Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, Dad.

This year wasn't fantastic. For anyone. It started out ok for me, but then spring came and things changed, and I had to go back to Canada. I hung out with Cooper a lot, knew you'd like that. Still, it was much of the same song and dance. I'm sure you'd agree it was uncanny. You know why I can't live at home, this was no accident. That's ok, it wasn't all bad. Enough time has gone by. Time to address it all. Let it go.

Now, I've decided to go hang out in Victoria for a bit. The winter is much more bearable here. And lots of good news that great things are on the horizon. Everyone just needs to hang in there.

Victoria is beautiful. On one cloudy afternoon I decided to go see the Craigdarroch Castle. It's a Scottish Baronial Mansion from the Victorian era. I think that means it's fancy.

It was constructed in 1890 for a wealthy coal miner named Robert Dunsmir. Bob died about a year and a half before it was finished, poor guy. It's made of stone, stained glass, wrought iron and fine woods. Not as extravagant as the apartments though.

Supposedly the cool thing to do here in Victoria is go whale watching. I was underwhelmed, majorly. I don't think it's just because I've been on a lot of tours, either. They said Orcas, humpbacks, grey whales and more. Not really. It was an hour long, intensely bumpy ride in the boat just for this and I don't remember which kind of whale it is. I think there were 2 others we saw too, at the same distance. And just when I thought we were going to get closer, he said our time was up and it was another hour back to shore on the bumps. Maybe I'm just a snob. I thank the very knowledgeable, very passionate tour guide, and the whales for showing up. It was a nice afternoon to get outside. Not very impressive for the price though.

Another cool thing to do is see the Parliament. But this is actually cool. The Legislative Assembly. A Neo-Baroque building with a statue of Queen Victoria on the lawn facing the harbor. I haven't gone inside yet. I will soon. That red part is called the birdcage.

I am entirely unsure about the future, and that is entirely, perfectly fine with me. I have a job. Still looking for the perfect one to keep me going through this winter. I've almost found it.

In the meantime, I am finally happier with my book. Really don't think it needs to be read. Just a bit more editing, contemplative thought and I'll truly be finished my processing.

I decided to put the blog on hold for now. What is happening around the world at this moment calls for all of us to stay put. Don't worry, you know I'll start another writing project, somewhere, sometime and share it with everyone. Right now though, we are approaching light at the end of this dark tunnel and that's all that matters.

Hope you enjoyed a few things about Victoria. Not a bad place to be.

I'm tired. Very tired. But I know you're around. Love you, thanks for the dimes.

Bailey Sue