The Travails of Traveling in the 21st Century
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
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| Niño - Photograph Rosemary Waterhouse-Hayward |
When we moved to our lovely Kerrisdale corner home with a large garden we spent a little fortune in buying the best plants money could buy. We went to Maple Ridge and other places to find beautiful antiques. Our house made it in Better Homes and Gardens and in several Canadian gardening magazines.
But we
never worried too much about the upstairs until the plumbing began to fail.
Suddenly we had leaky bathrooms and no money in the bank for repairs. It was embarrassing
because we could never invite anybody (friends or relatives) to stay with us.
We finally
sold over the objection of my Rosemary and bought a neat, clean duplex in
Kitsilano which our younger granddaughter Lauren says is cozy.
The heating
is electric and I cough much less. We have floor heating in the tiled floors of
the kitchen and the bathrooms. Everything works including a toilet much too
complicated for me to figure out. We still use toilet paper.
And then
two months ago we had a slow leak in the kitchen. We found a plumber who did
not tear up the whole kitchen to find the leak.
A long
story short is that our insurance is pretty well changing more than half the
kitchen.
Two days
before we packed for our trip to Venice they removed the cabinets and counters.
Luckily we have a stove and microwave. But there is no kitchen sink so I have
been washing dishes in the downstairs guest bathroom. Our pots and pans and
dishes are all on the dining room table.
It is
chaos.
And since
they are not going to do the dry wall and other repairs we will return to
chaos.
The
travails of traveling in the 21st century are an unsavory challenge.
We need the cubes and the wires to charge Rosemary’s iPhone7, my Galaxy S5 and
for my dedicated only camera iPhone3G. I need to pack a charger for my two Fuji
X cameras. Because one of my swivel lens panoramics, a Horizont will be loaded
with Kodak B+W Infrared Film I need to take a changing bag.
Because I
plan to photograph my cello playing friend Claudio Ronco I am taking a light
that adjusts from 110 to 220. But I cannot forget the plug in cord and the
Italian outlet adaptor. And without a flash cord and an adaptor to connect it
to onë of my Fujis I need the adaptor. My Minolta Flash Meter is coming too as
well as a small soft box and collapsible light stand.
Not knowing
how dishonest someone might be amidst the throngs of Venice I am bringing a “faltriquera”
which is worn underneath my pant waist. I will put a few Euros there.
Rosemary
needs all sorts of cream and makeup. She insists on bringing two Eyewitness
Books, one is on Venice the other is on Florence. In my shoulder camera bag (it
does not look like one) I am packing Dickens’s book on his travels in Italy as
well as Ruskin’s the Stones of Venice. Rosemary will slip into her shoulder bag
Vidal in Venice.
The cage
for Niño and Niño is ready. I will take them in the morning. We feel guilty and
would like to suddenly be back from our trip.
It might
snow on Tuesday. We have already booked our cab to the airport just in case
they will be hard to come by in the morning.
We are
trying to empty the fridge. The combination of food we have been having in the
last few days defies any standard of culinary compatibility.
As I ready
myself to sleep (Rosemary is getting up at five to call Blue Cross travel
insurance on her iPhone) I know I will be restless. My Niño will get on top of
me on the bed and look at me with mournful eyes. I know what he is thinking.
“Why are
you abandoning us?
And yes,
three batteries for the Fujis as well as spare storage cards. And the film.
