So I missed a day. Sosumi. Inside joke from my childhood. You
wouldn't get it.
Last night, I had the chance to make my way downtown by
myself with only the aid of public transit. I caught the 86 from
my brother's place and landed in Westboro, only to stumble
out of the bus and fortuitously into the Bridgehead where
my friend Emily was working. What a pleasant happenstance!
Emily wasted no time in buying me a coffee as part of her
friendly spirit and her sweet Bridgehead employee perks. I
asked her what bus I should take from downtown and she looked
at me kinda funny 'Uh...95, 96, 97. Any of those, really. You've
never bussed downtown?' I conferred through my foggy glasses
that it had been a while. So with a warm, sugary Ethiopian in
my hands, I headed for Tunney's Pasture and caught the 95.
What stuck me about taking the bus again was how easy it
was (especially from the mini-underground city called Tunney's
Pasture). There are signs everywhere leading you in the
direction that you want to travel. Downtown (East), Kanata
(West) - it was all laid out pretty well for a non-busser like
myself.
I landed at Bank St and walked up to Elgin and talked to
my friend Eric on the phone. Eric recovered from a rare
cancer this past year that affected his voice and so it was
good to hear a fully functional set of vocal chords (and
happy ones, at that) on the other end of the receiver. I
popped into Rideau Centre to run and errand and headed
back to Elgin to meet more friends for dinner - Mer and
Matt. We had a sublime meal of choice food at the Manx -
one of the best beer & food spots in Ottawa. Hands down.
Before the dinner, though, and on my way back from
Rideau, I had a bit of a weird moment. An almost cinematic
moment. As the sun dropped like a stone, leaving a faint
strip of pink over the barely frozen canal, I looked out on
the long lane of water - remembering my year in Ottawa
and how I had some great skates from work to home that
winter. And though I have some great memories from that
year, It wasn't all peaches and I had some hard times -
but for the most part, I felt my heart getting really full.
I continued walking down the steps from the Rideau bus
depot to the pathway that leads to Elgin. With many multi-
coloured lights on many trees, I looked up at the sky with
Jon Brooks playing soulfully in my headphones. For the
first time in a long while, I felt happy. I felt real. I felt like I
was existing somewhere. My eyes got a tad misty. I
couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile. Why do these
moments come? It seemed so out of the blue - this joy
rush.
Whatever it was, it was a nice change. Images and
memories flashed before me of my cross Canada trip.
Mountains and prairies. Long cigarette drags to kill
the time. Hoppy beers of BC microbrews. And at the
end of the trip, after I'd seen and done enough, I
realized that I missed where I was currently standing.
And I felt full.
