Mysterious Coincidences/I come across a project

Let me start this at the beginning. About a year and a half ago, in the dreary months right before spring, I had just finished reading a book all about mysterious coincidences. It was a spiritual adventure book - AWESOME, in case you were wondering. One of the things it said was that when you make direct eye contact with a person, like - when you both look directly into each other's eyes at the exact same moment, especially if it happens more than once, there's something you two have to say to each other. something you mutually have to give. After I read that, that very day, I went out into the world determined to see if this was so. We went to Wildside, and in the gravel parkinglot, I immediately looked right into the eyes of this man I'd never seen before. A little while later, it happened again. And then again for a 3rd time. Each time I'd be totally spacing out, and then just happen to look, and it'd happen. I noticed because I was looking for it, but this guy was some stranger, and I couldn't imagine there was anything I'd have to offer this random older person. so I kind of let the whole thing go, and forgot about it.

A month later, Shawn and I moved into our new apartment. And guess who's our next door neighbour? Yeah, you guessed it - it's that man I made eye contact with 3 times in the parking lot at wild side. When I found that out, it reminded me of the eye contact thing, and I wondered about it. It's always been tickling at the back of my mind. And it's been growing - I've been feeling restless about it, even. Like, somehow, I KNEW there was a reason he's our neighbour. And I knew we had to talk. But it hadn't happened yet. He chatted with Shawn, but was shy of me or something.

Anyway, fast forward to the past month or two. Like I said, we've been becoming friends with our neighbours. There's the eye-contact guy, and his roommate, a really sweet girl from Germany who I hit it off with right away (as an aside I just found out that she's an Aries sun, Cancer moon, just like me!! ). Many nights that would have been lonely in the past are now spent visiting with them. Last night was one of those nights. eye-contact man is annoying to write. his name is Milos. he made us dinner the other night, so last night I went over to return his dishes, and ended up staying and spending the entire evening with Milos and his roommate, Maike (pronounced "Mika") until late at night. Shawn came and joined us after his surf and a few other people dropped by later. But the point is, Milos told me all about this beautiful project he has in mind. A dream of his. He's learning to carve wood, so far he's only carved smaller things (but they're amazing - a soft, smooth-as-silk rounded box with a hummingbird shaped on the top, a wavy bowl made from a beryl with a flowy sun shaped in the middle, a firestone gleaming from the centre of the sun. for example) but with this idea, he's partnering up with a Native carver. It's a statue, and he got the idea from the statue of liberty. I won't write about it, because this is public and it's his idea, but I got goosebumps when he told me of it. I was moved. So then, he told me, he's had this idea for 2 years, and this carver who's going to do it with him is wanting to order the block of wood for it, but he needs a drawing of the idea. and he's never been able to find someone who'll do it, or who could do it good enough.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'LL DO IT!

I said I'd do it and he was beyond thrilled. He asked to see some of my drawings, and I apprehensively brought out one of my old sketchbooks and a few dusty paintings, and his reaction was to be even MORE thrilled. When this happened I immediately thought of the eye-contact thing. I feel like, this is the reason!! this is the reason why I FELT that!! All of a sudden I'm involved in this amazing, powerful project! It's got me motivated, inspired, excited. and I'm helping someone out, too! And in the process I met Maike, who I adore already. We're going to have an art night this week and learn how to make dream catchers.

And that is probably a good point to end this post!

cuppa

Last night our Serbian neighbour made us a special ethnic dish called Sarma, made with sour cabbage and some sort of flavourful meat mixture. it was delicious. We sat out on their patio and visited until midnight. He had some people over from his work, and more people kept dropping by. There was a little blonde girl who you could tell was new in town. It's funny how you can tell. People that have just moved here are like, high on something. It was like me when I moved here, which is why I recognize it. They're all pumped up and full of excitement, and this kind of open sociality. They're kind of like giant bubbles that you'd really like to pop. (haha. jk) It's also the summer energy. Tofino suddenly becomes rife with social opportunities. The most fun things - beach fires and parties, spontaneous meetings with awesome and interesting people, sushi on the patio overlooking the Sound, camping, boating, surfing, hiking, fishing, live music. I love Tofino in the summer. Our neighbour plays the guitar outside most nights now that it's nice, and one of our other neighbours, a cheerful plump grizzly-bearded bandana-wearing bike-riding man, sings with him. He's got a voice like Tom Waits. It's seriously awesome to hear - like a free Taj Mahal concert. Now is also the time you're most likely to hear bits and pieces of music floating on the air wherever you go. That's a happiness of mine. Hearing stolen bits of music.

I work today at 2. I found out yesterday as I was walking home from work in the rain, that my co-worker, who moved here from Scotland, is living in a van! I encountered her as she was returning from having a shower at some public washroom. it was such a miserable day, I couldn't imagine going back to a VAN. so today I'm thinking of inviting her over after work for a shower and a cup of tea!

