Taking Advantage of What's in Front of You.

When I was dating my now husband, I used to live in the "Parkview Towers" the y-shaped tower at the foot of the Burrard Street Bridge.  This iconic residential apartment building designed by architect Peter Kaffka in 1960 is pretty cool mostly because every side has a stunning, unobstructed view of the city, its two steps from the seawall, a hop, skip and a jump to the city center, a 3 minute jog to the beach and a stone's throw to the shops. Anyways, as you can tell, I loved living there, but what got me thinking about living in this apartment?

Yesterday, on my way back from picking up the kid at school, I had to wait for the light at the crosswalk for 15 minutes, as per usual, while the 4 o'clock sun lazer-ed into me and beads of sweat dribbled out of every pore on my skin. "Come on! You friggin' traffic light, change already!" Final, friggin-ly! We waited on the boulevard for another 10 minutes for the next lane to stop. I describe this overheated moment as "heat rage" which can only be alleviated by jumping into the ocean or the swimming pool.

Refreshed and floating on my back while the kid was paddling around me, I couldn't help but be so grateful for having access to a swimming pool in this country which has only two seasons in my mind; infernal summer and hot summer, and this got me thinking about Parkview Towers which also had an outdoor swimming pool. The funny thing is, given that private swimming pools are pretty rare in Vancouver, mostly because yards are about the size of a potted plant or non-existent, no one ever used that pool except for me it seemed. So many times, I did lengths all by myself, and I remember one particular morning when the air was cooler than the water and I was completely enveloped in clouds rising from the surface. It was wonderful!

In my mind, easy access to a swimming pool and not using it regularly is a crime. Just like living walking distance to the beach and never going. Even if you are a self-proclaimed " not a beach person", it's just plain wrong.

As I watched the kid swimming happily with his foam noodle, I realized that though I've taken advantage of the swimming pool mostly because the kid prefers it to the giant surf waves of the beach,  I haven't taken advantage of living a block away from the ocean! And as I said, it's just plain wrong.

This got me thinking about what else I don't take advantage of and really should. Now, "should" sounds like its a duty, but I want to use it as a small, friendly kick in the pants. So, here's the deal, I am making a pact with myself; a daily dip in the ocean for 30 days.

Now, I know the folks back home probably want wring my neck right about now, reading all this talk about jumping in the ocean and hot weather, but I'd like to put it out there for the folks in the cold too; what is right in front of you that you're not taking advantage of? Maybe its the neighbor that has repeatedly offered to babysit your kid? Maybe its the foodie friend who knows all the exciting restaurants in the city? Maybe its the fact that there's a beautiful view from the top of your office at work? Or the fact that your friend has an empty guest room, a swimming pool, an ocean one block away and happens to live in one of the most interesting cities in the world.... hint, hint :) Off for my dip!

Staying on Track- A Train Adventure

Emee-m-ee gostosos, emee-m-ee saborosos! The old woman repeated loudly as she walked up and down the center aisle of the train. Emee-m-ee!

I was looking out the window at the rain falling on the city and didn't notice what she was peddling, but I liked the sound of what she kept repeating. Outside, strings of broken down orange brick houses and graffiti-ed buildings passed in that pleasant train riding blur. Sometimes the facade of an old abandoned building gave me a hint of how beautiful Rio must have been when the Portuguese first arrived. Even under layers of peeling paint, the crumbling concrete statues of women or fruit bowls, and the black scars sprayed by the taggers, there was beauty in the decay of these cafes and hardware stores.

Emee-m-ee! I heard again as I turned to notice what the old woman was selling. Oh! M&Ms! That's what she's saying! Another peddler shouted, try this chocolate, you'll love it or your money back! A few minutes later, another peddler selling mints, and another with a hook lined with potato chips which he hung on the overhead railing as he gave a lady her change.

Wow, I told my husband, if I was a commuter on this train, I would be so fat!
At least it's not like before when you'd be accosted constantly by the religious folks trying to convince you of their version of the Lord's way, he pointed out. Listen, there's an announcement reminding everyone to keep your religion quiet on the train. He wasn't kidding.

Our station was next. We were on our way to the Rio Train Museum! A perfect place to go on a rainy day. We grabbed a bite to eat to kill time and crossed over the tracks. It looked promising as I took a picture of a beautiful old building from the train platform.

We ran as fast as we could with a kid in our arms, giant puddles and a tiny umbrella to the entrance of the museum which was locked. We yelled through the crack as we could see an opened door, a light on and our hopes were still up. A security guard wandered over and pointed to the sign which said that they are only open during the week. Our hearts sank for a second, but we quickly shook it off. We're getting used to being disappointed in this way and we didn't even bother to tell the guard that the website says it's supposed to be open! At least we got to ride the commuter train! Though it was probably not as exciting for my husband who spent the better part of his school years on it being converted into a new faith, but our boy was excited to get back on track (pun intended), so we headed home.

At the station, there's was a loud speaker blasting an instrumental version of..... I'm hummed along to remember what it was....the ear splitting loudness and the echo messed me up and I couldn't quite place it. I gave up when the tune was interrupted by an even louder announcement I couldn't make out. Thank goodness the train pulled up quicker than I thought it would.

Finally back at the parking lot where we left the car, our train adventure seemed to perk up; a children's train was waiting for us, right there, out of the blue, all painted in bright yellow waiting for us in the rain. There were kids on board holding balloons and we decided to run for it. Yay! This would surely make up for the museum being closed!

I don't know if it was the fumes from the bio-diesel run "locomotive" which I soon realized was a jeep made to look like a locomotive or the super loud kids' music blasting in our ears that started to make me sick, but when the train stopped for a break half way around the tour I had to get off. And not get back on.

The kid didn't put up a fuss. I think he knew it was a lame train in the rain. The kid and I walked over to a park bench, sat on our backpack to keep our bums from getting wet, opened the umbrella to stop the rain and the almonds from falling on our heads, and told each other stories while my husband ran back to get the car.

We were due for some coffee and some cake. On our way home, we ducked into Parque Lage which is this beautiful park surrounding an old mansion. The mansion now serves as an art school and has a very popular cafe overlooking a pool, but we figured since it was pouring rain, we'd have no problem getting a table. Oh, wrong. Again. To kill the 20 minute wait for a table, I played cars with the kid while admiring the architecture. My husband forcefully stationed himself near the kitchen, gently pressured the staff to prepare our order and joined us with a smile. Success! We made do, a picnic with some stools squeezed out of the rain, 3 spoons, a piece of orange cake, and two hot coffees. A pretty good day after all!