hay river: day one

I've been a resident of Hay River for exactly 24 hours now.

It's not like I'm seeing new things, because I've probably been here at least a dozen times in my life, but it was cool to walk around by my lonesome for lunch today and talk to people, which I never did much travelling here in the past for hockey tourneys or school track trips, spent in a laugh-filled (and later, lager-filled) bubble with an entourage of cohorts.

Today, I had a delicious sub at a certain downtown eatery (which I am convinced will sustain me during this stint, with its array of flavoured coffee creams and homemade donuts) and was entertained by a man behind the coutner who candidly told me -- an acquintance he'd known for all of 10 seconds -- about the time he almost lost a nut when he was eight. I didn't even find it wierd. I almost found it endearing. And, who knows, if things had gone differently for him, perhaps he might not have had the balls to tell me the story.

Also, the sound of a train wailing away at one point this afternoon was a sound I haven't heard in a while. It always conjures up some sort of Steinbeck-esque, existential rambling nostalgia -- I don't know why, because I've never lived it, only read about it -- but it was refreshing to have that feeling again.

Other than that, haven't seen or done much of anything, as I'm trying to get settled in the office that doubles as my residence.

Might not see anything tonight either, with the NCAA championships and the Blue Jays opening day battling for boob tube attention.