The Rest of Life

We are back aboard IO. We spent another fall in Bamfield, our minds engaged in medicine and science. For us Canada is filled with friends and opportunity, intellectual stimulation and rest, recovery and organization. My dream job: one month alone with 24 eager minds let loose in Barkley Sound, a TA that knows his stuff and loves to fish, and a fleet of research vessels at our disposal. Brilliant. Of Alberta, snow and traffic, great friends, and snowboarding, scheming and planning of what adventures lay next. The air was filled with the sweet and bitter noises of squealing nieces and nephews, family and very old friends. I met my old companion Shotgun, sway-back with a touch of gray. We reminisced of summer nights under the full moon racing the stars between swaths of hewn grass in the fields. Long in years, short on time, we shared our wisdom and parted little wiser. In a rush of waiting we molded our way amid the masses, ever herded by homeland security until we stood in the humid Southern Californian air next to IO, waiting patiently. The rest of life begins.