Stuff!

We didn't paddle as a group this weekend. (I don't count the times I get out on the bay by myself as an "outing" -- just like John and Louise don't count going for a run or brisk walk along the Gorge, or Bernie doesn't get out his bike when he's "only" walking a mile to the public library and then back.) It was a 'check on the aging parents' weekend in which J and L checked on their moms, we checked on my folks and Bernie called his dad, and our son phoned Bernie to wish him a happy birthday. I guess that makes us the aging parents being checked on, too... coffee at Olive Olio's instead of paddling, sheesh.
Besides, John's get up and go got up and went. Stephanie thinks she saw it at 6:30 am when she was checking on her chickens, and it was speeding down the road honking with delight. Brian says it ran past him at the car show in Oak Bay, pantless. I can confirm that. After coffee I fiddled in my garden plot on campus then hopped on a bus and hopped off to walk along Bowker Creek to the Monterey Rec Centre. We'd just been talking over coffee about the Bowker Creek watershed, and how the creek runs from UVic down to Shelbourne Street and wanders around before getting to Willows Beach, so it was nice to see some of the restoration going on along this creek. As I walked, I could hear music. The source was the classic car show on Oak Bay Avenue, and there was John's get up and go, having more fun than he was that morning. It was sitting in someone's restored Triumph, polishing the lovely chrome. He's really got to keep a better handle on his get up and go, or at least make it wear pants.
Eventually, I walked back to a convenient bus stop and knitted my way home. Checked my e-mail and abruptly felt less decrepit to find an e-mail back from ICEBREAKER! The folks who make Icebreaker merino wool clothing were really pleased to hear from me about wearing clothes they made during my trip to be a volunteer clam researcher at Waiatt Bay on Quadra Island. They're sending me a pair of merino wool leggings (the foot-less, calf-length kind called Legless) to wear and test for them. I think Legless will be good to wear while commando kayaking... anything I can wear both on the bus and in my kayak sounds good for keeping my gear bag small.
All Icebreaker wants is for me to sign up for their e-mail newsletter. Well, that seems like a good idea. I went to their link and checked it out. Turns out, people who sign up for their newsletter have a tree planted in their name, and get entered in a draw for a free top. Sounds pretty good.