with Jordan (a young guy who works at the ticket booth) and his girlfriend. Club President, Alan, who is not an introvert, merrily worked the room and sat with for awhile chatting the corner before moving on.

20151231_184422 1

Nothing says New Year’s like a disco ball hanging above a wood stove at New Year’s

I had fun, the food was great, the skiing was cold, I didn’t have to dress up. I still, however, didn’t make it to midnight…. maybe next year!

Why was this crazy?

Introvert? Know almost nobody? Go out on New Year’s – take your pick!

Would I do it again?

Sure, I can hold down the corner of a room like nobody’s business! More seriously, though. I do need to do this more often so it gets a bit easier each time. I actively avoid parties and that has to stop. Life rarely happens at home and even if I’m happily nestled in the corner, at least I got off the couch and out the door. From my corner I always admire people who mingle easily. Maybe someday, with practice, it will come.

 

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #22 – Follow intuition and rediscover magic

/ Vesta Giles / 1 Comment
IMG_4534

Hello gorgeous! One goal accomplished but it was so much more than just taking pictures of a moose.

At the beginning of each ski season I set some goals – how many km I want to ski, how many times I want to ski, and what wildlife I wanted to see and photograph. I usually reach the km and visit goals, but never the wildlife ones. This year my goals are to ski 700 Km, go skiing 55 times, and photograph the front end of a moose, a lynx, and an owl.

Christmas Eve, 2015 – Like many of my other crazy things, this just started as a normal day.

First, some background. After I graduated from university I moved to Dublin for six months of doing nothing. I had already spent two months backpacking around Britain and Ireland.  It seemed like a stupid and frivolous thing to do, go back with no plan, but it was easily one of the most important things I’ve ever done.

I was exhausted from school. After graduating with a science degree all I wanted to do was be a writer. I felt, at times, like I had wasted four years of my life. I hadn’t it turns out. That science degree is always valuable when I least expect it. More importantly I felt like I had lost my way. The strong, intuitive part of me had been ignored and devalued. Moving to Dublin gave me an opportunity to reclaim that part of myself. I didn’t know how I was going to do it but I knew I would. It took me a few months to figure it out, but eventually I was able to let go of lists of things to do, obligations to others, and expectations of others. It’s probably the only time I’ve lived completely for myself.

I was alone, intentionally, and it was an incredibly important time in my life. I learned that when I followed my instincts I could create magic. Amazing things happened. Coming home, and in the years since, the challenge has always been to find a way to live that honestly with myself, and at the same time live in a world where I had lists of things to do, obligations outside of myself, and people I loved who had expectations of me.

This year on Christmas Eve I had to work a half day in Logan Lake at the Library. It was a good day – fun and festive. Two friends brought me pizza for lunch because I had complained that staff who worked Christmas Eve at the bigger branches in town were given pizza. In the smaller branches we got nothing. My homemade pizza and a can of coke arrived and it was delivered by two people I adore. It was yummy! Pretty awesome day so far. In the past few years I have surrounded myself with amazing people and they even bring snacks!

I planned to go for a long ski at Stake Lake after work and then get into the festive spirit when I got home. When I got to Stake it was almost 2 pm and I realized I didn’t have as much time as I thought and a long ski was out of the question. I’m a creature of habit so I thought I’d just do one of my other regular routes, a shorter one that would only take me an hour or so. As I was setting out, I realized that for some reason I wasn’t going to take that route and I really didn’t know where I was going. I felt that instinct sensation, a homing device in my spine, and I knew I just had to follow along and go wherever I felt like I should. I ended up in an area I don’t usually gravitate to because it’s full of steep trails that are often icy.

I believe that wildlife, or any kind of wonder in the world, allows you to find it, and you can only find it when you’re ready to receive it. You can’t go chasing it. You have to be open to it and it will let you in. It’s like riding a wave – if you catch the wave it’s amazing and you have that mythical feeling of being one with it. Sounds corny, but I think it’s true. If you try and force it – well that’s just painful and rarely gets you the results you’re looking for. I usually know when I follow my instincts and ride that wave, something special will happen. This time I wasn’t disappointed. I came around the corner and found myself face to face with a moose calf – one of the moose that regularly hang out around the ski trails. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen a moose, or her in particular, but it was the first time I’ve been this close (and not in a car), and the first time I’ve had the time and the space to get some really good pictures.

