I am sitting on the side of a mountain, a very regular thing to do when you live in BC, and watching the snow accumulate on the greenery. I am many hours away from my house, and had I been able to catch the Greyhound this morning, I would be 4 hours closer to home by now. But we could not get down the mountain and taxis do not come up here. Winter has arrived on the lower mainland.
I am here for the celebration of my friend's "Milestone Birthday" - one of my co-workers suggested a gift of a stone to mark this event. I found an Inukshuk which is one impressive milestone.
I met my friend 29 years ago at 2:30 am. What is fuzzier is the actual month or time of the year. This reminded me of an archaeological phenomenon. Some time ago, I read a book about the Maya archaeological site of Ceren, a site that was discovered by a equipment operator working on building new houses. Ceren was covered in volcanic ash; this event happened quickly so everything was preserved. The archaeologists could tell the time of the day it occurred but they could not tell the year.
When I met Deborah, I was working late in my lower-level apartment. Each time I began typing (yes, it was a typewriter in those days), I heard a noise upstairs. After doing more of the experiment, I walked outside (it wasn't winter - another clue) and knocked on the door. And that began a several decade friendship.
We were in our early 20s then, and each had toddlers who were the same age. Like the people in Ceren, we had our dailyness - working, laundry, dishes, and doing all of that while caring for our children.
There are many ways of preserving memories - in volcanic ash or what we carry inside of us.
1 comment:
If I may ask.....just what possessed you to go up a mountain at this time of year? The weather is pretty iffy this year.
Still, I hope you had a great trip and got lots of pictures.
AL
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