deandra.homeip.net

Since Canada Day fell on a Wednesday this year, my week's been totally screwed up. I feel like another week sneaked in there somewhere. Especially since this Canada Day was far busier for me than usual.

After breakfast, Chris and I headed over to her place to mow her lawn. As we were wrapping up, two police cruisers descended upon the house, lights flashing. Since it wasn't quite ten o'clock, my first thought was that someone had become annoyed at the roar of a pair of lawnmowers and called in a noise complaint. So I was a little surprised when the officer asked me if anyone had called 911 in the last half-hour. Since no one had been in the house in double that time, this was a strange case indeed. One of the officers went inside with Chris while the other stayed outside with me. He asked me the usual questions: who I was, where I lived, whether we were arguing, etc. After satisfying themselves that there was nothing going on at the house, they told us that some cordless phones call 911 as they die, and then left.

Of course, neither of Chris' phones were 'dying' at that time. I suspect that someone has been messing around with the phone company.

After that little incident, Christine and I decided to go on a hike. I hadn't been out to the Deep Creek falls before, so we took the drive out. Unlike previous trips into the bush, this time we managed to remember to bring (and use) the bug dope before departing. As we were loading up, Chris tossed me the spare key for her car, "in case [she got eaten by a bear]."

The hike took a little over an hour. There were some sharp climbs up and down, lots of forest, and some absolutely spectacular views of Narcosli Creek and Deep Creek. However, my attention was constantly diverted by the Cheapass shoes I'd bought from Wal-Mart just two days before, that were already falling apart. By the time we got to the end of the trail at Deep Creek Falls, the insoles had all but disintegrated and bunched themselves up near my toes. While the dog splashed around in the creek at the bottom of the falls, I tore out the insoles and tossed them into the backpack. Just for a lark, I pulled out my cellphone, and was kinda surprised to find that I actually had service, this deep into the bush.

Eventually it was time to head home. The return was uneventful, save for the stop to pick up the doggie bag near the trail head. All was going well until I remembered that I had Chris' spare key in my pocket. Or at least, I thought I did. Turns out, somewhere along the line it had fallen out. After a little thinking, I realised that I'd put the keys in the same pocket with my phone, and the only time they could have fallen out was the one time I had pulled out my phone to check the signal... at the very other end of the trail, an hour's hike away. I wanted to head back and get those keys right then and there, but it was suppertime, we were both hungry, and Chris was driving. So, we headed back home.

After supper, I told Chris I was heading back to find her keys. I think she saw this as a less than intelligent decision, since I was going to be heading alone into bear country wearing lousy shoes. She originally wasn't going to be able to come with me, but her plans changed at the last minute, and she told me to wait up. In hindsight, I was glad she came along, despite the fact that it was my stupidity that had necessitated this extra walk in the first place.

After putting on my trusty old steel-toed workboots, we returned to the trail head in my vehicle, and made good time down the trail. We made far better time than before, partly because we didn't have the dog with us, partly because I didn't stop every couple minutes to take pictures, but mainly because I was anxious to finally know if my reasoning was sound, or if I'd have to spend the next week digging through underbrush looking for a set of keys I hadn't paid much attention to as I'd stuffed into my pocket.

Finally, we arrived at the falls. I'd worried myself into taking a wrong turn, and Chris had taken the lead, so she was the first down to the creek bed. I was picking my way down the steep slope from the trail to the creek when her "A-ha!" set my mind at ease. The keys were laying in the sand at the edge of the creek, exactly where I'd dropped them. This time I zipped them straight into the backpack, and we started back, this time at a much more leisurely pace.

So, I learned two things from this little excursion. Number One, pay more attention, when removing things from my pockets, when putting things into my pockets, etc. Number Two, Cheapass shoes are not for me. The next day I went to Mark's Work Warehouse and picked up a pair of Wind River hiking shoes. They cost about three times as much, but they've also lasted three times as long. And still counting.