The Green Man Diaries

I didn’t mention it last post, but from the Circle of All Nations I got a ride to Ottawa, where I stayed almost a week with Sophie and her brother Alex, who are super-cool.  I also got to see Lindsay again and meet her semiexboyfriend Shawn.  Lindsay, Shawn and I took acid and wandered into Gatineau Park, where we had only got to commune with nature a short time before we discovered the entire remnants of a woman – purse, clothing including underwear, makeup kit, crack pipes, everything except the woman herself – strewn by the side of the road.  This was eerie enough to warrant a police investigation, so we gathered up all the stuff, marked the place where we’d found it, and gave it to the first police officer we came to.

I also, in the last few days of my visit, hit it off fabulously with Amy, a girl from Guelph who was visiting the next-door neighbours.  Seriously guys, you want to talk about enantiodromia?  ‘Cause I can tell you all about it.

From Ottawa I decided to bus it not to Florida but to Vancouver.  I’ve therefore spent the past three nights sitting on one bus after another, eating rest stop junk food (fortunately I had the foresight to bring some more wholesome victuals) and curling up awkwardly to half-sleep at nights.  The forests north of Lake Superior transitioned into the great prairies, which – a day and a half later – suddenly became the Rocky Mountains, whose sharp and craggy peaks stood in stern contrast to the gentle Appalachians.  Chasing the setting sun, we drove through the mountains overnight and arrived in Vancouver this morning.  Let’s hope the city lives up to its reputation.