May 11, 2006: Duncan, BC

Trapped in the Inbetween

I suppose this prolonged period of rest means I have lots of time to think about stuff. But I find myself numbing out on television far too often.

At this moment I am housesitting a HUGE, beautiful farmhouse with 6 bedrooms (4 cats, and a bearded dragon)... one of the cats has adopted me, even stooped to being an inside cat just to keep me company, sitting with me infront of the TV in the evening and sleeping on my bed at night... otherwise, I'm feeling completely isolated

I went to high school in this town and have little love for it... still seems the same small back-water, no cafe-culture, boring, dull place... I'd say only the local First Nations Cowichan band has any culture...

And I felt like such an outsider here as a kid, what would I NOW possibly have in common with those who live here?!... I do like Maple Bay where we had our boat and home so much better... its only 15 min drive from here... I have a truck here I can borrow if I must drive, even though it makes my ankle sore, the physio doc says its okay!

Grey and cloudy today... but mostly the weather has been sunny and Spring-like, just not warm enough... far too much clothing required here in BC... I need a new pile of DVDs to keep me occupied... Last night, watched "Blue Crush" the surfer chick movie filmed in Hawaii ... makes me want to get out surfing, somewhere down south where the water is warm!...

Otherwise, I am bored out of my mind... Spending my time watching the Home and Garden network... how to reno, re-design your house... teehee... my reaction to having no house for so long... I am mesmerized by paint color and fabric teztures and acessories...

And I have been practicing the GRE test... didn't make it into Grad school because they needed my GRE scores WITH the application, NOT later as I had thought I'd read on their website... ah well, they'll keep my application on file... if I can get the test done this Spring maybe I'll get in the following semester... we'll see...

Did go into Victoria to see the incoming boats from the Round the World sailing race (www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/2006)... wish I could have been a bit more mobile and interactive... sounds like quite the challenge... the final boat comes into today they had to re-route for a medical evacuation so are way behind

So next up, reading "What color is my Parachute?"... Anyone have any good job ideas on what I should do next that a weak ankle will allow me to do?...

Quote:
A good friend will help you move.
A really good friend will help you move a body.
Let me know if I ever need to bring a shovel.

April 10, 2006: still in Victoria

Headline: NO SURGERY NEEDED!

WHO: The orthopedic specialist said ...

WHAT: that surgery on my ankle is definitely over the top, don't need it! hooray...

WHEN: Found out this morning, and it may take from 2 to 6 months to heal

WHERE: she was in Colwood a fair drive from here in Sidney but really nothing compared to other distances, (like fly me to the moon)

WHY: the injury is probably a resurfacing of an old injury from 20 years ago when I chipped a bone in that ankle, hence the instability... and going in barefeet on the boat aggravated it... damn I'm getting old

HOW: so I will be going to Physio for ultrasound, laser, accupunture, massage, exercises, whatever it takes to aid the healing... I am so excited to be able to do things, exercise as long as its not weight bearing: swimmming, bicycling....

Topics of Interest: So now to figure out what I will do for the next few months and into the future... hmmmmm... anything that doesn't mean standing on my feet all day, no retail jobs... haha

Community News: Can't wait to get out the door and find out what's going on out there... Other than the huge building of luxury condos going up in the middle of town, I have no idea what's going on...

Environmental news: its SUNNY... oh wait that's weather...hmmm... okay its probably this sunny because of global warming which is bad but at this point being a person who loves sunshine I am thoroughly pleased.

Checking out the Planet: the States is trying to make being an illegal immigrant a felony... great... ever see the film A Day without a Mexican?... where would they be without their immigrants? NPR just keeps playing the same cllips again and again.... if I have to hear Bush way "WILD speculation" one more time... okay time to change the station...

Sports: Can't wait to go biking and swimming.... and sailing and canoing and kayaking... Curling made the front page of the newspaper! I am SO in Canada!

Book reviews: I'm in the middle of a fantasy on about a soldier woman, it's okay but very factual and no humour... think I'll pick up the Myth Inc books again... and try to find the last in the Game of Thrones series...

Movie Reviews/News: Saw "Brazil" again... had forgotten most of it, twisted and enjoyable in that dark humour sort of way...

Quote of the Month: "Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable." ~Sydney J. Harris

Coming Events: Easter... enjoy... think Spring and bunnies and eggs and all those other fertile symbols!!

Tall ship experiences needed!

Sea Fever

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

-- John Masefield


Tall ship experiences needed!
Putting together some info on tall ships, and looking for input from others in the small world of tall ship sailing...
Anything you can send along, contact me at shesalt at hotmail.
Thanks.

Mar 14, 2006: Victoria, BC

Headline: BACK IN CANADA

WHAT: possibly ruptured a ligament in my ankle (Talofibular Ligament), doctor in Mexico said I needed surgery and I almost vomited on him I was so upset...

WHO: Dr Escamilla a US-trained orthopedic surgeon... hoping a Canadian doc will recommend physio

WHERE: messed it up while working on the ship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

HOW: don't know... wish it was some cool story like 'I swung down on a rope to rescue a drowning child at the snorkle area, and on the back swing fended off impact with the ship only it twisted my ankle' (not bad?)... or how about 'dancing on the tables at some roadside Baja bar after too much tequila' (closer?)...

