Back to Work

It was a fast and furious trip 'down south' (more on that in a moment), but I'm back home and was back at work today.  How come it felt like I'd been away from my office for WEEKS?  I was only away 2 work days!  Yet the backlog of emails and messages was incredible.  Yuck!  If I ever actually took a genuine holiday, I'd never get caught up again!

It was a very quick visit into Vancouver, then over to Vancouver Island for meetings. For those of you who aren't familiar with that part of the world ...

Sidney is just north of Victoria British Columbia on Vancouver Island.

Sidney is a pretty little community, although I didn't get to see too much of it ...

Beacon Park ... the salty breeze off the water was DELICIOUS!

... a quick walk one evening and again the next morning.

Sidney had lots of blooms!
We still have snow banks in shady places ... no bulbs yet.

I didn't even do any shopping, although I would have like to ...

I always bring back some little things when I go away ...
This little sign would have been PERFECT for one of my staff,
but the shop wasn't open.
(I brought her this photo instead!0

This little sign would have been perfect for another one of my staff.
Yep, she got a photo too.

Much to my delight, I found THIS ...

Circular patterns in the lawn ... any ideas???

... a LABYRINTH!

Instructions for walking the Labyrinth

I've often wished for a garden with a labyrinth.  It was located on the grounds of St Andrew's Anglican Church, Sidney BC ... a lovely shady spot under some very large cedars.  I managed a few solitary minutes there before joining my meeting.  Very soul-satisfying.

Meetings were hot and hectic.  I'm the "Shit Disturber from The North" cuz I say what I think ... and often say what I know other people are thinking but are either too polite or too scared to say.  I don't believe in pretending everything is swimming along wonderfully in an organization when it clearly is not.

Same meetings were also a bit fun.  Folks down in the southern part of British Columbia think I'm from The Far and Distant North.  Actually, I'm from the geographical centre of BC.  So if they think I'm a SD from The North, wouldn't they all be surprised to deal with someone from ... oh, say the YUKON?  Or ALASKA?  That's NORTH ... although not necessarily the FAR north.  The geographical centre of BC is many many miles away from NORTH!  This is one of my favourite amusements (can you tell?)  when I'm 'down south'.

Purple dot = centre of province ...
LOTS of miles away from THE FAR NORTH!

I usually tuck a book in my bag to read during my travels.  I would certainly rather read whilst on an airplane than sit there doing nothing.  Somehow, I managed to come away without a book, so had to pick up something in the Vancouver Airport to fill the gap.  I found this ...

... a rib-tickling tale of a travels on foot in Northern Ireland.  If you have any appreciation for genuine Irish humor, you'll love this!  However, the person sitting next to you on the airplane might give you odd looks when you snort and chortle aloud!

Friends came to my place to take care of The Boots while I was away, and she seemed to weather temporary abandonment okay.  However, I woke up COVERED with kitty toys and treasures this morning.  I take that to mean Miz Bootsy did not get enough kitty/human play time while I was away!  Oh well ... long weekend coming, so we'll have an extra day to enjoy each others' company.

Cheers, y'all!