A vested interest

I was supposed to be cutting the slots in the headstock of R’s ukulele today, but I slept in and then I decided I’d watch just one YouTube video while I drank my tea and one led to another and, and, and. This is the classic formula for wasting time as a retired person. Merely substitute YouTube for TV or Facebook or Instagram. So now, instead of starting on the headstock, I’m writing a blog post. Procrastination?  You bet.

           It does bring up a couple of things though. First, I’m putting the headstock off because I’m more than a little nervous that I might screw it up. The farther I get into this project, any project, the higher the costs of a screw-up. On the one hand I’m confident I can do it and on the other I’m reluctant to commit because even though I can do it, I might not pull it off in the way I want to. The second is the question of why, as a retired person with no real demands on my day, I bother fussing about what I should or shouldn’t be doing. I can start the headstock later tonight.  I can start it tomorrow morning, or I can do it on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. I want to have it done by Tuesday and that too, is a deadline I’ve imposed on myself. I feel like writing at the moment so that is what I’m doing while trying to convince myself that there’s nothing really wrong with that course of action. I’ll let you know how the convincing goes.

            I want to write at the moment because I want to explore the irony of the videos I’ve been watching today. I need to go back a bit. While doing a fair amount of travelling I’ve become convinced that what I need is a good travel vest. There are some on the market and I even splurged and bought myself a Tilley before going to Australia and New Zealand. I’ve looked at Tilley vests and wanted one for years but, when it actually came to wearing it, I didn’t like it that much. I had to buy a men’s size which sometimes works well for me and sometimes doesn’t. In this case it didn’t. It was too big in some places and too small in others. It just wasn’t that comfortable to wear so I’ve found a new home for it with someone who will wear and appreciate it. That leaves me without one. I don’t need one; having a travel vest will make life easier and more enjoyable so I’m searching for one.

            It’s been in intriguing little ramble around the internet. There are some high-tech vests that allow you to route your headphone wires through channels in the lining. They have RFID pockets, hidden pockets, pockets for passports and they cost an arm and a leg. Looking at the size charts I’m into men’s sizes again. I checked out hunting vests and fishing vests and even got onto a few sights that feature vests with pockets for carrying a concealed hand gun!  Yikes really? I don’t want to wear one of those even if it might function perfectly for me. I don't think it would.

            Then I thought that if I couldn’t find one to suit me, perhaps I could make one or get someone to make it for me.  Wherever my dear-departed mother is at this moment I’m sure she is having a good belly laugh at the fact that I, the kid who hated HomeEc and sewing in general, am even contemplating making a garment. Probably the kind I want isn’t the easiest thing to construct either. I started watching DYI videos and I actually ordered a vest pattern through the internet. There is one video that talks about modifying a jacket and using a man’s shirt for a lining. I rejected that one. The latest one I watched was on how to make cargo pockets. I admit to being fascinated and a wee bit excited about that prospect. This video shows how to draft a pattern for the size of pocket you want. I found myself one step ahead of her in the instructions. I’ve marvelled before at how much I learned from my mother without, I suspect, either of us really trying. I imagine she just talked to me and explained what she was doing as she sewed most of my clothes until I moved out of home.  I’ve had a go at sewing when I had to and I found, as I watched the video, that I remembered the concepts. I also found myself tying the making of the pattern into what I do when I construct something of wood. I stopped the video and took copious notes.

            I’m thinking that the next step is to try adding some cargo pockets to one of the vests I already have. I won’t admit to how many vests I found in my closet. I began to look at how they were constructed. One I had forgotten about, has two outside and four inside pockets. That might just do if it weren’t made out of fleece. I want something that is lighter so I can wear it on planes during the summer. Then I started looking at how many pieces made up the various vests. Some have four, not counting the collar; some have nine not counting the collar; some have six. Some have a yoke in the back, and some don’t; some have a yoke in the front, and some don’t. Some have a lining, and some don’t. It looks like there’s lots of choice out there. I’m thinking that I can try to draft a pattern based on the vests I have and then add cargo pockets to it. I can find good information about how to add inside pockets as well.

            One of the reasons drafting my own pattern appeals to me is, if I draft my own pattern, I’ll understand the construction in a way I wouldn’t if I used someone else’s pattern. From woodworking I have learned that few things go as planned the first time and I think I may have more patience for this project than I have had in the past when I’ve tried to sew.  The question becomes how badly I want to succeed at this and whether or not I’m ready to put in the time and put up with the frustration that will undoubtedly come with it. I’m not sure. At this point I’m leaning toward giving it a shot, starting with adding cargo pockets to a vest I already have.

            I’m very conscious as I write this that I do so from a position of privilege. I have the luxury of contemplating whether or not to make a vest or work on building a ukulele. The current situation involving the Coastal Gas Link pipeline and the Wet‘suwet’en First Nation is not far from my thoughts these days. I have friends who work for the parent company of Coastal Gas and I have a friend whose family member was arrested at a Wet’suwet’en checkpoint by RCMP officers. I’m reading information from both perspectives and there is more of a tangle than I can make my way through. I pray for wisdom, justice and a peaceful resolution although I cannot imagine how that can come about.  I hope there are people out there who can see farther and more clearly than I and that they will find ways to lead us, all of us, through this.

         Finally, am I convinced that writing this post was a good use of my time? It's easier to write these when I feel like it and it always helps me think. 

