football for squares

I grew up in Prince George, or if you prefer (ugh) Prince George, or more temptingly Prince George. While PG may be in BC and is surrounded by beautiful country it’s certainly not what I think anyone should call a Pacific city. We were a long way from the ocean. I moved to Victoria in ’89 for school and now I’ve got the Pacific in my blood- and not just from the occassional body surfing mishap. I just can’t imagine living away from it. In conversation a few days ago I stopped to consider if my affection is simply for the endlessness of an ocean view but I really don’t think the Atlantic could do it for me. I like my West Coast. Wet Coast. Left Coast.

I have always heard people from elsewhere say that the lifestyle out here is profoundly different from the other side of the continent. Invariably they use the words “laid back”. It’s not until you travel a bit that you can look back here and see what they’re talking about. It’s not that we’re lazier. Just… wiser. More in sync with our surroundings. There’s roses and we like taking a moment. In a place this gorgeous you’d have to be nuts not to. Maybe that’s why New Yorkers have a reputation for the frenzied work life and dead of heart attack at 42. NY just isn’t as pretty as BC. That’s just a theory, of course. I haven’t been there yet. But it makes a certain sense from this perspective. This view.

We think of work as the thing we do to pay for our lifestyle. Many of us make a point of finding work that we enjoy, because that just makes sense. I’ve been especially lucky that way. But mostly work is what you do between adventures. We’re always thinking about kayaking, hiking, climbing, cycling, walking, running, barbecuing, squash and tennis, rugby, skiing and more skiing (hands down the best in North America) and of course hockey. We loves our hockey. And that just stands to reason because it’s the only sport that matters. Except when we make small seasonal exception for football, the most popular sport in the world.

I said Football. Not that silly game Americans play with hardly any feet at all and a pointy ball.

Yep. I like it here. Think I might stay awhile. At least through the 2010 Olympics. Holy. Google “2010 Olympics”. That’s a bunch of stuff.