By Lucy

On Monday me and K went to a place called Bookshelf. It’s a used book/ tabletop gaming store. I was hoping it was like Sir Games-a-Lot, with lots of tables and spaces for socialization and gaming, but it’s more like a bookstore with a couple of tables crammed in the back.

Taking me into a bookstore is always dangerous, as K learned. I soon had an armful of books, although I didn’t find the books I was looking for. I wanted the Bikeriders book that had prompted the movie. I also wanted to find any book of prose by Charles Bukowski. I pared it down to a book about making adorable little pompom critters, and a Dragon Age book. I’ve now put together an Amazon list so you guys can buy me things I want, if you want to support the blog (no comments that it’s currently all books!)

On Tuesday I did the walk around Boulevard Lake. The name is bollocks, but the lake is nice. There’s a parking lot with a large play area for kids, a vendor who sells ice cream and cool drinks in the summer, and a mini-putt. The walk around the lake is around 5km, mostly flat and paved, but some uphill. There are a few “art attractions” scattered off to the side. The north side follows a busy road over the river, and the south side is a walkway over what used to be a hydroelectric dam (I don’t believe it is currently generating). It includes a run for the rainbow trout going upstream to spawn! Thunder Bay was all in on hydroelectricity when it was the new hotness at the beginning of the 19th century, and the large number of rivers they have was supportive of that.

At 2 PM I had my appointment with my new oncologist. One thing I dislike about Thunder Bay’s hospital right off the bat is that it is comprised of multiple medium sized buildings and attached small parking lots, which means you have to determine which building is the correct one, and which lot is closest. Some guy tried to correct me as I went into the cancer center, cuz pretty young girls don’t get cancer, y’know?

It was 20 questions as the clerk checked me in, and then I went upstairs to the waiting room. They called me in fairly quickly, and then another half an hour of answering questions to the nurse. I’m glad that, presuming I don’t decide to settle in another city, this will be the last time I have to do this for a while. After another brief wait, the doctor came in and introduced himself. He told me he has other FAP patients, and immediately ordered some bloodwork, a scope, and an MRI. He was brief and to the point, which I prefer. I was worried about spending another half an hour explaining my condition again. I didn’t wear a good shirt for bloodwork, but the phlebotomist managed to get my vein the first attempt, and three vials later I was on my way.

On Wednesday morning I filed an application for Habitat for Humanity before I went for another early morning walk around Boulevard Lake. I had mostly completed the lap when I got a phone call unexpectedly. It was the foreman from the current build – the person who handles applications saw “carpenter” on mine and called him right away. I explained that I was an apprentice between jobs and he invited me to come down to the office and sign the paperwork that afternoon.

It’s a funny contrast of expectations. Most competent tradesmen I know barely bat an eyelid when the tiny girl shows up at the jobsite, cuz they know I wouldn’t be in this gig if I wasn’t good at it and 110% dedicated. But when I walked into the ReStore and told them I was there because I got a call to become a volunteer, the woman in charge of the store staff immediately assumed she had forgotten she called me, instead of thinking I might be on the build team. We signed all the paperwork and he introduced me to HR, who was thrilled to bits to have an apprentice on the team. They’re short on volunteers and the build is 4 months behind.

Wednesday evening was my first Soroptimist meeting. During my first trip to Thunder Bay, I noticed the arches of the International Friendship Garden said “Soroptimist” on them. My good friend Andrej told me him and his wife were members for many years, and he gave me to contact information for the president of the Thunder Bay club, for which I am very grateful!

The meeting was at the CLE, which is some sort of permanent exhibition grounds tucked in behind a Silver City theatre. I showed up early to buy some honey. I’m realizing how fortunate I was to grow up near the Holland marsh and have a ready supply of locally grown produce. There is only one local honey producer so far as I can tell, or at least only one who sells buckwheat, my preferred honey. The price was easily twice the cost it would be in Barrie, sadly, but I didn’t see a choice in it. A lot of honey you buy in stores is of questionable quality, and has been watered down and loaded up with white sugar. There is, also, some truth in the idea that consuming honey produced locally helps your immune system, especially if you are prone to hay fever. I purchased my honey and walked a lap around the building checking out the booths. The guy at the pie store says he has haggis until Easter, and that if I want some I should call ahead and have them hold one back for me.

I waited in my car until the meeting started half an hour later. Everyone introduced themselves to me and was very polite and welcoming. It was somewhat startling to have everyone know my preferred name right off the bat, but I appreciate that Cindy told everyone. There is another woman in the group with my birth name, and it was confusing to hear someone else being called it, but also anaesthetizing. I ended up being seated next to Faith, who is high energy and enthusiastic, and we spent much of the evening whispering to each other and giggling.

They were handing out the “Live Your Dream” awards. The award is for women who are pursuing their dreams and need a little bit of help. Jennifer is a single mom of five, who’s husband died a few years ago on the jobsite, and she went back to school to get a masters in teaching. Anna is a law student (I believe) and works at the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship center, so I will presumably run into her again.

I was glad to have been a part of it. I can already see so many options for working synergistically with the union hall, for getting girls into the trades, and for helping the indigenous community. I told them one of my personal projects is to get into the schools and teach girls that trades are a viable option for them, and the liaisons for that were very supportive.