These boots are made for walkin'

            Meet the Keens, Left and Right.  We first got together in August 2018 when I was looking for travelling companions that would fit well with my way of doing things, not get freaked out by a bit or rain snow or puddles, and not require a lot of maintenance. Once we had agreed that we would work together I brought them home and shortly thereafter we were off to Ottawa from where we were supposed to catch a flight to Resolute to board the Ocean Endeavour. Turns out they don’t call it ‘adventure travel’ for nothing. No ships had been able to get in to Resolute because of the ice conditions.  The Ocean Endeavour turned around mid-crossing and headed back for Greenland. Instead of flying to Resolute we spent an extra day in Ottawa until a flight to Greenland could be chartered. What can you do but go with the adventure? The Keens and I tramped around Ottawa where it was very hot. The Keens didn’t complain; I, on the other hand, grumbled under my breath. 

            Eventually after a few hours delay at the airport due to thunder storms, we boarded a Sunwing charter and headed for Greenland. I bet that’s the only time Sunwing has landed in Kangerlussaq.  Once on the ground we hopped into Zodiacs and headed for the ship. We had a life boat drill and then got a couple of hours of sleep before lunch and the start of the onboard programming. The Keens were glad to be off duty and, comfortable as I was with them, I was glad to be on my own for a few hours.

            In the next few days the Keens and I walked around Sisimiut taking photos and we admired the heart-shaped mountain at Ummanaq. We made our way out to the Ilulissat fjord where ice bergs calve off the Ilulissat glacier and make their way out to the Northern Atlantic. It was a grey day with rain and mist and the boardwalks leading out to the viewpoint were fairly slick, but we made it out and back all right. We crossed Baffin Bay on the Ocean Endeavour and landed at Pond Inlet on Baffin Island where we walked dusty roads, stepped in a few puddles, and took our chances of some slippery grass. At Dundas Harbour there was a green area at the foot of the mountain behind the old RCMP buildings. We headed down, all ready to take some photos of the buildings with the background of icebergs. What looked like solid ground turned out to be two inches of water. The Keens were surprised, as was I but they waded bravely in and crossed the distance to the cabins without complaint. Did I mention that the Keens wore Goretex under garments?

            In Auyuittuq National Park we roamed land that few  Southern Canadians have had the opportunity to visit. At Maxwell Harbour the Keens stood patiently while I watched and photographed snow geese. In the zodiac off Prince Leopold Island they muttered about getting a little chilly while I watched the hundreds of sea birds that nest there.  We ended our trip at Pond Inlet when the plans changed again because of ice.

            The Keens were agreeable to hanging around for another year or so and they got lots of exposure to Calgary’s ice and snow.  The Keens travelled to Vernon in the Okanagan and then through the Rogers Pass and across on a ferry to Bowen Island. They spent a week in the East Kananaskis and hiked up the Nahahi Creek Trail farther than I had ever been before.

 

In the fall of 2019, they set off again with me to the Faroe Islands and Iceland. We got rained on in Reykjavik. We stood for a long time on Mykines Island in a puffin colony watching the birds land, take off and waddle towards their burrows only to disappear into them. We travelled to Grimsey where we crossed the Arctic Circle. The Keens gamely came with me on an oak whale-watching vessel. Before boarding we had to struggle into survival suits. I’m not sure which was more difficult getting into the suits or getting out of them. They waited for me while I explored the many possibilities of the sound sculpture, a series of tuned concrete domes, in Seydidfjorder. In Heimay we walked around the town that was half buried in volcanic ash during an eruption in the 1970’s. A museum stands over one of the houses that had been partly filled with ash and the artifacts of daily living have been left in the house as they were.  In Keflavik the Keens and I walked the pathway along the shore where the giant sculptures made from stones stand looking out on the harbour.

            The Keens next adventure was in New Zealand and Australia. They walked in the rain in Auckland and visited the sky tower. We hiked on Rangatoto Island and got our first view of the tui, a bird unlike any other I’ve ever seen. On this trip the Keens and I visited the glow worm caves at Rotarua, saw geysers shrouded in steam at the Waimango geo-thermal area. In the Christchurch area we walked quietly through a kiwi hatchery and later, experienced a simulated blizzard in the International Antarctic Centre. We rode the steam ship the TSS Ernshaw to the Walter Peak sheep station where we had a huge buffet lunch and watched a demonstration of sheep shearing and saw the dogs herding the sheep. We visited the Weta Workshop in Wellington and saw many of the props for Lord of the Rings.

            In Australia we scuffed in the white sand of Bondi Beach, sat at dusk on Phillip Island and watched as the penguins rafted up off-shore, and then paraded inland to their borrows and their waiting chicks. The Keens got a dusting of red from the soil in Alice Springs and tried to be unobtrusive at performances of Come From Away in Melbourne and The Marriage of Figaro at the Sydney Opera House. In Sydney they took many trains and walked many miles.

            In Canada they have been with me most of the winter and I see that they have developed holes in their outer layer and the heels are worn down. While we have been good travel mates, it’s time to let them go and to move into new footwear and new adventures. It’s strange how thinking of my boots and the terrain over which they have taken me makes the places I’ve travelled in the last two years even more amazing. I hope my next set of shoes will serve me as well. Even though the new shoes are sturdy and comfortable, I’m a little sad to see the Keens go. After all, we have travelled half-way around the world together.