Still playing catch up- Vancouver reflections

October 14, 2010

I feel a little negligent in my assumed duties as documenter and observer of things on this trip.  Lately, life has been so encompassing that writing has been an afterthought, which of course is probably a great thing.  We are sitting in border traffic, waiting to cross from lovely Canada into the USA.   We’ve been told not to wear sunglasses when talking to the border agents, and not to mention contraband fruit or plants that might be lurking under the back seat.  Kidding- we aren’t carrying anything contraband, unless the 8 or 10 Ritter and Cadbury chocolate bars that we picked up from the neighborhood Buy Low on the way out counts.  I remember eating these particular bars in France when I was there umpteen years ago, and not since.  Apparently you can get these German and British imports in the states, and clearly I haven’t done my research.  

This 3 day rendezvous with some of my favorite people in the world (dear friends Katie and Emmanuel (see photo)) was an oasis of great walks around town in the rain and the sun, displays of lush growth and thriving plant life at Lighthouse Park and Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, eating our way through each day at a variety of neighborhood staples and Katie made deliciousness, and conversation upon conversation about life, future, and opportunities for happiness.  

Big, flat great for climbing rocks and clear sea water.

Katie and Emmanuel, friends extraordinaire,  perch and pose on a rock at Lighthouse Park. 

It’s something special to be so near the sea, and at the same time in a major metropolis with incredible access.  It’s a really clean city, the public transport is great, the food is deliciously diverse, and the rocky beaches are beautiful and fully of poetry.  The 4 of us went for a long walk at historic Lighthouse Park (see Nick's ewok reference), I saw an elusive seal who showed me only a whiskery nose and the quick, diving slope of her back, and a dark cormorant doing the wing drying dance.  

Look at the cormorant on the rock, Batman style, doing the wing dance. 

The inevitable, lulling, rhythm of water encourages meditation and thinking, and I could have sat there on the big rocks all day.  Vancouver is an enticing international city.  On our walking tours of the city, we heard so many different languages, and I was pining to speak and learn French again.

One of the several highlights of this mini trip was getting to participate in two juicy dance classes at EDAM.  During my pre-Vancouver research, I checked out dance opportunities and was thrilled to find that EDAM was just a few blocks from our hosts apartment.  Peter Bingham, director of EDAM, teaches a daily class that knits somatic awareness beautifully with contact improvisation.  I was thrilled to take part in a thriving dance community; each class was full with about 20 people, and all of them were so engaged and embodied.  When I was at Denison University (1998-2002), Peter Bingham came a few different times for contact workshops, performances, and setting works.  It was great to revisit my dance practice, and to be delightfully swept up into dancing two days in a row.   I continue to wonder about my place in the dance world.  I’m working on the ever present, tenuous balance and personal struggle around dance and it’s community, education, nature, and friends and family.  At this stage, we are constantly overjoyed by our new understanding that anything and anywhere is possible, and for me especially, that home is where you are.  If I can get comfortable with that, life promises to be full.