Day 180

i felt my first cold, dark mountain morning and was out the door and picked up before 7 a.m. i was on the road to cranbrook, the closest, biggest town to fernie and the location of the nearest and last government building i needed to visit to become officially legal in canada.

i had a one way ride from someone from church. a kleenex covered the dashboard clock and was only occasionally checked by the chatting driver to decide whether the lightless speedometer needed another push. there were elk in frosty fields and a darting deer that we almost, almost, almost hit. i was dropped off in town by 8 a.m. and had a half hour to kill before the government building opened, so i followed the trail of people walking with steaming coffee's and up the sidewalk into the morning's first open business.

after some coffee and creative thinking and note making for the church video project, i was in and out of the government building. the s.i.n. number was achieved and i got a ride back with 'one of the best bowlers in kimberly.' alex was cool and had some awesome stories.

i didn't have much planned for the afternoon, so i went to the 'edge of the world' snowboard shop. the owner, i've mentioned him before, remembered me. out of the complete blue, he offered the use of his portable keyboard for our band and for any other performance i'd want to use it for. i didn't even know he had one since he's got a punk band. seriously, just a few days ago, jeremy had mentioned that we'd just need to pray for a keyboard for me and then a guitar for ian, the other guy in our trio, to be able to play gigs and 'tour'. today, it was provided.

greg's legendary history with snowboarding, his stores, and music is more than captivating. his eloquence, stories, and less-than sixty year old zeal would make a great documentary. i mentioned that to him and, in the storage/jam room, he shared that he has been keeping written compilation of history, memories, and stories already.

just the kind of thing you would start making a documentary with.. maybe after the church video project... i'd be stoked.

by the way, while hanging out tonight we started talking about thailand. i was curious and apparently my friend's friends have done three week trips where they've survived modestly on two hundred american dollars. hm.