Down the Coast

It has been an exhausting few days. We arrived in sunny Southern California, to get a PICC line and the CCSVI procedure done. In my anxiety, I feel all the dirt from various terminals on me, no matter how many times I was my hands and clothes.
The boat trip over to Vancouver was fine as usual, if maybe a bit louder with a lot of happy travelers. I am in a great deal of pain, and feeling very anxious. The feeling of hot jolts of pain coursing through my bones is making me quite fussy, unable to sit still of settle on doing anything. I really just want to stay home and not do anything, except maybe keep knit my multi-colored socks.

Patient herons, in the marsh beyond Tsawwassen ferry terminal

We ended up coming back down and sitting in the car, watching the sea through the glassless windows. Although it is very loud in the hold, at least the sound is constant, a steady roar of engine and waves that is easily drowned out by the calm reader giving voice to "Atlas Shrugged". I'm on a classics binge currently, and was in the mood to be cheered by some jolly works of sci-fi, my Ayn Rand on my iPod, a paper copy of "Brave New World". Pure literary bliss. It has never been difficult for me to keep the plots of many different books in my head, so I almost always have a few on the go. I especially like reading books that complement each other, in theme or style. Makes for quite inspired reading, and interesting insights.

even in summer, Mt Baker is dipped in snow

 Upon debarking from the ferry, newcomers are greeted with the picturesque views of the almost pristine breakwater, container ships offloading, the peaks of mountain dipped in snow, farmland, billboards, a jumble of oxymoronic images.

My Aunt Nancy met us in Vancouver, and we spent all of today traveling. An early departure, and much moving around (yes, I know in a wheelchair you don't have to do much physical work, but just looking at everything and smiling makes me feel faint with fatigue) has left me greatly weakened. I hope that the medicine I will start in a few days will give me more strength, but I highly doubt that it will work wonders that quickly.

We're staying in the Laguna Beach/Dana Point/ Newport Beach area of Southern California. Our drive along the coast was most enjoyable, and the sight of so many white beaches and baby blue waters cheered me greatly. Any beach reminds me of happy times in my childhood in the Bay Area, always playing or walking by the water, using the ocean as a landmark for finding my way around places. We have already looked into which beaches have beach wheelchairs and boardwalks, so there are many options we can visit. Across from our condo, there is a bluff, below a beautiful beach, which I look forward to exploring. Or just lying in the sun, listening to the music of the waves.

Veggies galore!

We stopped at Whole Foods on our way home, and I was in a vegan/wheat-free paradise. I ended up ordering a sandwich of BBQ tofu and mixed vegetables, which was to die for! Where could I ever order a vegan sandwich at home? The answer is at chez moi, and no where else. Needless to say, although I was almost too exhausted to eat, I made short work of this sandwich, sitting outside in the sun outside of the grocery store. Pure bliss.