what a trip to the beach on Saturday
goldfish21
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I mean, it's always nice - even if it's cloudy.. it's just a beautiful place. There's a reason it makes top 10 lists In The World.
1. Everyone was in a good friendly mood, all the regulars. Lots of laughs, shared drinks, people playing chess, others playing music and building fires etc.
2. There was an artistic "globe," like sculpture with a large hanging lamp of sorts in the middle and some LED lights. I knew Craig the artist made it without even asking. Just after sunset he did a little fire spinning thing with flaming fuel on steel wool swinging around just for the spark show.
3. Ran into a girl I haven't seen in ~5-6 years. She's one of those girls that almost all of her friends are gay guys so she'd be at gay parties and after parties etc. Cool chick. She was out of town working on some pipeline operating some kind of machinery but is now back in Vancouver to take a course in hair cutting/styling etc to change careers. She was hanging with some very hot gay guy that I've seen around who came and asked me for a clove cigarette when he smelled one. Heh.
4. Just before Sunset some guy who moved here from Saskatoon couldn't stop going on about how amazingly beautiful everything is all around us here - not just because he's from the prairies lol but he said he's travelled to nice beaches all over the world and there is Nothing that compares to what we have to come down to every day we can. The combination of natural beauty + the people/culture/vibe/music/food/community etc just simply cannot be found anywhere else on the planet, never mind beat. He's right. Other world travellers have said the same. We're truly blessed to have what we have right here whenever we make time to walk down those stairs. A nice reminder of just how blessed we are there.. and like "the Mayor," says on the regular: "It's good to be us!"
5. Probably the highlight of my night: I had noticed this person running across the shoreline earlier in the evening.. at a glance, I was pretty sure they were a trans woman but didn't stare or follow her around or anything. This place is an ULTRA accepting place of ALL people so it's totally not abnormal for trans people to be there, to be naked, to just be part of the mix of people at this little clothing optional paradise. (They were clothed, most people were by that late in the evening as it was cooling down.) I had this split second feeling that they seemed familiar.. and as I scanned my memory banks for various trans people I know from the beach and parties I couldn't place them, I Knew they weren't so-and-so because they were far too short, etc, but for some reason they seemed familiar.
Later on I was sitting on a log at the main fire and she came and sat down beside me, started talking. Said she knew me (my first thought was, "I'm pretty sure we never hooked up." lol) and goes on to say she used to hangout and party at certain bars back in the day. Oh yeah, I used to bar tend there. She says she used to hangout with Robin. Oh yeah, the artist. Animator she corrects me. Yeah yeah, and he always came in with his friend who I Know but am drawing a blank on his name right now - guy who built the Audi. (A SURREAL no expense spared many tens of thousands of dollars from a.. cash business lol build.) Ryan she says - yeah, yeah that's right. She goes on to say I'd been to her house - me hmmm, I don't think so (later says, well dropped me off there once, I didn't Actually go to their house) anyways, I can't recall the exact flow of conversation but it wasn't 2 minutes later that they say "I'm the one who built the Audi." Me: *Double take* Last name _____? "Mmmhmmm.. " Holy crap - she was formerly Ryan!
Almost unrecognizable, but with a closer look I could see the facial features. Big hug time haha. We chatted a bit about their transition that begin in 2021, their 2 kids accepting it, new name, occupation etc - what a trip! Pretty cool to see someone really truly just go for it and live their absolute truth to the max vs. let who they really are be repressed and eat them up inside and destroy them, IMO.
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goldfish21
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Always is! But this one was particularly cool. Nice motorcycle ride there & back, too. When the weather is nice and I decide to ride I don't mind living almost 50km from the beach - hell, I intentionally took a detour through downtown and a longer route home just for the longer ride vs. any of the more direct A-B routes. Makes it about the journey, not the destination kind of thing.
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goldfish21
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Joined: 17 Feb 2013
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 22,612
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada