Wednesday, May 19, 2010

From Sunny Day to Pouring Rain

It was a gorgeous May morning, the sun vibrant, the sky blue and I woke knowing my weekend chores were completed the night before and that this was my day.

I had plans to meet Karen and Kadir for dinner at 4:30 and decided to take advantage of the weather to take a mid-day stroll to 2nd Beach.

I wore my t-shirt and a put on a flannel shirt in case it got windy but was carrying it by the time I reached English Bay.

I took my normal leisurely walk admiring the ocean, the flowers, the long still-uncut grasses along the slopes above the seawall. I kept wondering how Kadir would look after his 2-week kayaking journey in Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island and was looking forward to details.

My walk took about an hour, I came home and watched a little TV and then planned to do one more loop down to the water and then walk back up to Davie to meet the family members but a few minutes after I started back down, I could feel the chill in the air and the first few raindrops beginning to splatter.

I realized that this was not a walk I would enjoy in shirt sleeves and so went back home to bide my time until our meeting time. At 4, I called Kadir's cell and to my surprise he was already waiting at Davie and Thurlow, a half hour early. I told him I would be right there and grabbing a hat and jacket started off. I am glad I didn't take an umbrella.

On the street outside the sky had grown suddenly and ominously dark and there were flurries of leaves like small cyclones blowing randomly over the street. The wind had kicked into overdrive. The rain had not really started yet but there was doubt it would be here, and soon!

It arrived by the time I had walked 2 blocks up to Davie and holding my hat in place so that the wind wouldn't carry it off I walked up to Starbucks at Thurlow and Davie where Kadir was sprawled at one of the tables, holding a now empty cup and looking very impatient.

He was wearing a new hat and new shoes that were in danger of being soaked by the now growing-in-intensity downpour. Clothes are not an item that he has ever been able to take for granted and so he was understandably upset about the bad timing of the weather.

Karen was running late of course and was just boarding the Canada line in South Vancouver and so we started off to get a table at Stephos, but half way there changed our tack and decided to walk up Davie to meet Karen at the Sky Train station in Yaletown where we assumed she would be getting off.

I am glad the rain changed our plans for us, as by the time we reached Thurlow again it was dumping buckets and Kadir was sweating bullets over his new shoes. We huddled under an awning for awhile until Karen called and told us she was at the Waterfront Station, as she didn't know where to disembark.

So we diverted our steps to Osaka Sushi on Burrard where we have all gathered before and where I was confident that due to the weather we could while away a half-hour before ordering until Karen arrived.

She finally arrived soaking wet and wearing flip-flops in the chilly rain! What a gal! Just like the weather and you never know which way the wind is going to be blowing.

This was a successful meeting though for as soon as Karen arrived Kadir's mood improved and we were soon all laughing together.

Getting the details of his trip was more difficult as he had been sick on the trip and it sounds like the young team was challenged but I got enough details that I am sure it is a journey he will not soon forget.

And at what other school would this trip provide credits for his high school year?

It was a good, good day.

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