Look Out World

Here comes Captain Hygiene!

For our Halloween youth event on Friday I dressed up like Captain Hygiene. My costume was inspired by the preteens I work with and my love for all things clean. One of my lovely sponsors, Emma, dressed up like . . . me! I didn't get it right away, though. I squished by her on our crowded bus and read the pink heart on her grey long-sleeved tshirt. It said, "I heart CBC." I thought, "That's funny. I love the CBC." Then, I got it.

"And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower" (Walt Whitman)

Things I loved about my evening run in the cool rain:
1. The colours of the fallen leaves carpeting the sidewalk.
2. The squish squish sound of my wet, well worn runners as my healthy body moves at its own pace on top of the earth.
3. The glory of the light bursting out of the thick gray atmosphere to say, “Surprise! I really am this beautiful.”
4. The feeling of my own strength as I run.
5. The spaciousness of the city when it rains. People are hiding and the prairie girl in me breathes in this openness. The park is all mine, except for the lover couple under the umbrella and the girl with the jumpy dog and yellow boots (the girl’s boots, that is).

Turkey Trot

My mom and sister came to Vancouver for Thanksgiving. Amazingly, they let me sign them up for the 9th annual Granville Island Turkey Trot - a 10 K race here in Vancouver. I say that it is amazing because NONE of us are runners/racers/athletes. We do love each other, though, so when I expressed interest in this event my lovely mom and sister joined right in (well, Kasha took a little convincing).

It was a beautiful day. There was so much to be thankful for: the changing colours of fall, the water of the sea in the inlet, the presence of friends (Paulina who ran at my slow pace), the diversity of the runners/walkers, our health, the red Puma Turkey Trot shirts, and the fact that it did not pour rain on our grateful heads.

I ALMOST BROKE UP WITH GREY'S ANATOMY . . . UNTIL . . .

"I don't watch a lot of TV."

I know a lot of people like to say that to appear smarter or less lazy, but I truly only find time for The National, The Hour, and usually one show a week. I also like to sound smart and less lazy.

Last year my chosen show was Grey's Anatomy. I wouldn't even say that I chose it, really. I felt chosen by it. I savored the moments of messy humanity in all it's dramatic splendor. The season ended lame, though, so we broke up.

This week I tuned into the new season (oh, and last week, too) and I am momentarily glad we are keeping up our relationship. The theme of this week's episode was addictions -- how people hold onto them even when they know they are destructive, how people develop them from places of real need, how even when we know we should flea with all our energy we don't because it hurts a little less to go back even just once. The various story lines didn't end all solved and tidy, either. I guess that's a bit like the struggle. Plus, those TV people are smart buggers who keep people like me coming back for more.

There is one more theme I liked about this week's episode. The people who dispensed wisdom were the most unlikely. Burke's "ma ma" pointed out some of the most beautiful traits in the people who crossed her path, even those people the viewer could have seen as her adversaries. McSteamy (oh ya) took a moment to check in with Callie as she came close to slipping off the edge of control. And, on it went.

I love sneaky wisdom like this. It is the kind that hides behind an ugly, falling-down fence and then saddles up beside you on a lonely walk to remind you of how the world is or how it should be, anyway.