The End

A bit abrupt, but perhaps most endings are like that. I can only call myself a 125er. When The Big End comes, I expect I’ll have only accomplished one-third of what I had set out to do in life as well. Sigh…

My two left feet are shuffling over to Puff the Magic Dragon as part of the Dancing About Architecture project.

Ken

He was a young bloodhound, being trained to sniff out parental infidelities. She once dragged him to his father’s house. Following her lead, he ran from closet to closet, up and down stairs, trying to catch the scent of “the other woman” and hunt her down.

Shiva Rea

Blond and bronzed, one of her dreams is to wend her way to the centre of a giant field of sunflowers at dawn. There, along with the other faithful followers, her head will swivel slowly, slowly from east to west, tracking the path of her sungod.

Janet

In Asia, Janet thought she should be given a 10-minute headstart on meals. Vas and Jenny had brought travel-forks, while I had invented the “chopstick diet” as a teenager to slow my gluttony (instead, I became a chopstick maven while my waist-and-other lines continued to expand).

Tom

So many details have disappeared, but I do remember that evening--making our way back along the road at dusk, the insects finally quieted and the stillness almost eerie. You pulled out your harmonica and played the blues, as everything was drawn into the dark.

Alex

Alex probably aced the “pacify-the-pugilist” exam for call centre employees. I’m sure he’s thinking “what a bitch” as I start throwing jabs about the Everestian incompetence of their billing department, but his voice never loses its soothing tone and my anger, lacking a sparring partner, concedes defeat.

The magnificent seven

The party slowly separates into audience and performers. Using mandolin, guitars, harmonica, didgeridoo, jembe, they play John Prine, Fred Eaglesmith, Neil Young. The local librarian’s voice alone would cause countless banditos to renounce violence. A small group still remains at 3 am, marveling at this undiscovered talent.