In four consecutive cycles today, I got drenched, hailed upon, and the progressively drier in the period leading up to the next drenching. Between intense downpours of hail and icy rain, the day has been alternatively overcast in the cheerful way or actually sunny. While raining, the sheer volume of water falling in the air around me was enough to make me fear electrocution by the iPod standard headphones I’ve had to fall back upon since my better headphones broke.
Unwilling to get tricked again, I responded in the afternoon in a manner familiar to all Vancouverites: Gore-Tex shoes, pants, and jacket – topped off with a waterproof hat. If you haven’t noticed, I am the sort to occasionally revel in the technical solution of problems. The shoes, I thank my mother for. She was kind enough to equip me with them while she was in the UK. The jacket I’ve had for ages; the pants, I recall testing with Meghan on a particularly stormy day along Wreck and Tower Beaches, on campus at UBC. The hat did sun protection service in Malta, as well as rain protection service on canoeing trips.
Naturally, now that I am thus equipped, the chances of it raining heavily again on the way to or from the Saint Antony’s International Review (STAIR) launch tonight are virtually nil.
PS. My congratulations to the newly-minted Louise Little, B.Sc (Hons), on the completion of her undegraduate degree.
PPS. Stir fries comprising olive oil, dried chillies, ginger, tofu, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, and black bean sauce are quite delicious. While they take approximately forty times longer to prepare than the caloric equivalent in bagel-cheese form, it’s probably a worthwhile investment, if only because it makes the house smell like black bean sauce.
I remember that rainy day well. It was such a downpour that my (admittedly old) goretex jacket got soaked through, and my red corduroy shirt underneath dyed my arms scarlet.
And stir-fry is a wonderful dish. You should try adding cashew nuts some time.
Meghan,
There’s no way it was anywhere near as rainy as the last leg of the Bowron Lakes trip, in the summer of 2004. That was the most intense rain I’ve seen in my entire life, and it basically lasted for six straight hours.
The Bowron Lakes certainly did treat us to the most intense rain imaginable. I was worried the canoe was going to sink, simply from the amount of rainwater collecting in it (the 3 foot waves dashing over the bow didn’t help much either). Lots of fun, though, despite some of the most unprepared camping companions ever.
They were more prepared than during the Powell Forest Canoe Circuit, at least. This time, everybody had a tent to sleep in, there was more than one stove, and nobody was eating out of a bowl stolen from a motel.
What did the octogenarian pirate say?
Aye-Matey
You should add a whole zucchini, sliced first into disks and then into quarter-disks, to the above stir-fry. Also, you should try putting the black bean sauce directly onto the pieces of tofu, before you start frying them.
Also impotant, fry anything like chili and ginger directly in a bit of olive oil, right at the beginning.