into the wilderness...

Day 3 into the "week of unemployment". Woke up this morning with a blank slate of a day ahead of me. Mid-week. Some people would revel in this opportunity to lay in bed and watch movies all day. Well, Day 1 and 2 did include those activities among other things. A trip to the mall, some basking in the sun at the Forks, hot tea and books in coffeeshops...

But this morning I woke up and needed a direction. And when I feel lost or aimless my back-up plan is usually to head out of the city and look for some clarity. I do love the city, and I love my busy neighbourhood, but sometimes even a city girl needs to feel sunshine on her face, unobstructed by tall buildings, and needs to see wind blow over tall grass across an open field. So after dressing in comfy, stretchy layers of clothing I got into the trusty Civic who has been sitting forlorn in the parking lot for a few days, and we hit the open road.... okay, we didn't make it far. But with the cost of gas and the fact that I am not actually making any money, the half hour drive to Bird's Hill Park was about as country as it was gonna get.

Mid-morning, mid-week, halfway to winter is a pretty dead time out there. So I had a nice trail all to myself. My Ipod set to shuffle somehow picked all the songs I needed to hear as I ran down trails, wandered through open, sunny fields and sat at the side of an ice-edged pond. Taking an unknown path I ended up in a little wooded area full of pines and chickadees flying everywhere. Someone had set up a milk carton birdfeeder, so I went over and scopped out a handful of seeds and sat down on a log. Soon little birds were landing on my hand and eating out of it. There is something comforting about the feeling of little bird feet gripping my fingertips as a little beak pecked the seeds out of my palm. It's like when little kids play with your hair or whisper secrets into your ear. It was then that my day felt validated. New job? Crazy lady who sits in the park and feeds birds? But maybe that's what we all need. A week of unemployment to test ourselves and our ability to be alone. A chance to test out new career options- explorer, photographer, writer, zoo keeper?