Tuesday 2 July 2013

I'm starting to feel like a bit of a wet rag and even I think to myself, who the heck wants to read this drivel every day!  Not me, that's for sure.  It sure does make you realize when you make no effort to get out and about, how little you can actually have to talk about.  I did go to the hospital today for my weekly bloodwork check and think I will get Kelli to call the doctor tomrrow and see what those results showed.  Also need some feedback on how much longer she thinks this might go on for me.  You gotta wonder if it's worth it.  If I knew that  I would have to deal with this for a couple of months and then things would normalize and I could carry on as I was before....definitely.  It this is the long range forecast for day to day living....hmm....not sure I want to sign up.  The big question I suppose is will I actually feel better if I quit takng this drug?  It blows my mind when I think that less than a month ago I was riding my bike and leading a pretty darn active and engaged life.  Far cry from what the past few weeks have been like.  Anyways...I was whining to Kelli that my blogs have become boring.....they are in fact boring me!  Pretty sad when you bore yourself!  I always remember that when the kids were small and they would be lying outside on the grass wanting to be entertained and they would whine..."Mommy, I'm bored!"  I would not even bat an eye with my response......"Well, if you are bored you are BORING!" For the next little bit, or at least until I start my rebound I am going to "write" random stories and try to bring a little humour back into both my life and share some chuckles with those of you who have stuck so faithfully beside me over this past year. So todays story.....hmmmmm
Thankyou to Lisa for inspiring me!  I was looking at her facebook posting just prior to starting tonights blog.  It read something to the effect that she sure wished she could be out floating down the Bow River today in this freaking heat!  Flash!  A great story!  One of my most memorable dates with the man I ended up marrying.

I believe it was about  1976 when a group of us returned from our year at the National Training Center in Ottawa to resume life back home in Calgary.  I had landed a job in records at the Police Department for the summer and was enjoying the shift work and crazy lifestyle that came along with it.  Over the course of the summer I had taken up both racquetball and squash and it was here that I first met Bill.  Wouldn't you know that our first encounters would be of a competitve nature.  At this point we were just friends and rivals on the court but we were spending a little time together.  One weekend he and a buddy of his thought it would be fun if they took us girls on a canoe trip down the Elbow River.  At the time we did not have a canoe so went off to a local boating shop to rent a very nice Gruman Canoe.  We had to leave a fairly substantial damage/loss deposit on the canoe that would be refunded when we returned with the canoe the following day.  I don't exactly remember where we put in....perhaps around Twin Bridges.  It was a beautiful Sunday spring day.  The sun was shining, the spring runoff had started so there was atually good water to canoe in.....it was a great day to be outdoors enjoying ourselves.  I did notice a sign at the start of the trip cautionning boaters that there was no "through" point and the boaters would have to ext at some point downstream.  I pointed this out to Bill and he just shurgged it off.  No problem....don't worry about it.  So trusting soul that I am I did exactly that.  We had paddled for sometime when we started to come across frequent signage advising us that at some point ahead we would have to exit off the water as we were entering private land and no canoeing was allowed.  Again we just cruised blithely by....not a care in the world.  Then the signs started getting more agressive.  We were entering the property of the Calgary Gun Club and were in danger!   Trespassers would be prosecuted!   I pointed this out to Bill who assured me it was Sunday and the Gun Club never operated on Sundays.  Hmmmm....a little further and I could actually hear shooting which again I pointed out, starting to doubt my tour guide for the afternoon and his knowledge of the river.  Well, he admitted they might be shooting but he was pretty sure they wouldn't be shooting into the river.  These words were no sooner out of his mouth than we rounded a bend in the river.  On the cliffs above were MANY gun enthusiasts shooting with wild abandon into the bank opposite us.  They had not yet spotted us but there were actually bullets landing in the water all around us.  We pulled in to the shore and huddled under a bit of an overhang hoping to wait out the shooting spree.  I could actually hear the bullets going by and I am not joking!  They made kind of a zing sound!  By now I'm terrified and although Bill never admitted it I'm pretty sure he was experiencing that I'm going to shit my pants feeling one gets when totally terrified!  The couple with us were also huddled into the bank, none of us having the slightest idea as to how we were going to get out of this situation alive!  Finally after what seemed like forever we were spotted and someone was waving a flag at us from above.  The shooting stopped and a voice came over a loud speaker  "You are trespassing on private property!  The military police will meet you at the bridge.  PROCEED!"  Well proceed we did.  The pace was fast and furious because we were pretty sure they would be confiscating our fancy, dancy canoe at the bridge and we would most certainly be getting a hefty fine!  Probably not a good scenario for two rookie cops, and me, a cops daughter.  Believe it or not we actuallyl did beat the Military Police to the bridge that day and continued on our frenzied paddle through the Weasle Head Area and back to our getaway vehicle!  Probably not the most ordinary of dates but certainly one we have visited in our heads over the years. Not a trip we have since repeated but certainly a story that has been shared many times!  If that in itself doesn't make for a crazy story how about this one.......  I ended up marrying this guy!  Interestingly, our very first joint purchase as a couple was a canoe!!!  That canoe too, has it's stories!

3 comments:

  1. Ah Leslie - I always told you that you should write a book!! You are on of the best storytellers ever. I still get sore cheeks just thinking about all the stories you used to tell at work and we laughed so hard our cheeks hurt! You boring? NEVER


    :)
    Bernice

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  2. I thought that was a story out of the Wild West with bullets zinging by- I too would have needed a change of underwear! The best part is that you did marry that man!!

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