Just Outside Of Sylvan
After a day like today, I am remembering Sylvan Lake with longing. One of our many neighbours are renovating their apartment. In China, people buy just the cement frame of the apartment and then have to hire workers to do all of the renovations before they can move in.
I think our neighbours are at the ‘knocking out cement walls’ stage, which means we have had the joy of listening to at least eight hours of jack hammering and drilling each day for the past week.
Maybe it would be nice to just leave the house for the day, but the kids are working hard to get caught up on the school work they missed while we were traveling across Canada, and in a city of eight million, it’s hard to find a quiet place to work.
I did decide, however, that once Brian got home I would go out and have a little break. He was more than willing to put the kids to bed. What I didn’t think about, until I was in the midst of it, was that taking a ‘break’ meant wading through rush hour traffic. Buses, scooters, bicycles, venders with their three-wheeled carts and pedestrians all competed for space on the roads and sidewalks. At some points I could hardly move. Once I got through the congestion I did the most relaxing think I could think of. I sat in a coffee shop. But it filled up with people almost before I could find a seat.
Sticking my headphones into my ears, I tried to find some peace, but even then, collective voices rose higher than my music. I made the best of my time and then returned home, ears ringing, wondering which was more tiring, my day or my ‘break’ from the day.
I’m now sitting in bed, listening to trucks passing, horns honking, Chinese folk music blaring, dogs barking and people yelling outside, hoping I will find enough peace to get a good night’s sleep.
I’m fully anticipating another eight hours of drilling tomorrow!