Loosing Ourselves

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Today’s plan was to go canoeing. But that’s the great thing about being on a holiday, you can change your mind!! We were up late and not up earlier enough, so we decided to go to Maligne Canyon. For thousands of years, water has been cutting its way through the canyon floor -- up to 51 meters deep in some places! It’s almost impossible to get a photograph that captures the scale of it.



There’s always “incidents” when one travels. And, today was the day. I ducked into the gift shop / restaurant to use the facilities while David waited outside. I came out and .... he was gone!! I thought, “He’s probably just gone up the path to take some photos -- but which path?” I went up both for a short distance, but didn’t want to go very far in case he came back. As I sat on a log bench in the bit of shade I found, I thought, “If I had keys to the truck, I could go there and turn on the air conditioning. But, I have no keys ... or wallet, or money. I’m sitting here in a t-shirt, shorts, sandals, and a sun hat. What if someone’s pushed him over the falls and run off with his camera and backpack!” I felt five years old! After what seemed like a long time, David returned. He said he’d told me he was going up the path that way. I know that after so many years, I should be used to “loosing” David. He regularly gets distracted by “shiny” objects and forgets all else in pursuit of them. I, on the other hand, just get “lost”. You know, the normal kind of lost -- not a clue where I am. I’ve never really got used to that feeling either.



Jasper is a lovely place -- a mix of quirky shops, restaurants, outdoor stores and scores of souvenir shops. Before going on this trip, I promised a friend I would buy bear spray. So, true to my word, we bought bear spray. We then had some delicious ice cream to celebrate ... not the bear spray ... surviving all these years without it. Thanks Donna.



After the ice cream, we headed out to Pyramid Lake for a trial run in our newly refurbished canoe. The canoe originally belonged to my Auntie Glenys and Uncle Bruce. They gave it to us about 10 years ago. David fixed the keel that had been ripped out. We took it to Buffalo Lake, used it a few times and, there it sat. Until ... the children grew big enough not to fit in it with us. Before this trip David gave it a bright shiny coat of red paint. We found a place to put the canoe in and rolled it down the short embankment. Rolled? Yes, David found these little wheels you can put under the canoe -- very cool!



The trip out on the lake was lovely, but too hot!! We got on the lake about 4:00 pm and paddled for about two hours. Mountain lakes at the height of summer are best viewed from shore. Preferably, from an air-conditioned restaurant sipping a nice red wine.

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