As with every good thing, there is always an end. Having said that, an end need not necessarily be final. An end can be like a period at the end of a sentence. There is always another sentence to follow. And so an end to the season's chapter in SE Asia and the beginning of another summer in Canada.
The journey homeward is always a bit of an adventure. The mandatory stop in Bangkok includes a visit to the nice people at Nikon, a meal at one of my favourite restaurants near Lumpini Park and a night on the town. My friend Dave - a surfer I met in Sumatra - was in town, so I showed him a few highlights and we shared some laughs. I visited the nice folks at Cosmos Composite to check out a variety of carbon fiber products. From high-end carbon fiber business cards to water skis, surf boards, kayak helmets and more, Laurent and his team make a variety of super lightweight products. We are working out the details of a new carbon fiber wave ski for me to test next season.
As seems to be part of an established pattern, I visited Chris Watts in Hong Kong for ten action-packed days. Chris was finishing his second book and was shooting the video that will accompany the online book "The Beauty of Posture". I photographed this session to include some stills in the book and we spent another evening shooting with a model.
It is a long flight from Hong Kong to Toronto, but it is direct. Arriving in Toronto with three massive bags and two smaller bags got me to that 'special' line at Canada Customs. You never know what they are going to do when they haul you off to the side. No harm, no foul, as they say, just another customs officer who cannot understand why my passport is so full of stamps.
The shock of the cooler climate reminds me of the words of an older Swiss man I met in the Annapurna's: 'there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes." Although I have all the gear to keep warm, I prefer fewer clothes and warmer weather any day!
Back in Ottawa, the rain falls with a vengeance. It seems that rain has been the predominant weather hitting many parts of Canada this spring, with flooding occurring across the nation. After a record breaking spring for rain I think everybody is keen to see summer suns shining and torrid temperatures.
Rain or shine, my Harley is my only transport and, as usual, she fired up ready to roll for another summer.
And then "bam!" Back to work, pay off some of the debts and try to put a small cushion in the bank for the next adventure. At the rate time seems to be whizzing past, the next adventure will upon me before I realize the summer has come and gone.
Enjoy the spring.
Here's to a summer filled with hot days and wild nights!
To view the complete edition of The Coconut Telegraph click here.
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