Monday, January 2, 2012

Twinkle.

I walked along the sea wall. It was a bright day. Blue skies, white clouds, green pines, and the horizon was blue and clear as far as I could see. My headphones sat on my head, and my camera hung off one shoulder. It was a busy day, and it seemed like every second person that passed me gripped a camera between their hands. I was just like them. I climbed over the sea wall, crouched over rocks, tampered with dials "click, bzzzz, click" and tried to capture the sea. As I made my way back towards the sea wall, my foot slipped. Damn, I thought. The rocks are slippery today. I slowly crawled across the rocks until I could hop back over the wall. Everyone must think I'm crazy. I continued my walk, passing strangers, tightening the grip on my black and pink Lancome pouch which I had just realized I brought with me absent minded. I intended to leave it at home. As I walked my mind rose. Then it sank. Up, down, up, down. What's wrong with me? One minute confused, one minute sad, one minute happy. I jumped onto the edge of the sea wall, one foot carefully in front of the other, balancing and walking along it. I looked down into the blue sea. It would be such a disaster if I fell in. A waste of two thousand dollars and my new clothes. My mind wandered back to a happy free state. I looked up to see a pair of people walking along the sea wall edge. Two boys. I hopped off the edge and back onto the path. Up, down, up, down, went my brain, like the waves of the sea. The walk continued, until I turned a corner and I could see North Vancouver sliding into the landscape, followed by mountains capped with snow. So beautiful. I stopped and took the lens cap off my camera. A view is never more beautiful than when you see it for the first time. On my left huge walls of rock jutted out, crowned with trees, which grew up, up, into the sky. Their roots wrapped around the rocks. I inhaled the air. I love the smell of Vancouver. Mountains, sea, cedar. Before I knew it all I could see was ocean, the path I stood on, and a big wall of rock. The wall of rock extended out as far as I could see. How do I get out of here? The sun was setting and it was beginning to get cold. I continued walking, clicking pictures at everything that caught my eye. An island of birds, that moved across the water like clouds in the sky on a windy day. The islands changed shape and moved back and forth, their sense of direction unpredictable, yet still in perfect unison. So many birds. Before I knew it all of North Van unfolded before me, and a long, beautiful bridge, adorned with white dots of lights extended from above me and over the sea, against the rich dark blue sky. It was really beginning to get dark. Eventually the cliff shrunk back down to the same level as the path, and I made my way off the sea wall to a road. Cars. So many cars. One after the other. It was New Years Eve. I waited for all the cars to pass, lightly contemplating hitch hiking my way out. No, I'll find my way out. Johnny texts me and he tells me to use the map on my phone. He saw my post on twitter about being lost. I turn on my map. I'm still on the opposite end of the island, far far away from home. Great, I thought. I found the shortest route back home on my map and continued my quest. Cars continued to pass me one after the other as I walked along the road. The path grew darker, and soon all I saw were the silhouettes of trees and the moon. Right at the moment I thought the night could never get darker, I saw a glimmer. Red. Red, blue, yellow. Cars turned off the street into a parking lot. A full parking lot. Crowds of parents and excited kids, skipped out of their cars and across the parking lot. I squinted my eyes. Candy canes, lit trees, comic figurines, food. A christmas light festival. It seems like no matter how lost I get, life leads me in the right direction.