My last post about walking to school got me to thinking about my old friend Cindy. Her father bought a small acreage and built a house on it that they moved into when I was about 8 years old. This was 2 doors over in a sparse neighborhood where there weren't many kids. So Cindy and I became good friends. We walked to and from school together, we were at each other's houses all the time, and often had sleepovers.
We grew apart in junior high. There were several elementary schools where the kids came to the junior high and a whole new crew of kids to become friends with. She hung out with the girls who were into sports and I hung out with the kids in my band class. We were still friends, just the closeness from being little girls was gone.
We went to different high schools because my parents bought a house in another part of town while renting out our old house that we eventually moved back to. I saw Cindy only a handful of times during high school. She was heavily into dating boys, and that wasn't my thing.
Cindy got married shortly after high school and I went to university out of town. Cindy and her husband rented the house next door to her parents, so I still saw her from time to time. I'd drop over for a visit when I was in town.
Then she moved and I didn't see her for the longest time.
One day when I was in my early 20's I was shopping at a mall in another part of town. I was heading to an escalator when I heard someone yell "Cheryl". I paused for a moment, then decided it was for someone else. I mean who could know me in this area. I continued and then I heard another yell: "Hey, Cheryl, wait up a minute." I stopped and turned and there was Cindy. We sat down for a bite to eat and got caught up. It was like no time had passed between us.
That was the last time I saw her.
In the 90's my parents moved to another house in a nearby community. Oddly enough their next door neighbors were related to Cindy's family. One of them was cousins with one of Cindy's parents. They were going to a wedding for Cindy's older sister, I believe her 2nd or 3rd marriage. But they caught me up on Cindy. She divorced her first husband and remarried. A man from California so she moved down there. I believe they said San Jose, but it may have been another community in the San Francisco area.
I've checked Facebook a few times but so far haven't caught up with her. But I know I will one day.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Walking to school
I walk my dogs each morning just after 7am. Almost daily I get passed by a young teenage boy -yes my dogs are dawdlers! He has a backpack on and is obviously headed up to high school. Lord Tweedsmuir is grade 8 - 12 and is about a mile away from where I live. I'm not exactly sure what time classes begin, but most of the schools in this area start around 8:45 am. Growing up this is the high school I should have attended, but my parents moved to another part of town for 2 years and I went to a different school than my friends. My high school was an anomaly and started classes at 8am, but the bright side was we were done for the day by 2pm.
I figure it takes a teen about 20 minutes to walk one mile, so that would put this boy at the high school around 7:30 each morning, over an hour before classes start. So what is he? Some kind of keener?
When I was in elementary school it was a one mile walk, and I walked it every day, and around here it rains a lot. We had one huge hill between our house and the school. Not so bad going to school, but a huge mountain on the way home. When I was in grade 3 a family moved in 2 doors down and Cindy was in the same grade as me. I'd stop at her house and we'd walk together to and from school. However she had a nice mother. When it was raining her mom drove so I'd be able to hitch a ride and stay relatively dry.
In junior high we walked together less often. Several elementary schools in the area all funnelled into this junior high and a new lot of friends was available for choosing. Cindy was very much a jock and hung out with the girls she was in sports with. I was in band and hung out with a less active crowd. But Cindy and I remained friends even though we didn't hang out as much any more and still walked to school together occasionally.
One odd thing is a friend of mine, Nicole, who lived down town, remember at the bottom of that big old hill that I no longer had to deal with once I got to junior high, said another girl from school, Linda, often stopped by her house to walk with her. But Linda would come to their house very early in the morning, once around 6:00 and woke them all up when she rang the door bell. Her father came downstairs and told her to come back later. One day a house burned down around 5:30 in the morning. And yes, Linda was up bright and early that day, same as most other days, and was able to report to us all the action. Linda was not a good student, nor did she have a lot of friends. I have no idea why she was such a keener to get to school so early in the morning.
I hated school. I was the type who walked in the door while the bell was ringing. I'll never understand the keeners.
I figure it takes a teen about 20 minutes to walk one mile, so that would put this boy at the high school around 7:30 each morning, over an hour before classes start. So what is he? Some kind of keener?
When I was in elementary school it was a one mile walk, and I walked it every day, and around here it rains a lot. We had one huge hill between our house and the school. Not so bad going to school, but a huge mountain on the way home. When I was in grade 3 a family moved in 2 doors down and Cindy was in the same grade as me. I'd stop at her house and we'd walk together to and from school. However she had a nice mother. When it was raining her mom drove so I'd be able to hitch a ride and stay relatively dry.
In junior high we walked together less often. Several elementary schools in the area all funnelled into this junior high and a new lot of friends was available for choosing. Cindy was very much a jock and hung out with the girls she was in sports with. I was in band and hung out with a less active crowd. But Cindy and I remained friends even though we didn't hang out as much any more and still walked to school together occasionally.
