Friends, this City of ours keeps on surprising me. What a wonderful day it was here in Vancouver. Brilliant sunshine put a smile on everybody's face and that was in spite of the very cool air. The North Shore mountains looked fantastic with their new coat of fresh snow and everywhere I went I just knew that people were enjoying this day as much as I was.
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I started out the day buying gas at a Chevron gas station. Chevrons are the best because they are always neat and tidy and the bathrooms are well taken care of as well. They don't give you the bums rush either when you need to do a critical pit stop if you know what I mean. On this bright and sunny day I got my truck washed in one of their automatic car washes. A female attendant gave me a voucher for a free car wash a couple of days ago and this was the day that I decided to take advantage of her unexpected gift to me. When I got to the station she asked: " have you done it yet? ". And, I said " no, but today will be the day. " She smiled approvingly. And, that is how my day started out. Everything would be pretty and neat and I would feel wonderful all day long as I listened to my tunes and drove about in the December sunshine in my shiny and very clean white truck.
At about 5 PM I was approaching the downtown core area and what a show nature put on for us let me tell you. Words cannot describe the magic that I saw in front of me, but words will have to suffice because I had no electronic gadgetry on hand to record the drama for you. You cannot beat nature friends when it wants to perform. I am driving into the downtown core via the Granville Street Bridge from the Southside area and the sun is setting and it is causing reflections on the highrises of the urban core. And, these majestic, glass laden pillars are now numerous indeed; they are welcoming you to the core; it is like a beckoning. The sky is darkened, but the buildings and their windows come alive all dressed up in their various shades of greens, blues and twinkling whites. It is as if the buildings themselves were part of some sort of production; they played their part and they did it brilliantly. Need I say more?
Friends, we simply need to acknowledge that the end of this year is near. 2010 is rapidly coming to a close, only one more day of the year to experience and then it is all over but the shouting so to speak. 2010 was a tremendous year for me in terms of experience; there was meaning and revelations for me on numerous fronts.
We all lived through and loved the Olympics. I cannot even begin to describe for you the emotional joy and pride that us Vancouverites felt when the event was alive. I have never encountered such a thing in my life. It is amazing what thousands of people gathered together in common cause can do in terms of producing that do good human feeling. Never have I been so proud to be born in Vancouver. It took the Olympics to bring it all into focus for me; I was living in the best damn spot in the world and this event proved that to me. Check out this Olympics video in the streets of Vancouver:
Robson Street Video
On another front, 2010 also saw the death of a comrade courier. His name was Bill. If you want to read more about him then you can visit the part of my blog called Dear Courier Diary I need to ask Bill's forgiveness for what I am about to do here. Bill and I were friends, well maybe not really close friends, but darn good acquaintances anyway, and he knows about my dream girl since I talked about her just about every chance I could get. After Bill died I went to a small gathering honoring his death. These were his friends that were gathered here. Some of them loved him and others were his friends and work mates such as myself. Some memorabilia was assembled on a table in the building where the honoring took place. On display were the precious moments of Bill's last days as they were enjoyed by him and his loved one. Among the items that were assembled there was a photograph of him and his girlfriend and their most recent trip. Bill and his girlfriend had been to Juneau, Alaska and there was the picture sitting on the table right in front of me to prove it. I was literally taken aback when I saw that photo. What did it mean -and why now? Bill never told me that he went there and if he had he would never hear the end of my questions about his trip.... All the best in the Great Beyond Bill and sorry you missed the end of a magical year and today was very magical indeed.
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