final innings

everyone in pouch is sleeping.
it is 3:30 i have packed gathered the rest of my coffee and the courgette. i have left the key to martin and gabrielle’s on the refrigerator and have shut the door. i am leaving even before the c.b.c. starts it programming – before the ode. henry won’t be up for 90 minutes.

i stop by the school to drop off the coffee and courgette – leave it on the kitchen table, turn down town circle – past bruce’s – the pronto pizza sign is lit as it the bathroom light in the pipe house. i feel like i am sneaking out.

the irving in torbay is closed, i don’t meet a car until stavenger drive – making the straightaway from shoe cove to flatrock a nice run.

the tim’s at the trans canada is open, an r.n.c. car is in the drive through.

the airport is just the opposite it is full. air canada has the usual queues as it seems that they have at least three flights leaving at the same time. included in this airline rush hour is jetsgo westjet and my continental flight.

there are only three people in the queue, i’ll be able to have my tim’s and get through security in no time i think. airport security asks if i want would mind a security check – no not at all. when he finds that i have only carry on he lets me go.

on continental – the boarding pass machine is broken so the woman has to handwrite them out. it takes 30 minutes to take care of us three.

as usual the lead lined bags throw them off. bomb residue test.

buy a post - the globe hasn’t arrived - check e-mail and wait. the sky is lightening the lights of the wal-mart are diminishing.

am pretty numb,

on the plane awaiting take off the numbness ends with an overly loud, new yawk accented know it all. a reason afterall to fly through toronto.

he is partnered with a newfoundlander who was brought up in conception bay south, and they may buy a place for them – good another reason to give cbs a pass.

showing his knowledge of the rock talking to other tourists.
- seen signal hill? seen cape spear? went out a whaling ship? then you have done it all
his other hot spots are jungle jim’s a bad chain of bars and chess’s but seems to only know one shop. pronounced brigus as brigeeze. said that orca was filmed in c.b.s. when it was filmed in petty harbour. discussed real estate with prices like $250 000
instead of the more reasonable $15 000 - $20 000 but then again conception bay south.

the flight attendant is a retired nypd – why do i want to know this, why do i care?
when we take off the flight goes directly west as if is it racing to get off island. look back to see signal hill, the narrows, and cape spear. we are flying over conception bay south.

lie back and think of yesterday.

walked over to bruce’s at 9am when i knew that the coffee crowd would be there.
finally talked to the man who bikes all over cape st. francis. chatted overlooking the stage. he bikes sometimes down to st.john’s
-do you belong? (are you from here?)
-live down in renee sullivan’s old place.
-ah

at the shop went in to convey my best wishes to bruce who was still on his honeymoon. outside joked a bit with henry talked about the soiree and asked about bruce’s wedding.
-should have come. he said.
-wasn’t invited.
-ah yeah you’re not up here all the time.chatted with hap and made a few photographs of the three.
headed over to the post office, then back to the house.
was sitting out front having my coffee waiting for the laundry to dry when sharon comes by.
-what time you leaving to-morrow?
-4am
-in the morning? will come back later to say good-bye.
really don’t want her to come back as i don’t want to be reminded of leaving.

head into st. john’s to post the blog and continue on to petty harbour to walk around a bit.i was hoping to beat ange to her computer but she was there, bought a cappuccino for her and a double double for me. returning from the tim’s run into ruth who is supposedly at her place writing her dissertation but instead has a bag from auntie crae’s. seeing the depression invites me to coffee – remind her of the paper and show her the two and nod to the gallery.
-stop by later.
-an interrupt the flow of creativity?

chatted when a friend of hers and jim came in.

judy stirling – miss – forgot what month – 1971 in playboy. says hello to ange heads into jim’s where he shows her my snaps – looking at the one that i took of jim she asks why do i insist on taking snaps of weird people.
-dunno as i proceed to photograph her.
at the time i knew nothing of this salient fact. she seemed to like the snaps said that she was a photographer and did i do landscapes. finally eh website came in handy.

gave me her card. her husband owns n.t.v., the herald and oz fm radio station. and mentioned that maybe we could work out something concerning my work.
-well i’m leaving to-morrow.

after she and jim left i went to ange to find the dirt on her it was then that i found out about her being a playmate.

walk down water street to the post office dylan roller blades by shouts out my name. shout back as she disappears around the bend by the downhomer.

drive out to petty harbour and park pretty far from peter and julia’s as i don’t want to be detected – the saab stands out. walk quickly by their place as the door is open even though the car isn’t there. the cabin looked closed.

