The road less cycled

Whew. A fun shift at work, as oxymoronic as that sounds. Just enough ice/snow to make driving challenging, and not so much as to make it difficult for my car to handle…but it’s supposed to snow more and Monday I work in Mission….the ultimate in snow driving because everything is straight uphill from the store.

I’ve been doing so many closing shifts lately, mostly because my co-workers want to leave early and I need the money so I volunteer to stick around until close. The money is good, at least until the car decides to stop working, but it really messes with my internal clock, my “biorhythms”. Going to bed at 4:00 a.m. and getting up at 12 or 1 every other day is pretty hard on the body, especially because on those nights when I don’t close, my body still doesn’t feel ready to sleep at 11 or so because it’s not in that rhythm anymore. All the free pizza sure isn’t too good for my physique either.

I really don’t regret starting to work at the pizza delivery job – it’ s not like most restaurant jobs. The co-workers are awesome. I’ve met some of the funnest and most interesting characters – A.E. who’s covered in tattoos, has the chain hanging from the pocket, and is a walking DJ. L.L., that lovable but super cocky guy. SD who makes it so much fun to be in the store everyday with her infectious laugh and quick wittedness. EK, who just gets along with everybody so well. S.S. with his litany of old beater cars and perpetual roving glint in his eye and others. There’s just enough horseplay and roughhousing to keep me on my toes, and yet the place is well managed and all the work gets done in good time, on top of which sales are going up. I’ve heard enough “your mom is this” jokes to last me a lifetime, but the work is not stressful and sort of fun even. Easier to connect with my brother too, as I often end up working with him and he’s been with the company for 5 years now so we have something in common. I’m a better driver and I know my way around better as well, so all around it’s been a positive experience. Now it’s time to save every penny so I can take some extended time off this summer.

It snowed heavily for a brief period today – a fact laced with irony given that yesterday, while taking out the compost, I noticed that my hardy daffodils are poking aboveground. They’ve found a niche in the roughly 3mx3m area where I manage my compost – they seem to do extremely well in the rich soil there. I compost in a very specific manner – new organic kitchen waste is placed on an open pile about 1mx1m, on top of which is placed alternating layers of high-nitrogen green material, soil containing inoculating bacteria, manure when available, and leaves when available. Every so often I’ll turn it with a pitchfork so the outer parts move to the inside and heat up as bacteria go to work. When it reaches a sufficient size, it gets pitchforked into a black compost bin, after which nothing is added and it is allowed to compost at a uniform rate, though I still make sure to turn it regularly by removing the bin and forking it all back in the top. In the meantime, a new pile is started which is usually ready to be binned roughly when the batch in the bin is completed and ready to be spread out over the garden. The 3×3 area is divided in 4 roughly equal squares, two of which are occupied and 2 of which are empty, and these help me to turn the pile more easily. The unseasonally sunny weather of the past few days had me itching to do some work in the garden, but it’s not time yet. Not for another few months, and even then I’m not sure how much work I’ll put into it. The year after graduation I worked in the garden a lot, easily putting in 10 hours a week, but I simply don’t have that kind of time anymore, and hope that I can arrange to do that internship with Salt Spring Seeds and Yoga Centre this summer. I haven’t told anybody officially of what my intentions are, but have been dropping frequent hints that I may not be here much this summer. I’d be working for free, just getting room and board, but the experience definitely looks worth it. I’ll worry about tuition for Fall ‘08 when the time comes.

Of interest, the Dutch word for daffodil is “narciss,” and the Latin “narcissus.” The root of both derives from the fable of the Greek youth named Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection, and gazed at it until he fell and drowned. A daffodil sprouted from where he drowned; hence the origin of the word “narcissus.” The daffodil is such a striking flower – when faced with its beauty, it’s easy to conjure up images of a young man admiring his own reflection and promptly drowning in a fit of vanity, still consumed by wonder at his own beauty. From hereon in, seeing the daffodil will be a reminder not to succumb to vanity.

Hail the Greeks!