FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
DOG TANGO
We were sure we were lost on the first dirt road, and then definitely sure on the second, even smaller and bumpier road.
A black and white, mud-covered collie tried to herd our car, determined to stop us as we approached a rundown barn. He barked angrily. I stopped when he laid down in the middle of the road. We were already about 10 minutes late for our first Callanetics class, and Justina, the teacher, had asked us to arrive early.
I inched closer to the dog. Shocked and bothered, he jumped up and began barking again. I swerved left to right, left to right, and slowly and persistently passed him.
We were told by locals that Justina’s studio is miles from anything because her husband is a professional gambler in hiding. It’s probably idle gossip, fabrications created during long walks.
JUSTINA’S STUDIO
When we pulled into the long, dirt driveway, Justina was waiting in the shade of her tall trees. I explained the dog incident, thinking she would understand but she simply laughed and said, “When you see him, just keep going. Don’t stop.” I’m such a city girl.
She’d met us outside to give us a quick introduction to the practice before we began. Medium height, bright blue eyes, a head of thick, curly red hair with a small section shaved around one ear, she enthusiastically, and comically, explained the principals, her breath smelling of cigarette smoke.
Three women were waiting in the small studio. They’d waited 20 minutes but were nonetheless kind and welcoming. Justina had Chloe and I each stand under domed, bay-like window areas, the highest spots in the attic room. She called us as the “Amazons,” and we certainly felt that way when our hands grazed the ceiling. On the window sill in front of me was a tiny, pink-skirted, plastic, solar-powered hula dancer.
Justina talked nonstop — jokes, advice, everything the voice in her head said. “She is hilarious,” said Chloe on the drive home. We loved the practice, which is like a combination of ballet, pilates and yoga, and signed up for two more classes.
“That’s the best time I’ve had since we got here,” said Chloe with a huge smile. “I love her.”
How can you not like a woman who says ‘Pull your lips off your knickers’ to explain core work.
GAMBLERS AND IRA OPERATIVES?
An older woman in the class, Pat, asked if we wanted to follow her back to Union Hall. Turns out we’d seen her walking her dog on our street many times, and she lives just down the road from Fiona. She is 80 years old, just got a new hip and her body tilts to one side, but her energy and the youth and life expressed in her face is inspiring. She is matter of fact and talkative.
In the parking lot she told us that she was born in Canada, worked in Prince Rupert, Coquitlam and Vancouver, as a teacher, married “her Irishmen” at 30 and moved to West Cork. Now she’s married again, to another Irishman who Justina called her “Irish boy toy.” Chloe loved that, too.
Pat has lived most of her life in a small white trimmed in black by the side of the lake at the spot where the swans congregate. The local gossip about her, or about her late husband, is that he was somehow associated with the IRA (also in hiding). It’s said that Jerry Adams showed up for his funeral, arriving by row boat.
More to come on Pat, as I am driving to class with her next week.
AFTERNOON WALK
In the afternoon, we walked 10 K, retracing the Red trail, we’d taken with Sally on Monday. We talked about how we’re feeling after three weeks. We agreed the upheaval was fine and that we both felt our lives in Vancouver seemed surreal and distant. When I said I thought we were adaptive, Chloe said maybe that’s good, maybe not.
“It’s good we can adapt, but it might be bad that we can’t set down roots,” she said.
THE LOST BROTHERS
A big night out! We went to Leap to hear live music at Connolly’s Pub. First time for Chloe hearing live music in a pub. We saw The Lost Brothers, a wonderful duo songwriter/singer team. They played guitars, and captured us and everyone with their soulful and sometimes funny music, their confident stage presence, and their melodic and powerful voices.
