Day 180 - Small Tokens
I woke up ten minutes before my alarm went off. I was out of bed before the second alarm sounded. This is not like me.
I had plenty of time to have a cup of coffee and shower before departing for Victoria. I was excited. Amy generously drove me to Pier 69, where I checked in for my 8:00 AM ferry ride. There wasn’t much of a line, and I hoped to get into the first boarding group. Sure enough, I was number 13 - what a lucky thing to be that early. The group of people already waiting wasn’t clue enough that I had misread my boarding number - I was turned away at the gate and it was then that I properly read the number: 113. I was in group 3. Oh well - the gate agent was good natured about it, and I was only momentarily embarrassed. At least my boarding number for the return trip was 10 - I checked more than once.
The voyage to Victoria was easy - the water was smooth as glass, so my second dose of Dramamine may have been unnecessary. The only wave action we saw was when crossing the wake of a cargo ship head of us on the starboard side. I was off the boat quickly once we docked in Victoria, focusing on getting to the coffee shop where Ignacio suggested he meet at 12:30 - he had planned to work only a half day, so 12:30 would be as early as he would be back to the neighborhood. It was now 10:45 and the coffee shop was four blocks away.
As I rounded the corner out of the Clipper terminal toward the street, there was Ignacio already waiting for me. He had changed his plans and took the entire day off, but didn’t tell me, to maintain the element of surprise. I was duly, and enthusiastically, surprised. We walked together to his apartment content as we began the weekend.
Ignacio gave me a cowl scarf that he knitted; he was working on it when I visited last month, though didn’t complete until after I came back home. The surprise gift was a winter cap he made for me - the first had he ever knitted. Included in the bag was some high-end chocolate made there in Victoria, and a small bag of loose tea I had enjoyed on my previous visit that isn’t available in the States except by mail.
I gave him a rainbow irid glass bowl I had made for him, along with some glass beads I had made awhile ago that I thought he would enjoy. My thought was to wear them one at a time, but he chose to wear them all.
It was a lovely day. Small tokens are such wonderful things.
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