One odd thing is a friend of mine, Nicole, who lived down town, remember at the bottom of that big old hill that I no longer had to deal with once I got to junior high, said another girl from school, Linda, often stopped by her house to walk with her. But Linda would come to their house very early in the morning, once around 6:00 and woke them all up when she rang the door bell. Her father came downstairs and told her to come back later. One day a house burned down around 5:30 in the morning. And yes, Linda was up bright and early that day, same as most other days, and was able to report to us all the action. Linda was not a good student, nor did she have a lot of friends. I have no idea why she was such a keener to get to school so early in the morning.
I hated school. I was the type who walked in the door while the bell was ringing. I'll never understand the keeners.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A Ride in the Fog
One November day I headed to the local equestrian park with my trusty Appaloosa, Whistler. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when we arrived, cold but sunny. I saddled up and we headed out on our ride. Then I started getting worried about what time the park closed. I'd failed to look at the sign when I drove in. In the summer months it closed at sunset, but in the winter was 5:00 or 6:00. Campbell Valley Park has several entrances and 3 parking areas. Two are for hikers, the lot I parked in was larger to accomodate truck and horse trailer rigs. The Shaggy Mane Trail is 7 miles around the park. Around the 3 mile mark I met up with 2 women riding in the opposite direction, but no one else was in the park that day. Shortly after I passed the 2 riders it started getting foggy. I pushed on. It got foggier. It started sacking in pretty good. The trail is wide, mostly hog fuel. I knew as long as I didn't leave the trail I'd be OK. it would eventually bring me back to the parking lot. I was about a mile away - there are sign posts marking the mileage - and I could barely see 10 feet. Now this was getting spooky. Someone could be hiding in the fog near me and I wouldn't see them. I finally crested a hill and knew I was on the downward path to the parking lot. If it wasn't foggy I'd be able to see the lot, my truck and trailer, the riding arena and barn. As I entered the lot a truck and horse trailer drove past me. The two ladies I'd run into on the trail an hour earlier. Oddly enough a woman had just got out of her car and was walking her dog, heading up the trail. It was 5:00. What time did the caretaker come by to lock the gates? There was a van in the parking lot, engine running. What were those people up to? I didn't stick around to find out. I unsaddled my horse, loaded him into the trailer, and drove out of there quickly. Normally I brush the horse down first, but I was finding the fog way to spooky to stick around in. As I drove out of the park I glanced at the opening hours. The park is closed at 5. The gates weren't locked yet. I hoped that woman wasn't planning to walk her dog too long.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Ipsos Surveys
I am a member of the Ipsos i-Say Panel. Ipsos not only asks for your opinions on a wide variety of topics but also offers the chance to win cash and prizes for participating in their online surveys. Sometimes pays money other times entries into prizes to win money.
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It's simple! Just click on the URL below to join. The registration process will only take about 10 minutes, and once you complete the survey you will automatically be entered to win $5,000!
Simply click on the address below to be linked directly to the survey site.
Join Now - https://register.i-say.com/research/links/20007/index.php?AID=1018748784
If your e-mail provider does not support hypertext links, please select the survey address above, then copy and paste it into your browser's URL Window.
For more information about the Ipsos i-Say Panel, please visit www.i-say.ca.
Have your say by becoming a member of the Ipsos i-Say Online Panel too!
Good luck in the draw!
More about the Ipsos i-Say Panel
Ipsos is one of the largest survey-based research companies in the world, and among the most trusted research brands in North America. Ipsos conducts over six million surveys each year in over 100 countries. We conduct studies for leading companies around the globe in telecommunications, computer software and hardware, health care, retail, agriculture, financial services, and other industries. As a member of the Ipsos i-Say Online Panel, you have the opportunity to influence political, social, and consumer decision-makers with your thoughts and opinions.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
New Year's Resolutions?
Make New Year's resolutions? Not me! The usual suspects come up every year: watch my diet, exercise more, get more organized. January starts out well and then it falls apart the rest of the year.
Exercise gyms are busiest in January with the New Year's resolutions crowd who want to lose weight or get in shape. The reality is that only 1 out of every people with a gym membership regularly uses it.
For 2009 I'd like to complete the first draft and edit the novel I started in November. Realistic? I think so. Set aside some time daily to work on it and in a couple of months I'll be on my second draft.
Happy New Year everyone!
Exercise gyms are busiest in January with the New Year's resolutions crowd who want to lose weight or get in shape. The reality is that only 1 out of every people with a gym membership regularly uses it.
For 2009 I'd like to complete the first draft and edit the novel I started in November. Realistic? I think so. Set aside some time daily to work on it and in a couple of months I'll be on my second draft.
Happy New Year everyone!
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