We went to Kerry and Simons for dinner the night before and being around Sam (the dog) exacerbated my cold until death seemed like a nice alternative. Too bad really because I really like Sam. I have no idea what kind of dog he is; he looks like a golden retriever whose legs have been shaved off until he stands no more than a foot from the ground at the crown of his head! Great dog but really easy to trip over.
I woke up this morning feeling very sick and wanting to delay our departure still another more. But Heather had booked our crossing to France for the next Monday and as today was Friday I thought it prudent to begin preparation, all right, Heather started and I felt stupid not keeping up so soon exceeded her and had everything packed.
Packing was an interesting prospect. Once you stop moving you find it very difficult to get going again and once you unpack you find it impossible to remember how you got everything into such a small space. I kept stuffing shirt after shirt after shirt into my pannier. Why I brought so many shirts I’ll never know, I didn’t know I had so many to start with, Most of them are simply extra weight that will never be worn. Once we set out I generally wear my biking shirt and the Nark shirt Chris gave us until they are both too rank to allow my entry into polite society. Then we try to wash it and start again.
As we packed we tried to clean. Man in a sedentary mode is an expansive animal. As soon as we stop we spread out until we fill every available space. From the second day we spent here parts of Brain and Sylvia’s house were impassable to all but the smallest of animals. Cleaning was very challenging task.
A side note to the cleaning is the fact both Heather and I have noticed, that food spoils much quicker here than at home. We would be able to keep bread no more than a couple of days before it began to grow moldy and meat was nearly as bad. It must be all the moisture in the atmosphere. Katherine, who was from Victoria, had said she was forced to move to Calgary because of mold allergies, but unless you spend some time in a consistently damp area it is hard to really understand what she meant. The place I have noticed the dampness most is in the books we carry with us. Some of the pages have mold spots on them even though I carry them wrapped in a couple layers of plastic. How the British manage to preserve libraries and rare collectible books with such a climate working against them is a puzzle to me. I’m afraid I don’t pay much attention to my books and assume that they will be ready for me whenever I want them, what a rude awakening. I will be in for it if we ever move to the coast. The logic of keeping valuable in a salt mine is made much clearer when you see the effects of moisture speeded up.
Kerry and Simon are reviving the dead fashions of the seventies by going to a seventies theme party. Actually it is very strange to see how the fashions of the seventies are becoming the fashions of the early aughts. Except for a few differences, most especially the sequined pattern on the front of her shirt, Kerry’s outfit wouldn’t look out of place at any mall now.
Farah Fawcett hair, shiny stretch pants, disco music and flashy lights, old fashions never die they're reborn when the new generations run out of ideas, or perhaps it is because the teens of now have never seen their parents in disco outfits and so are not revolted while they see eighties as the lowest form of life. Heather was delighted by the costumes and her eyes light up when she see shiny sequins and fabric. I think in a previous life Heather was perhaps a crow and lined her nest with worthless but shiny baubles.
The question that strikes me is: did they have forties theme parties in the seventies?
After we had said our goodbyes and finished cleaning packing, etc. Heather retired to her bed while I, fool that I am, stayed up late and watched TV. Perhaps just to ensure that I would be exhausted for biking the next day.
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