After much deliberation, we decided to leave the farm we were working at. There simply wasn't enough work. We had never worked on a farm before and before now could not empathize with the plight of a small scale farmer once pests, invasive species, drought and disease hit crops, often at the same time. The work we were anticipating was lacking due to these problems, it was no-one's fault. The life of the farmer is left completely to chance sometimes, when the pastures of plenty do not provide. We left with toughened hands, muscles, invaluble knowledge about small scale irrigation and a new respect for the non-stop labour of the fruit and vegetable farmer.
We were very very excited to leave the desert. After an hour of driving, the presence of humidity and rain started to create a landscape more familiar to us eastern Ontarians. Breathing that wet air and leaving such a dry micro-climate was like sipping a long needed glass of water. We went to Squamish, the outdoor recreation capital of the world, for what was to become a vacation within a vacation.
For days we browsed cute vintage shops and had coffee at the aptly named zephyr cafe, watched kite-boarding and danced at the wind festival, climbed the chief, worked an odd job and swam in the azure lakes. We met a friend we knew 6 years ago in Ottawa while hiking a rural trail around one of the lakes; we came over a boulder and there she was. The universe works in mysterious ways when you are living authentically.
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| At long, long last: the Pacific. |
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| The mountain we were to climb the next day, Stawamus Chief, looming in the background. |
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| A rest halfway through the climb complete with lemonade. |
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| Upward, and upward and upward |
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| Tantalus range |
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| A selfie (he loves it) |
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| Bath time (safe-soap) :) |
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