People Are Great

So hanging out in Vancouver on a pendulum. One day I’m looking for work here. The next day I’m talking about returning to my network in Alberta.

taken from FB

I came across this term the other day – Negative Capability. The definition says – the ability to tolerate uncertainty and doubt. Clearly, I’m exercising this muscle right now. 
Of course, I’m also exercising that muscle in the people around me as I exhibit multiple personality disorder. Consider this week; each day my sister arrived home from work, I had a new plan for my future.
This particular sister is very good at handling chaos; which is very much working in her favor right now. I, on the other hand, prefer minimalism and simplicity. So this is driving me crazy and making her laugh.
This might be why today’s thought is that I love people more than anything. People are great. They are kind, generous, caring, supportive, instructional, forgiving and, if nothing else, good for a laugh.
When I stop to think about what makes my life good I can’t avoid the obvious; which is that it’s the people I know and interact with that do it… well, unless it’s interacting with an animal. Cats and dogs are people too and do some funny sh_t.

Cherry blossoms at Steveston

Here’s one 2-hour interlude to illustrate.

The other day my sister and I had time to kill. We drove around Richmond and stopped at various points of interest and here’s what made them interesting.
A small girl learning to ride a bike hollered “Hi. Hi. Hi.” She was not going to be ignored, so I turned and said hi back. Her face lit up with a big smile when I acknowledged her and she proudly rode on toward the benches. She was just as insistent about saying bye a few minutes later.
At the monument to sailors lost at sea, it is very moving to see the names of souls lost at sea, but even more moving to see the boats they take to sea moored on the other side of the park. The thought of those little boats tossed on a high sea gave me shivers.

When fishermen go out to sea.

Sitting on a bench watching the variety, energy and love in the people around us lifted my spirit. There were conversations at a sedate pace, groups running in camaraderie and support and people playing with the dogs that love them unconditionally. For me, the most poignant was a group of women that looked like 4 generations of a family out for some air on a spring evening.

Sunset at Richmond Dyke

At the north end of Richmond dyke as the sun set over the marsh planes landed at the airport full of people coming to see people.
Then we stopped by a park where white geese we resting on their annual migration. Almost an entire school yard was covered with white geese.

Geese eyeing up the neighbor's nice grass!

Here we saw a little league baseball outfielder hesitate just short of the edge of the geese then plunge in to retrieve the white ball from amid the white geese. Practice over, a few young players tried their luck running through the geese. It really didn’t seem to bother the geese much at all.
I got the feeling the geese put up with the humans every year. Such as the woman with the finely manicured lawn that tries to keep them on the school side of the street by clapping her hands. I suspect she fails because her grass looked very green on that side of the fence.

Bull Rush fluff by the sea.

A woman who pulled up in a car to walk her dog, but the little dog was too scared to get out into that sea of geese. She managed to coax him out and we watched him suddenly become the Great White Hunter or Herder to be more precise.
Through all this, it was the companionship of my sister sharing the observations and laughs that really made it so much fun. I realize many people know that it’s people that make our lives fun and meaningful, but it doesn’t hurt to remind us all of the simplest truths sometimes.