well not really quickly as three mechanics said those two words and they were across from the house.

couldn’t stop now had to make their snap there was a little chat – they told me to photograph those in the garage. nope they didn’t speak to me. one was interested in the camera so i let him have a look.

headed up the hill that i drove up the day before. wanted a bit of petty harbour formalism. i did a bit walking from the car to the hill via the harbour. in truth they were more peopled pictures – snaps where people had been. on the hill it was the rock no parking sign with the water tower in the distance. an overly decorated garden and a homage to carl english.

the blueberries were the freshest yet.

back in town two vacant conveniences – one looked like it would work for a residence of a residency. headed back into town, hungry even after eating quite a few blueberries – but quite pleased with myself.

i had planned on going to the bagel for one last samosa breakfast. hadn’t been to pasta plus this time. parked in king street when i saw ms. england heading out of halliday’s convenience asked if she got the book from last year. yes great at least someone did.

as i was heading in angie and daniel were heading out to lunch joined them at the bar that only the day before i was deriding as it looked like their clientele were trying awfully hard to have a good time. forgot the name but it is an outdoor bar even in winter when they turn on these enormous space heaters.

it was a good chance to photograph daniel as he was leaving for calgary, he had been at the bookstore ever since i first came it was he – and will who is also leaving - that set up the hosting of my website. i didn’t want him in the shop don’t know how the table is going to look in the snap.

meal took forever to come overly sauced vegetable stir fry, angie seemed to like her pound of wings, daniel his burger – both agreed that the bubble was preferable to the coffee.

back at the gallery, headed out to wander georgetown to see if i could do something with it. tried to remember some places downtown that i had missed. saw jim’s volvo head down rennies mill road and yelled out see you sergeant.did the usual street by street up to the molson brewery – saw the rooms of agnl not so bad up close. still couldn’t really do anything with a lot of the area. the spaces between houses still were too close for me to work with. photographed the pub a closed conveniences, a few houses and the bakery

-my last tim’s – the only thing cotinental has going for it.

walking back behind ruth and peter’s decided not to stop in there was a dissertation to be written and there would be other times – i was hoping.

thinking back it had been a packed time – the regatta of seemed years in the past. it was odd to think that i hadn’t known some of these people for ages. wandered down prescott photographed a cat – yeah at times i go for clichés also – at the convenience. had my smoothie from stella’s and headed back to the gallery in time to say good-bye to will and photograph him – he mentioned that i might want to take off the lens cap - and tanya.

while awaiting the duke with jim deleted the rest of the 50 duplicate postings.

the duke was a sullen affair – he had things to do, i wasn’t going leave anytime soon and we are always there. he rang angie to see where she was. she came in with christina parker gave her an announcement before she went up to the front of the bar.

ed riche – rare birds - was also there holding court in the corner we usually sit in. went outside.

after long silences – jim and i had the usual discussion there is always a place for me. don’t be so reluctant to ask,
-yeah but i want my own place so that i don’t have to rely on the kindness of strangers
-i have done it for bigger jerks than you afterall you, hansen, bolduc, sonmor get it.
say good-bye and pull out the current to read and finish my pint.

head out to find a globe and in the meantime photograph the irving sign across the harbour.

head back in the duke and order a glass of smithwick’s read the globe and chat a bit with john asked if i had seen ray, no. bought him a birthday pint – about the fact that outskirts of st. john’s is turning into one big shopping mall. says at one time water street had three department stores – even the bay. john finished his pint and said he’d see me next time.

seeing the lights at st. pat's stopped for a couple of innings of the guards v. gonzaga vikings game

when it was time pulled out in carpasian road turned right at elizabeth.

drove back to pouch filling up at the irving in torbay still the cheapest gasoline prices.

as luck would have it the skateboarders were out. stopped the car –frightening the teenagers watching them – walked over and asked where they had been. also asked how long there were going to skate – as long as i liked. thought about going home and coming back but got the camera told them that i couldn’t get them in action but if they held really still maybe the light from the fire department would be enough. took quite a few in the hopes that neither any of them nor i moved. i can only hope.

left to the bafflement of the teenagers. when i returned to buy beer at bruce’s the area was empty the equipment gone and only one car left.

left a sixpack of canadian on henry’s porch

delivered a cheque to sharon from jim. had hoped to do it quietly and place it on the windscreen of the van but everydog in the neighbourhood started barking.

she said she was by earlier but thought maybe that i was staying in pouch no but i didn’t want to say good-bye
-so not good- bye and we hugged.
-give reg my best
walked down william’s hill back to the house.