WHEN: did it on Dec 27, 2005, but continued to walk/work... and it got worse not better, so now I am back at my Dad's in Victoria, BC, to deal with it...

WHY: because I can be covered by BC Medical and not have to worry about exhorbitant costs, and I trust the medical system here more... an unexpected $7000 medical bill would not be fun...


Community News:
Seeing as I have only left the house twice since I arrived, I can't say like I feel like I am participating in the community!... went for a Sunday drive, and today my brother took me to a local pub for a beer.... beautiful view of the islands off Sidney...

Weather: It was snowing while my plane was landing!... the daffodils and crocuses were shivering in fear!... what a rude shock after 80 degrees down in Mexico

Environmental news:
I'd say the weather is totally freaking out... seems global warming is more than just a conspiracy theory... all kinds of erratic weather moments... and two feet of snow in Central Park, NYC is nuts... thunder storms here in March, I've never heard of... can you say, melting Polar icecaps?

Checking out the Planet:
hooray, it's still there!... get out and see it while you can... hear they just found an embalmers workshop in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt... do think it would be a blast to work for an archeologist on site digging oup burial chambers there!


Sports: I am completely immobile but I will soon get into watching WWF (wrestling) if there is nothing else to do...

Book reviews:
Looking at Eyewitness "Top 10 in Paris"... great format, nice pocket book... don't know if I'll make it to Paris soon, but think this format will work for my book in progress

Movie Reviews/News:
Seen a lot of TV movies with ads (how yuckky) the last few nights... best I've seen lately was North Country... really want to see Crash and Brokeback Mt.

Quote of the Week: Everything you can imagine is real. -- Pablo Picasso

Coming Events: Doctors appointment on Friday ... wish me luck

Feb 12, 2006: Cabo San Lucas

Headline: STILL IN CABO SAN LUCAS

WHAT: Hanging out sailing the tall ship Sunderland

WHY: because I am indeed a bit of a slow learner and just keep going back to sailing ships, despite the lack of pay… still the sailing is a blast…

HOW: not particularly well, given my current state of health… my ankle is not happy, tendonitis(?)… and I slipped with a grinder today and clipped a knuckle, ugh!

WHO: me, the Captain and crew… smiling for the cruise ship folks and taking their money just like the rest of the town….

WHEN: almost daily sailing… been here since mid-Dec and will stay til about May… come visit if you want…

WHERE: check out Google Earth, Cabo is right the bottom of Baja, you can even see the boat at the dock east side just inside the harbor entrance


Community News: If I could find a community I would tell you about it!… weird town… I’m sure back in the burbs where they keep the worker bees that tend the tourists there are probably real people… you know it’s a fun town when people look SO surprised, even excited, when you speak Spanish to them … really its just all about getting the tourists to part with their dollars.

Environmental news: Sad to say there will soon be no whale watching here in town… the little boats (pangas) harass and chase the whales so much that the whale numbers are decreasing more and more… apparently there are thousands of whales just up the coast!… So I have been talking to one of the crew’s girlfriend, Claudia, a Marine Biologist to see if there is some way to re-train HOW they do whale watching here… the whales are tail slapping at the little boats and still they don’t leave them alone…

Apparently last week a grey whale landed on a 27foot power boat off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA!… then smacked them and then stared at them with one eye… that would have freaked me out!… we sent the video of the whale landing on the kayak (I think it happened in BC) to a local tour company here that now seems to have gotten the message!… no big sharks here ... (see photo!) but did see a hammerhead just swimming along beside us one day...

Weather: Sun, sun, sun… oh it did rain last month one day… Sports: Can’t do a bleeding thing.. my ankle is too messed up… there is actually a yoga class here that I had just started going to and I haven’t been in weeks, can’t even walk that far to get to where the class is 10 minutes away… sigh…

Music: Listening/watching a great band. Out of New Zealand, Te Vaka. Introduced to them by my boss here. Fun world beat stuff.

Book reviews: Reading Morgans Run by Colleen McCullough who wrote Thorn Birds… its about the convicts sent to Australia from England, pretty interesting stuff…

Movie Reviews: Saw the Stepford Wives remake… quite different from the book, and they all lived happily ever after, not nearly so sinister… still, I did laugh… but what a horrible thought that husbands would do that to their wives…

Quote of the Week: It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Coming Events: Next long weekend for us is in April. Was supposed to leave town this weekend but didn’t make it. Would love to get up north to see the cave paintings near Santa Rosalita.

This is Laurel Seaborn “reporting” from Cabo San Lucas

Dec 17, 2005 Cabo San Lucas

MADE IT!

From the moment I walked into the bathroom at the little taqueria in San Jose del Cabo, and the smell of poop mixed the pungent scent of bug bomb advertised the huge dead roach in the corner, I knew I was back where I belonged!!... safe and sound to Cabo san Lucas...

the boat is huge and old and smells it, yuck... but it will soon be the smell of home I suppose... the people are great, the rest of the crew are BUFF and tan, I feel completely out of my league.... as one slid down the main halyard to say hello and look at my soft white hands... the relief Captain just smiled...

and they all took me out to dinner at Lattitude 22, now on the outskirts of town... nice slow day today... some sanding, put together a sump pump while the guys pulled out the head (toilet)...

tomorrow is staff Christmas party, and again no sail... maybe sailing monday...

can´t wait to see how it goes...

happy holidays, hugs
Laurel