Hello from Rainy Vancouver...

I just had a whole day of meetings and am now done for the holidays! The last two days have been fascinating and hardly felt like work even though that's what it's all been. Today I was taken down to East Hastings where we drove through an alley that was unlike anything I have ever seen. A young guy was just finishing shooting a needle into his arm and was fumbling to roll up his sleeve as we passed by. In doorways, vacant eyes popped out to see who was coming down the alley. Their faces were marked with scabs and their eyes were simply haunting....so dead and lifeless. They stared at us as we walked by, swaying and shaking and obviously very high on whatever drugs they had just purchased. The detective we were with welcomed us to "skid row", he told us that this was the worst area in the entire city. His feeling was that the shelters, safe injection sites, and charitable organizations in and around this area only feed the problem. I sat quietly not knowing what to say. I found myself feeling sick to my stomach thinking about how these people would be spending the holidays. I wondered how many of them would make it through the next year.

On a happier note, I spent the evening with my brother last night and had a chance to catch up with him. We sat and chatted for hours together and then he slaughtered me at Scrabble. My brother has always been a very good Scrabble player and, in fact, there was a time where I just refused to play with him because it wasn't fun to be beaten every single time. I remember mocking him for learning the 2-letter words and he rubbed that in last night when I played words like "OD" and "AA". In most ways, my brother and I couldn't be more different but I'm starting to realize that we're not complete opposites. It's been good to spend time with him.

Tomorrow I fly back to Edmonton and will then drive to Calgary to spend the holidays with the rest of my family. I will also get to visit with one of my best friends, Jen, who I don't get to see or talk to nearly enough. Yay! I am also hoping to get out to the mountains at some point in the next few days. There is so much to look forward to this year, it's wonderful.