As I came around the corner she looked up at me from where she was standing and eating. She acknowledged me, and then continued looking for food. We had at least 20 minutes where I slowly moved closer and took more pictures. I didn’t see one skier, and it was a busy day at the trails, the whole time I was with her. I was about 20 ft from her and I’m pretty sure I took over 100 pictures. Finally I knew I was done. I skied past her, maybe 10 ft away. She looked up at me, and then walked off into the bush. It was like she was waiting for me. It was the best Christmas present ever.

Why was this a crazy thing?

I had to slow down, and remember to follow a feeling that used to be so familiar to me. It used to be second nature. Now I have to remember it and relearn how to access and sustain it. Instinct is powerful and it’s like a muscle – it has to be worked and trained.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. I have to keep working that instinct muscle and I’m committed to stopping and taking the time to appreciate beauty when I see it. I have to be prepared to catch the wave and enjoy the bounty at the end. I still have the owl and lynx to go this winter and I may or may not get lucky, but that’s OK. I had the moment and that is better than anything. I’ve seen this lady a couple of times since, never in good enough conditions to get good pictures. I always smile at her, nod in acknowledgement. Maybe she’s smiling too.

20151224_142205

My moose selfie! I wasn’t brave enough to turn my back on her when I was really close so I waited till was further away.

50 Crazy Things in my 50th Year #21 – do a virtual run

/ Vesta Giles / 1 Comment

Maybe this isn’t crazy by some standards but it was to me. I have heard about ‘virtual runs’ in the past year but hadn’t actually participated in one until December 15th, which was also National Cupcake Day in the United States. Virtual runs are when you register for a particular event but you don’t have to travel – everyone who registers does it a home and then posts their results online. Beat the Blerch had a virtual option for people who couldn’t travel to one of the races and the Hogwarts Running Club, an online virtual running club, hosts a number of Harry Potter themed virtual runs through the year. The first one of 2016 is the Molly Weasley Ugly Jumper Run on February 6th, which is Arthur Weasley’s birthday.

20151215_170015

Each time I wanted to do a virtual run this year it either sold out, I was low on funds, or I couldn’t make the timing work. You still have to finish the run within a certain date range so it’s not like you can just do it whenever. The cool thing is you still get awesome medals (it’s all about the bling!) that they mail to you and you still have a sense of participating with a group. The thing is, however, you really need to do something to make the run special. When you run in a big event you have the crowd, fellow runners, the starting and finish lines, on route entertainment, and a racing element that even inspires turtles such as me to experience a boost of adrenaline. With a virtual run you either create that for yourself, or it could be a bit boring.

When we were at the Rock n’ Roll 10K Krista, Monica, Trisha, Jody and I were playing with the idea of doing one and the Cupcake Day 5K was an early contender. The medal was awesome (we’d seen it online). The charity was great – Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Plus, the race organizers wanted you to do it on or as close to December 15 as you could. December 15 is National Cupcake Day and if possible celebrate with cupcakes – how can you go wrong with cupcakes?

We decided to do it as a group and Tracy joined us as well. Trisha couldn’t do it on actual National Cupcake Day with us so she did it on another day. We planned our 5K so our starting and finishing line was at Sweet Spot Cupcakes in Aberdeen. I think the owner, Natalie, thought we were nuts but funny at the same time.

20151215_170049

Natalie from Sweet Spot Cupcakes

So December 15th came and because I’m just that kind of person I cross country skied 12 hard km of hills in the morning and then ran on icy and snowy streets that night. My legs were dead at the end. But we ran, slipped a lot, one of us fell on ice (oddly enough it wasn’t me!), and looked at Christmas lights while we made our way along our 5ish Km route. We got to the end and according to Run Keeper, the app we use to track our activities, we weren’t quite at 5K yet so we did laps around the Canadian Tire parking lot to make up the distance. After that it was all sugar… I had a candy cane cupcake and it was awesome!

Why was this crazy?

We had to make it crazy, and fun, and different, and way out of the ordinary. We all run all the time and 5K isn’t really that big of a deal, but we made it an event and celebrated the journey. And we all have the medal to prove it. The thing is, why don’t we make every day special and celebrate more? It’s not really that hard.

Would I do it again?

Of course! I’m already looking for more virtual runs. They’re fun and easy on the travel budget as well. Plus, I have the best running buddies in the world and we can make anything fun!

20151215_182627