Sunday, November 26

Winter Wonderland (Victoria, B.C.)

When I woke this morning I reached over and furtively pulled aside the curtain looking to see if it had snowed, I was disappointed, not unlike a child waking up on Christmas to discover it was the 24th. After spending so many formative years of my childhood in the Canadian North, snow is synonymous with Christmas for me, you can’t have one without the other. “It’s okay”, I told myself reassuringly, “there are 30 more days until Saint Nick comes, still time”.

Up, grabbed the paper, fed cat, put the kettle on, coffee in the bodum, bread in the toaster and sat down to start the Sunday Sudoku. I think it was while finishing my second cup of Grizzly Claw (Kicking Horse Coffee), that it started to snow. Bonus.

I helped the Missus finish putting up some Christmas decorations and then called a friend to see if he was up for keeping me company on today’s run, he was. I bundled up, headed outside and made my way up the street. The plan was to make our way in the direction of a particular links course, “with its breathtaking seaside scenery and craggy coastline”, child’s play. Had we followed through with our plan, we might have jumped on at 17, run over 1, 12 and 11, crossed the road, up 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 and out to the tee box at 9, Gibraltar. It would be at this point, with the wind whipping the snow horizontally across our faces and the large grey waves breaking onto a craggy outcrop that we most likely would have retraced our steps. Most likely.

The run was bittersweet; although incredibly enjoyable my friend had an untimely exit as a nagging grievance reared its ugly head. For those reading outside of B.C. (Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Mexico) and unfamiliar with snow, enjoy the picture. 1:07, AHR 134, AHR 155.

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