I don't even know where to start. Life's been busy and social around here. We're becoming friends with our neighbours.
Shawn's parents were just up for a few days.
 Shawn bought a fishing rod. We've been fishing off the rocks almost every night since. The other day he got an opportunity to go with a work friend and take his dad, out on a boat, and he caught 2 20 pound chinook salmon, some snapper, and a rock cod. mind you, I don't know the diff between snapper and rock cod...because snapper IS rock cod. but that's besides the point. He even went and got it processed at Trilogy! it was neat to go to work today and see all that fish neatly cut and vacuum packed with my name on it. We have fish for months. And aside from that, we're consistently getting pounds - POUNDS, mind - of freshly caught coonstripe shrimp and spotted prawns. And I keep getting free goodies such as freshly caught halibut, and homemade salmon smokies, from work. The other night we had a big dinner with Shawn's parents and two of our friends and had a seafood feast. France and I made it together. I did all the seafood - she would not let me be influenced by her. :)
Right now, it's raining and dark out, and Shawn is out surfing. Or rather, probably returning from his surf at this point. I'm tired from work. There's always so much work to do that even when I DO have time to have lunch, I feel dizzy and starved and often light-headed after work. Just as a random aside, this afternoon at work I noticed a dead crab in the tank, so I took it out to steam it as per custom, but when I broke it's back and the fluids ran out, the SMELL -! I ran outside dry-heaving, and had to collect myself for a minute or two before going back, gingerly putting it in a bowl, and running out to the end of the dock where I tossed it out to sea. Back in the shop, it was necessary to open all the windows in order to clear the air. Hoo boy.

That is a brief version of recent events. I'm quite frankly too tired to do much better.

It's one of those days you wake up and take a peek outside and the sky is just SO BLUE - it's almost an aggressive blue. Like - it's no background blue, you know what I mean?

I had a really good sleep last night. I went to bed early. In Parksville we went mountain biking two days in a row and it REALLY took it out of me. It was so much fun though. It was so evident that something had relaxed inside me since the last time I'd gone, which was over a year ago. I even triumphed over that same hill I mentioned, the second day. sharp bend and all! -yay!

Work is good. I have full-time hours this week at least. So far, we've just been working the schedule out amongst us, and there's been no need to write a schedule down...so I don't know if it's a steady thing or not! Probably. it's been busy.

Crabs are cute little guys. I send them love before I kill them. I take a deep breath to calm myself (it calms them too, they go limp) and then send them loving feelings and then tell them it will be quick and they won't feel a thing. what? I have to do SOMETHING. crabs I do this with seem to not struggle as much but I haven't done enough that way to be sure. It could just be fanciful thinking. wishful, even.
But it IS evident that they feel my vibes.

Yesterday was very strange. I couldn't help but notice at the end of the day that almost every single person - not kidding - that came in, left me a tip. Why?! this has never happened before! I mean it was so regular that it seemed like it was planned. I wonder. In any case - woohoo tip money!

Yesterday in the cooling sun of evening Shawn and I rode our mountain bikes to top ridge and spent 2 hours winding our way through the trails. I had many thrilling break-through moments where I'd (for example) ride right up and over a log that had every other time caused me to dismount and walk over. There was also this hill that I always stop at because right at the top there's quite a large root that causes a step - a drop - down to the steepest part of the hill - and right after THAT there's a rock shelf with another foot or two drop down, and right after THAT the trail bends sharply. the two drops I can handle psychologically from experience, knowing that my bike will do all the work for me and it will actually be quite smooth - it's the sharp bend at the bottom, when I know I'll be going really fast. It's always the sharp bend at the bottom!

anyway, I did it, after a few false starts, but instead of taking the sharp bend I instead skidded to a stop straight into a leafy salal bush. But still it was victorious! and not all sharp bends got me this time. I was practicing looking where I wanted to go, instead of at where I didn't want to go. makes alll the difference.

huffing and puffing with the inevitable red face and sweaty bangs, through the quiet forest, was a lot of fun. After we'd had our fill of riding, we made our way to the river, a part where it was shallow, streaming over large, round, colourful rocks. I stripped to my bathing suit and waded up to my knees. No more, because riding home wet would've been miserable.

Shawn basked at the river's edge in the sunlight. It was beautiful there. I wish there was such an accessible river in Tofino.

so yeah, we're in p-ville right now. it's another sunny day. Shawn's parents have left for work. I'm in the kitchen where I have the computer set up on the table. beside me the sliding glass door is open to the back porch, which is all leafy and whispery and dappled in sun. Birdsong is shimmering in the background. I spy a tall purple foxglove spike under the plum tree. Feels like summer!