Inside The Perimeter

All good things must come to an end. It’s 0500 MDT and I’m awake and about to get ready for my return ITP. Many thanks to my great friend Tamara for putting me up, and putting up with me, for the past eleven days.

Except for being stung on the back of my neck by a hornet at circle on Saturday Edmonton’s AGPU hash was a hoot. The hash had a pirate theme which was silly, trail was decent and I got soaked when I had to play a game on a plank of wood in the lake and fell off, and then I had to do a down-down for being an AGPU virgin.

This is a canola field we passed on the drive to AGPU.

So I went to a party in guy’s backyard and spilled a glass of red wine and then a bottle of red wine. ‘mercia fuck yeah! I was totally embarrassed.

Not such a typical day in Canada yesterday:
– on our way to lunch we saw a big brown Lab wandering the streets so Tamara stopped and reunited it with its owner; happy ending.
– we ate delicious (East) Indian food at a buffet; full ending.
– I did not walk as much as I needed; sad ending.
– we tried a new thing called “Pub Choir” in which a group of people show up at a bar, pay $8, and sing a song as a choir within an hour. The song we sang was selected via FB and was Petula Clark‘s “Downtown”; interesting ending.

Speaking of endings, like many of America’s malls the one closest to Tamara’s house is scheduled for demolition and the world will be losing another bowling alley.

Just a normal day in Edmonton yesterday – walking, eating, drinking. More of the same today?

I have to give Canada props for doing something the US is incapable of – abolishing the penny. All transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents.

The Edmonton hash last night was good. They drew a large crowd, perhaps 40-50 half-minds, probably because the weather was ideal.

Last night’s trail had some shiggy and we waded through water a few times. Fortunately the one point where a wasps nest was located had been pointed out so we could avoid getting stung. I can’t say that I saw a lot of flour however as the trail had been laid the night before and rain had occurred and the dollops were scant. I guessed wrong on every check and turn of trail, and even had to box off trail to get back to the pack at one point.

Their circle was familiar but different, using many more sex-related props than an Atlanta-based hash. At one point I was wrongly accused of talking and made to sit in “time out” in circle with a bucket on my head. I’m not sure what was going on with the long ice pops they gave some people. And of course I did a down-down for being a visitor, singing Black Sheep’s version of “My Favorite Things” before drinking. All in all it was a fun time.

Really fun weekend of camping in Jasper. Even in these times Tamara and her friends were very welcoming of an American stranger, and I learned a lot about Canadian train system… 🙂

Who needs a cooler when you have an ice-cold river running nearby?

Going to have to start doing a lot of walking today to counter the calories I have been ingesting.

It’s rare when my brother and I are in the same state, especially when that state is California. Unfortunately he was in Sonoma for wine drinking while I was having beers at LAX.

10pm MDT and there is still light outside? Strange.

I’d enjoy the 4th a lot more if I didn’t have to worry about idiots shooting off guns and fireworks. At least the rain literally dampened everything making it less likely that they could burn down the neighborhood.

So looking forward to not living by the “This must be eaten so that I don’t have to throw it away” rule again. Perhaps I will start to lose, instead of gain, weight.

Happy Birthday ‘merica!

Fun hash last night. Good to see so many friends.