Today is D-Day: the day that Canadian soldiers stormed the beaches at Normandy, and, while other groups fled, or retreated, or were killed, held their positions at Juno Beach. This is the day that Canadian soldiers are credited with making the first step towards winning the War.
On the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day, I watched my brother on national television, playing his bagpipes on those same beaches.
Today is also an ominous day: 6-6-6. A woman in England who is a big fan of the movie, The Omen, is apparently supposed to give birth today. She has been pleading with hospital officials to give her an inducement so that her child won't be born under the sign of the devil, but the hospital has refused.
My boss has been questioning some people in Cornwall recently. These are the religious fanatics I told you about a few months ago. Anyway, their biggest schtick is Doomsday and all that. I wonder if my boss will ask them if they think the world is going to end today?
Some yahoos in my neighbourhood were yelling up a storm on Sunday night, so I didn't go for my walk yesterday morning - I was just too tired. And then my grandmother took my family to the Keg last night, so it was rough getting up this morning, but I did it. The dessert was fantastic, but I haven't eaten that much meat in a long time, and I feel very fat right now.
Such a nice morning, though! The first song that came on my iPod was an accoustic song: Razor by the Foo Fighters. It's funny, but it's been on my iPod (and on my computer) for months and I've never heard it until this morning. It definitely sounds like a morning song, especially as the lyrics begin, "Wake up it's time, We need to find another place to hide . . ."
I spent the walk marvelling at the beauty of the day (and I'm not going to wax poetic here - it was truly lovely). There was a slight and cool breeze, and the rising sun lengthened all the shadows and played off the dew in the fields. Everywhere there was birdsong and through the Farm was the smell of freshly turned earth, and growing young plants. It smelled like summer. I wish I had brought my camera to capture that light. Perhaps tomorrow I will forego my water bottle in order to do so.
I've begun to recognize certain people on my walk, now that I've been doing it for a little while. My favourite is the old guy who is going in the opposite direction to me when I'm on my way back, and then passes me going the same way a little later on. He always says good morning.
I also spent the walk trying to fit together the details of this dream I had.
I was going to France. By myself. I am not sure what the reason was, but I think it was something to do with a conference or something. But then Sam and Jay, and Lisa, decided they were coming with me (these two groups of people don't even know each other). But they booked their tickets after I did, so they sat in a different section of the plane, which had seats arranged facing each other, like the ones in trains.
It was only after we'd arrived in France and I was waiting in the airport for them to get off the plane, being harassed by tourists of every description (although all of them were wearing army jackets with the Canadian flag sewn on the arm), that I realized Sam and Jay and Lisa were sitting just one row over from me. I felt miffed.
Then suddenly I switched to being late for work, so I was rushing. I marched down into the Village and as I approached the office, I looked at my watch to see how late I was going to be. Turns out it was six o'clock in the morning. I had arrived two and a half hours early. For some reason, I decided that it wasn't worth going home, so I wandered down the main drag and went into this grocery store (which was in the same place as the gas station actually is). But it was more like a 24h Shoppers Drugmart. Except that it wasn't open. Except that I could browse the aisles. I just couldn't buy anything. So I began my search for this thing. I know it was tiny, and that it was used in the kitchen, and that it was made of glass, but I didn't know what it looked like or what it was, or where to find it. I just knew it was not to be found there.
I left this store to head to Bloblaws (which is right next to the gas station in the Village) to look there, but ended up going to the Pie's parents' place, which was right in between the two stores (odd, I know). Except it wasn't his place at all. It was all odd rectangular rooms that led no where and looked like they had just been emptied. The pie's room didn't have anything in it save a pile of sheets. Pie was rushing around, doing last minute packing, because he and Seal (yes, the singer) were going on a trip. Seal was hanging around, getting in my way, and every so often he would give me a suspicious stare. Pie's mother was trying to help me find whatever it was that I was looking for, because the storage cupboards were the only things that weren't empty. But it was like it was Pie's mother from when she was my age or younger. She was short and tiny and very young. Very pretty. And then Pie had to leave, but he didn't want to kiss me goodbye in front of his mother and Seal, so he just hugged me from behind as I searched for my thing in a closet. And then I woke up.
Before I go, I would like to pose the question: What the SHIT happened to Edmonton last night? I was very sleepy from all the meat, so I went to bed early, but when I turned off the television, it was 3-0 for Edmonton with 4 minutes left in the second. Then I wake up this morning and it was 5-4 for Carolina and ROLOSON is out for the SEASON? I can hear the death knells ringing now for the Canadian dream . . .
Posted by Ally at June 6, 2006 09:03 AM