Hurry Up and Wait

 5:30 am and we wake up to the phone alarm. We quietly prepare to leave the peaceful holiday property where we have spent several weeks with extended family. The first ferry off the small northern Gulf Island leaves at 7:50 am. You would think we'd be guaranteed to catch it, since it's only a twenty minute drive. The last few years, however,  many people leave their cars in the line up the night before to ensure they catch that first ferry. But, even so, there's no guarantee that everyone will make it. 

6:00 am We're navigating the winding, tree lined road.  A deer on the roadside raises its head as it ponders pronging across the road.  It's early and no other cars are in sight. 

6:25 am We arrive at the ferry terminal, turning left onto the sloped road that leads right down to the ferry. Approximately 30 cars are pulled over on the right shoulder of the road. We are about three or four cars away from boarding certainty. So, I  prepare myself to enjoy the wait until 9:50 am, the next ferry run. 

We miss the ferry by three cars. My son and his family are in front of us, and they miss it, too. Another two hours of waiting. They have three small children. But thankfully, to the two older children, this is an adventure! 

9:50 am We board the small ferry. Yay! 

10:30 am We arrive at the HB Ferry Terminal, disembark and drive for ten minutes to the next ferry. Will there be a long line up again? Yep. We miss the ferry by two cars.  Another hour of waiting..  I stand in line at the little takeout and order a latte. We sit at a picnic table and people watch. 

11:30 amWe board the ferry for the fifteen minute crossing to Vancouver Island. 

11:50 am We arrive in the small town of Campbell River and drive to the local retirement home to have a little visit with my 92 yo mother in law.  She will have been waiting for us for probably an hour. She values being on time! Sure enough, she is sitting outside the building, patiently waiting for us. She meets her 7 month old great grandson for the first time. We take photos. Smile, chat, hugs. Then we are off again. These visits are never long enough, but hubby is returning in a couple of weeks to have a longer visit with her. 

12:30 pm  We hop into our truck and head out of town, taking the inland highway southward. This is not the scenic route. It's the 'get me to the ferry as quick as possible' route. 

We are no longer in Island holiday mode. I can feel the buzz of hurry returning to my body. Now it's a game of constantly checking our phones for ferry updates. Which ferry will we get? Which terminal should we use (there are three on the Island).  

3 pm  As we near Nanaimo, the electronic billboards keep us posted on percentage of filled ferries in the car and truck categories. It looks unlikely we'll make the 3:15 pm ferry. Sure enough, the next possible ferry will be 6:15 pm, but it's almost full, so 8:15 pm  is likely. That could be a five hour ferry wait! The other ferry on the outskirts of town is also close to full. We decide to carry on for a two hour drive to the Victoria terminal.  It offers ferry trips almost every hour in the evening. We consider that it may be our best chance of catching a 6 pm ferry. So, off we go...at least this part of the island is more scenic. 

5 pm We arrive at the Schwartz Bay ferry terminal, and it looks like there's a good chance we will make the 6 pm.

6 pm YES!! We drive onto the ferry! 

8 pm We discuss whether to stay overnight at relatives or carry on for another four hours...   I don't know why we decide it's a good idea to carry on.... "I just want a shower and my own bed", he says. 

12 am After four hours of night driving through busy traffic, myriad of road construction sections, single lanes with lines of traffic cones to navigate,  driving mountain passes, being flashed consistently by the vehicle driver behind us, pulling over on a highway with a very narrow shoulder, and realizing our camper door had opened and was swinging wildly while we were driving 120 km/hour in the dark, thanking this person who persisted in warning us (and thanking God nothing slid out of our camper!!)... after all this, we arrive at home.sweet.home.

12:05 am  He punches in the code to our electronic door lock. Nothing. Nada. The batteries are dead. We can't get in to our home. There is a framed glass door separating us from our bed and shower. No, we don't have a key hidden outside somewhere. Why would we need that?  ;)  

12:15 am We crawl into our camper and our heads hit the pillow. We sleep like logs, dead to the world and this crazy travel day. 

7 am We wake up and decide to mow some lawns and do some weeding while we wait for my son and his family to get home with keys (we live in a suite in their house). I make brunch in the camper. 

1:30 pm The door is unlocked. We are HOME! Home Sweet Home. 

In a perfect world, I'd always take my time getting to and getting home from our destination. I enjoy drives. I enjoy site seeing. But not everyone sees it that way. I'm usually the passenger, not the driver. He likes to just get there already. I get that. 

Nevertheless, I have determined that I will not be traveling for 18 hours straight to get home next year! 

What were we thinking? 

The person who said 'Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life' was on to something. (Dallas Willard) 

Five Minute Friday:: Observant

 The other day I entered a small room, Cabin #1,  which held a specifically designed enclosed tank of water with enough Epsom salts added to allow one's body to easily float on the surface. This was my first ever experience of float therapy, and I was intrigued. I had heard about this from a few friends, and now was my time. 

“It would be helpful to do a body scan as you’re beginning your float”, the attendant advised at the conclusion of her orientation. She exited,  quietly closing the 'Cabin 1' door behind her. 

I stepped inside the tank, closed the door, and lay down in the foot deep skin temperature water. In a few minutes the light would go out in this soundproof capsule, and it would be pitch dark and quiet. For ninety minutes.  

 As I adjusted myself to the floating, I wondered whether I was totally relaxed. I thought I was. After all, I do know how to relax.  However, as I scanned my body, I observed that there were muscles which were still tense, especially my neck. It was as if I didn’t trust that the water would hold me if I totally let go.  After all, it was up to me to make this floating thing work, wasn't it?

My head sank a little deeper into the water when I relaxed my neck. The stiffness melted away. I felt so much more at ease. I scanned myself from my toes to my head slowly, so that every part of me was allowing the buoyancy of the water to do the work.

What a marvelous sensation it was. 

It is true that,  especially after a stressful time, the best thing we can do is slow down, be still, and be observant. Let go of whatever we are holding onto so tightly.

This was a good reminder to me to do the work of slowing down. Checking in with myself regularly is important. 

I may need to schedule another float therapy down the road. 

Photo by Kushagra Kevat on Unsplash

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Z is for Zzzzzzzz

In other words, rest.

The other day, we had little C for the afternoon, and we kept him pretty busy once he got up from his nap. A trip to the local park was in order. This included a longish walk down the hill to the soccer field, and back up again. This little guy loves to run around and climb up and down hills. I think we tired him out!

As we were driving him home after supper, I noticed him rubbing his eyes and yawning at least four times in a span of 10 minutes.  Usually he has a second wind after supper, but not this time!

When he arrived home 20 minutes later, he was quiet and his eyes looked to only be half open. His mommy asked him if he wanted a story and he nodded yes. His usual habit of hugging and kissing everyone good night wasn't going to happen this time. He took his mommy's hand and without so much as a look in our direction, he disappeared into his bedroom. Now, that's TIRED! 

We all need rest. 

What do we need rest from? We need rest from being hurt, rest from our heavy labors, and rest from our fast-paced world. We need rest from the speed of change, rest from our jobs, and rest from information overload. 

Sleeth, Matthew. 24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life (p. 75). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

And now that I've completed the A-Z Blogging Challenge for 2019, I might take a little rest from this blog! Thanks for reading!