As if a birthday surprise to the South of France with my children was not enough to celebrate a 65th birthday, but a bonus weekend in Vancouver with my dear friend Linda thrown in? …. Wow!!  Linda and I have known each other for so long, we can scarcely remember a time we were not friends. We have been there for each other through life’s many joys and many challenges.  Our decades of theatre nights were always less about the plays than about the dinner before the play … a time to catch up, share, cry, celebrate, or laugh together.

We had a wonderful weekend of wining and dining, coffee stops, quiet moments people watching and savouring the coastal ambiance on a park bench at Kits Beach, or chatting benchside with the entertaining Kits Beach resident Tony Swain who, with little encouragement, shared his life story, a story worthy of a movie!   Adventurer, long ago pilot, journalist, author, race car driver … the list grew as he talked …. Tony had worn many hats in his working years  …. a man who dared to live by the seat of his pants for his whole life and apparently is still doing so :)!   Meeting this remarkable man reminded me to always remain open to others …. what we miss when we shield ourselves from interacting with strangers!!  Everyone has a story …. a story worth listening to.

Our weekend set sail with the Deva, Miten, Manose concert at Vogue Theatre …. an evening of pure Sanskrit chant magic and concluded with a solitary Stanley Park seawall walk (Linda flew home Sunday, I Monday night) …..  The pictures weave a weekend story … Namaste