It was also a test of faith vs ambition. At one point it was mentioned that they will need a new president within two years, as Cindy will have reached her term limit. There was a few comments about people stepping into a leadership position within a year of joining, and pointed looks thrown my way. I could only look down at the table. I’d be more than pleased to be president, but have I paid my dues? Have I earned it? I suppose sometimes we earn it after the fact. I also want to be assured that I’ll be a good leader and not just filling some greedy hole within myself.

There was a spread of food and I was starving. I’m not flat broke, I have enough money to cover my bills into April, but it does mean that food is whatever is cheap. There’s also the extra twist of limited kitchen space. I have a shelf in the cupboard, and half a shelf in the fridge, so I can’t even hoard extra food in the freezer, or make something with lots of leftovers.

Thursday morning I went to the Habitat jobsite. They were repairing and installing the cabinets in the kitchen, as they were salvaged. The foreman’s name is Scott, and the other guy’s name is Doug. Scott is in and out a lot, keeping an eye on other jobsites, getting called back to the ReStore to help with things, so it was mostly me and Doug. I like Doug because he treats me like one of the guys. Instead of trying to help me when I’m struggling, he laughs (yes that is a positive thing. Don’t help me! I’ll ask if I want help), and he cheers when I finish something I was having a hard time with.

I only did two hours at the build because I already had plans with Hanuman to go hiking again. I went home and cleaned up and had lunch, then grabbed him and headed out.

Our first stop was Cedar Falls. It’s a little bit past Kakabeka, about a kilometer into the woods, not steep but not level either. There were frozen patches where the sun couldn’t reach through the trees. There’s seems to be some good fishing there, and when the river thaws rainbow trout jump up the falls, so we will be going back to see that!

We spent over an hour out there. Then we headed back to Kakabeka – Hanuman had never been! It was nice to visit again, actually. With the water flow reduced by the frozen river, you can see the rocks of the falls, and in the pool at the bottom. I’ll do some side by sides for comparison.

I am really glad for the twist of fate that lead me to the hostel, because Hanuman is such a gem. We stood at the lookouts for half an hour at a time, pointing out little variations in the rocks to each other and speculating why they might be there. He used to work maintaining the trails at Algonquin and is such a wealth of knowledge about trails and wilderness!

In case you were wondering (as we did) Kakabeka falls has been carved out of the slate 500 meters in 10’000 years. In theory, that means it removes a centimeter of rock every year, but there’s a twist! The top layer is a material called chert, which is made of silica and harder than slate! It prevents the top of the falls from eroding, so the slate erodes out from the ‘caprock’ until eventually the chert is unsupported and collapses.

Me and Hanuman did the portage trail around the falls, which me and Adrianne didn’t do. There is another, longer trail called “Little Falls”, but we had already been out there for three hours and I was getting kinda cold and tired.

We stopped on the way back and got “Leprecorned” beef sandwiches from Sweet North bakery (for St. Paddy’s day). I love me some corned beef when I can get it. It’s vanishingly rare from Canadian grocery stores, and expensive when it is an option. It’s annoying when something that was originally intend to be a cheap option becomes haute cuisine and inaccessible. Like Spam!

On Friday we did the upstairs floor, just a regular tongue’n’groove floating laminate.

I made a mistake Friday. I didn’t install the floor wrong! There is this program called “2Good2Go”, where stores offer food they want gone quickly at an extremely discounted rate. I’ve had good luck with it, so I purchased a bakery bundle from a grocery store. I figured no matter what I get – buns, bread, bagels – I could make it work as lunch for the next week.

I got pies.

I got a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a blueberry pie, and some ‘healthy’ muffins.

Well, now what? I wouldn’t even buy those if I had the money to normally! They were going to expire the next day and I didn’t even have a freezer to throw them in. I ate half the (smaller) blueberry pie that night and texted Hanuman my predicament.

Saturday morning, I went into the hostel with the strawberry-rhubarb pie, and I threw it in the oven. Hanuman made some blueberry-bergamot tea he had bought the day before. We shared the pie with some of the hostel guests and had a lovely breakfast chatting with everyone at the big table. He also had some GIANT Persians from Current River bakery, which are pretty good!

I may not have a lot of money, but with good friends I feel wealthy indeed!

Saturday ended poorly. I’ll throw it in here because I don’t want to dwell on it. I’ve not heard much from the Vagabond since I got to town. People often say “if they want you, they’ll try” and I don’t believe that’s true in this case, but I also think it makes no difference either way. I’m not going to live my life draped over my bed, pining away like some Victorian heroine. I gave him an ultimatum of, either we talk in person or I’m returning the key. He offered the option of leaving the key at a specific place, or waiting. I waited til 3 and decided I was tired of waiting, so I drove down to his place, but he obviously wasn’t home. I left the key, messaged him that I had left the key, and went over to K’s place. We played Mario Party and he made chili for dinner.

So if you were wondering, no I haven’t seen him and I don’t know if I ever will. I still cherish the memories and tell the stories with a big smile. I don’t regret it, but this chapter is over.