team stay alive

picnic 🏞 12.07.18 This is what a great day looks like. We drive out to a sparkling lake in the middle of a city. We rent a kayak and paddle slow, making our leisurely way around the water. Then, back on shore, we find a spot of shade beneath a tree - the sunshine makes the leaves glow and our blanket is dappled with yellow light. Simple picnic: baked cauliflower, meat + cheese + crackers, local cherries, hipster sodas, lemon squares. Nancy puts on music, and we munch and chat. Then I put on music and we read. I have my paperback and she has her e-reader. A breeze floats over from the lake. I finish the lemon squares. Nancy tells me about her book and I tell her about mine. I take some pictures and I don’t think too much. • There is more to this day: the VSO plays along to Star Wars and we all cheer when the Death Star explodes; I check my email and find the usual magazine chaos, check my voicemail and find a message from the library imploring me to take on extra shifts; I get a little lost when I drive because my sense of direction is poor and I’ve never been good at not being good at things. But under that tree, with a friend I love and Jane Hawking’s book and “an empty bliss beyond this world” crackling out of my phone speakers, I am utterly at ease. I am the light on the water and the text on the page and the distant-sounding horns in the music. Happy. • #deerlake #burnaby #beautifulbc #picnic #park #lake #summer #goodday