My Little Golden Book of Phobias

My dears,

Back from the beauty of Vancouver Island, way up there in Canada. Country that has a leaf on their national flag. A red leaf. A country that goes crazy for ice hockey. And stop lights on their interstate highways.

I drove the Malahat highway, their version of Highway 1 in California. Cars parked for the salmon run. Deep mountains and massive lakes. Gold and burgundy leaves.

Oh, and kilometers instead of miles. And the Queen on their money.

I snuck off on Friday between the week and the weekend to go swimming in their new aquatic center.

I wasn't prepared for the splendor. No, really. They had a SWIM SHOP where you could buy a new suit and some earplugs if you needed. A massive locker room, no cement floors for them.

And then there was the pool 'area'. Where should I begin? The kiddy area was sculpted with life-sized dolphins and sea lions spouting water. There was a 'wave' that turned on every half hour and carried the swimmers around on a watery track. The adult pool was olympic-sized with huge lanes, mostly empty.

Um, then we come to the after-swim leisure area replete with sauna, steam AND hot tub. Sheesh. Truth to tell, that part of the building was overrun with men of the guy persuasion, guffawing and eyeing the lassies. They didn't spend half a minute with me because I'm way past the bikini stage. Way.

But, holy fuck. Seattle pools have a pool and a bare-bones locker room. And we're grateful. I just wasn't expecting a Disneyland pool experience in Naniamo, no less.

http://www.nanaimo.ca/UploadedFilesPath/VirtualTours/NAC_2009/VT_NAC_04_2009.html
 (in case you wanna see what knocked my socks off)

Politics and the hurricane, o lordy.

Please vote. Please.