Day #1 of Island Craziness, Victoria BC!
Monday morning here in Victoria brought with it the usual madness when we have school presentations back to back. Well, we set a new record on this R41P Highway, not in miles run, but in schools presented to! The new record sits at FOUR, back to back, with LOTS of other “welcome back to Canada” things to do, like get the insurance tags replaced (so there’s no ticket), get our cell working so we can actually make and receive calls and other tasks requiring our attention between hanging out with the kidlets!
The day began (as most do) with me typing on the MAC keys to try and encapsulate a homecoming weekend with family & friends. At 8:15am we were running our route in front of 175 kids at Glen Lyon Norfolk School and hearing all the amazing “green” things they’ve implemented at their school, like reducing their waste in half, upped their recycling program and compost their daily food (grown in their organic garden), with the overage going to Victoria’s needy. Our day was just beginning and already we knew there was magic in the room with these world aware kids!
Right after, we sped (within the posted speed) to an insurance store so we could finally replace the lost tags we never received in California and avoid the all-important ticket! Steph ran in as I was completing saying, “we HAVE to go NOW”, as we were due to our 2nd school in 10 minutes with 15 to get there.
Kelset Elementary School had another group of enthusiastic mini peeps and peep-ets awaiting our arrival, so we could all make the grand entrance together, with the other 200 cheering along the way! It was the coolest, as we were cheered in like returning hero’s to present the tours message and congratulate another gang into our “pint-sized eco-warrior” club. Even my MOM and my Aunt were there to share in it!!
The day felt rich and full with events and it was only half way (at least schools were half way), we still had 2 more events after school hours were done.
Amber, started up Racy Verna as we hugged and kissed good-bye, my Aunt and Mom and sped off to the 3rd school, which we had 10 minutes to get there and had 20 minutes to drive. This was seeming the common theme, but that was ok because the smiles on our faces were a mile wide with the energy and welcome homes we were receiving were huge!
Jumping out the door as we made the safety of the parking lot, we were met by my cousin’s partner, Liela at her school, Brentwood Elementary. Yes, we were 10 minutes late and as we ran into the gymnasium, we were met with the thunderous chants of Run For One Planet by another posse’ of under 13’s! You cannot beat kid energy and the eagerness that comes with.
Our time with all the kids keeps cementing in our souls that these are the future of change and even more so, the future is right now.
Speeding (a little), we made our final school of this first day back to BC and once again, we met the enthusiastic cheers of 200 at Cordoba Bay Elementary. Even an old friend from my life guarding days, Anita Ko surprised me with a hello not shared for 8 years. Cordoba Bay and the other three schools left us with a special feeling, like you feel on your birthday. Each one was unique in it’s presentation (by Steph and I) because of calories burning or burnt, making us able to speak complete sentences or have renewed energy because of an Amber blue plate special, filling the gap in our stomachs.
We completed our marathon day in Victoria with a fill-up of some BIO FUEL from the good folks at Columbia Fuels and then, our final presentation with the good people at Lululemon. We even got invited to join in their 80’s revival of Aerobics (the classic version complete with leg warmers and Flashdance music). We opted out on this one and had a blast hangin in Racy with Aunt Jane, who’d come to check it out too! Even the window washer dude spent a bit longer scrubbing the storefront windows at Lululemon that night.
Our day complete, we fell into bed, wondering what day 2 in Victoria would hold? Stay tune as we’ll see you again, same time, same spot (kitchen table inside Racy at 4:00am).