I hitchhiked last week. Not very far and not for very long,
but considering how my hitchhiking adventures ended last fall (see On the Road Again 2015 #35 -10/8/15)-
I needed to make sure that something had not happened to either my powers to
attract drivers or to drivers in general. I am glad to report that people are
as nice as ever and at least my ever greying beard does not appear to act as a deterrent
to those drivers stopping.
Of course I was on Salt Spring for part of the trip and one
could argue legitimately that it is easy to get rides on Salt Spring. Although
as I have noted elsewhere, sometimes getting a ride on Salt Spring is difficult
- the newest residents with their unnecessarily large SUVs appear to be less inclined to participate in
all aspects of Salt Springs culture. None-the-less I was on the Island and
needed to get from the Vesuvius ferry terminal to Isabella Point and back again.
And I did so efficiently using the bus system and the goodwill of 4-5 drivers.
I sometimes forget how much I enjoy meeting people and in
particular, how the conversations evolve. I think all of my discussions started
with some brief comment about the weather - but they all evolved in completely
different directions. For one driver the rain was about the fact that his roof
fed cistern system that he uses to water his orchard and vegetable garden all
summer was full. We spent the rest of the short drive talking about how the
gravity system worked and how silly and wasteful it was when people used large
over head spraying systems to irrigate their crops.
For another driver my same comment about the grey skies
brought forth the comment "but at least we don't have to shovel it" -
which led to me talking about my decisions to move to Vancouver Island. The
driver, like many people who hear that my choice was between Sudbury and Duncan
assumed that there was, in fact, no decision - the answer was obvious. They are
always surprised to hear that it was really a matter of economics. I could live
cheaper month to month in Duncan than Sudbury. When I told him how much I paid
for the mobile home - his comment was " why am I paying $10,000 a year in
taxes when I could live where you do?" I suspect that he, a very long term
resident of the Island, has a much larger and nicer place than mine.
On Vancouver Island going from Crofton to Duncan on the way
back, I got picked up by someone who
worked at a gardening centre. They were already getting in bedding plants in preparation
for the gardening season. I think she saw the rain as just one of the seasonal
milestones that meant that spring was coming and her place of work was going to
get busy.
My final ride of the day was a short one the last 11
kilometres into Duncan. It had gotten cold on the highway and when I got into
the backseat of the SUV it was nice and warm. I mentioned to my driver and his
wife how glad I was that they had the heat on and that it was getting cool out
there. That started a whole conversation about the fact that the heater, in
spite of spending a lot of money on the problem didn't work properly and just
stopped and started whenever it felt like it. The on/off switch did nothing. We
talked about cars in general and how hard they are to repair.
Four conversations that started by a mention of the weather
- all different - all highly enjoyable. I love hitchhiking and if the only real
benefit of my move is that I get to do sooner in the year and more often - the
move just may have been worth it!