G gave me today off to equalize and she flew to Bella Bella, she could probably feel my crazy-brains vibe. PMS and days of travel and new have me buzzing and disconnected again. Focus focus focus!
She said I should do my “windshield survey” and rest. The sprain on my ankle is swelly and it hurts to do some steps, but it's less bad than I thought it would be. Still, the hike I had wanted to do is out of the question. Maybe I could pedal, but I'll have to get new front brakes since they got eaten when the front tire came off the damn thing -poor BanaN! There aren't any hills really, so I could go anyways and use the crappy back ones. I should. I just found out that there is no gym here, no rec centre. Why no one answered me that question before I came I wish I knew. I could have brought some weights and my ball. Damn physio anyway. SO I should scan the town and look at its services, its amenities, and its population from a strangers perspective. So I'll go for another drive.
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| Groceries on the right, hardware on the left! |
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| No milk at all! |
Library that is open three hours a day, three days a week, two grocery stores. The prices aren't so much higher than in Courtenay, but some shelves of necessities are empty, just like I've heard that sometimes there is no gas. Garage and car wash! Washed the old girl. Ambulance. A hall that says it has a fitness centre but there's no number or info. Drove past three schools, one college, four churches. A beautiful Big House. Went past the Walker Field, where the mother's day bbq was and baseball games will be starting soon. Saw a rodeo grounds next to it. Looked into the window of the old church turned thrift store, no idea when it opens. I see a legal advocacy centre, a community support centre (I'm dying to know what that means, but of course I have an idea), the hospital with clinic, one residential care facility looking manor type place for the elderlies, the liquor store, the post office, a service BC place... Hm I can't recall them all now. Should have taken notes!
Anyways, I then went around to take a few shots and then sat myself down for dinner and people watching in the window at the Cedar Inn...or Valley Inn or whatever it is with the big restaurant. From what I can see, it is a pretty healthy place. Lots of happy faces, kids roaming free, dogs cruising around. I saw two dogs at once running alongside, trying to bite the tires of a truck as it slowly drove by. That was odd. Came home by seven and turned on the TV. First time I remember doing that in.... uhhhh. Dunno. Turner classic movies, Mitzi Gaynor marathon. I enjoyed it very much. The I Don't Care Girl and Les Girls. I kept feeling like I should be doing eight other things, but reminding myself I was supposed to be slowing down now. That's what I've decided my ankle sprain was for. A memo to me, a reminder to slow the fuck down. To get focused again, to get clear. SO I slow down, sip wine, and watch movies with a three year old lab puppy laying on me.
May 13
9-5= 8hours=17total
First day and I can't wake up. I've woken up at 6 without a clock for the past week, but today? No no, my body wants nothing to do with it. Let the dog out and put coffee on. This is some peoples every day, but it's all novel for me. Try to decide whether to go for a pedal, but I've slept into the sevens, it takes half an hour to get to town, and I'd wanted to start at eight thirty. I also want to make a lunch and breakfast. Lumber the big truck n camper into town. I need to ask G if I can use hers, this is a long commute! Show up and stumble around the hospital, forgetting to say hello sometimes, then other times forgetting to say who I was, but I soon got into the swing of introductions, remembering the spiel I decided was vague enough yet informative enough to satisfy curious people. It got longer with each telling.
I decided I really need to get it straight, what it is I want to say, what it is I want to do here. I've never explained my goals so many times in one day to so many people. It came to mind that I ought to make a list, write it out. I remember a release of information form that I am supposed to fill out and send to C, my Uvic supervisor, and another that specifies my learning goals for both G and C.
I am paired with the field nurses who run the Adult Day Program, a respite service for people who live at home with other caregivers. It's also a time to get them baths in the proper facilities, lab work, Doctor's appointments, social time, physio, prescriptions, meals, and other small personal care stuff. Two of the women play cards, another couple draw. I ask if I can make myself a place-mat, since they all have one, and I am given boxes and boxes of scrap-booking materials, stickers, paper, glue and felt pens. Oh, this will be fun.
I sit and chat with the women, one of whom has done work with Dale McCreery on Nuxalk linguistics and used to teach the language to the kids at the school. After lunch, I go with one of the nurses to a few appointments, just as an observer. No one really knows what I'm doing here. The woman asked if I wanted to interview the clients, and I told her no way, that would be a huge intrusion and breach of ethics. I know that that is not why I'm here. If I was going to interview anyone, it would be her, her coworkers, and other service providers. The clients I would just be hanging out with, and if they chose to share stories, then great, but I would not be putting them in any kind of place where they thought they had to tell me about themselves as though I were the working social worker here in town. Just an observer.
What I did tell people was that I was interested in how limited services in such a small place worked together to support people. I wanted to see the hospital side of care, as I had been working in community care for some time and was curious about it 'from the inside'. I wanted to explore my interests in working with addictions counselors. I wanted to try on as many hats as I could since in a larger place I would do one thing and one thing only at one agency, while here, I could float around the different arms of health services and experience them all. Or so I hoped.
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| This picture had been hanging upside down for a long time before I noticed it was upside down. |
I go on three home care visits with J. The first is at a retirement facility, an interim place closer to the hospital for people who need more attention, or possible attention than they could efficiently receive in their home. B told me of the big house they have up the valley that is now sitting empty, and how they had to move quickly into this small space. She asked if I was looking for a place to rent. D, her husband was a teacher here for fifteen years and told me how nice it was to have known so many students who grew up to be community leaders. He came from Port Alberni and told me stories about his time on the Island. A story about how Courtenay got its name.
The next place we went to was a big wooden house 16kms up the valley, off of the highway. J lived there supporting her daughter who has mental health issues. She is from Lancashire so we talk about our families. Her house has that smell. The one I remember, having been left with so many older people when I was young- it triggers something. Some yucky uncertain feeling combined with that: I'm a little kid and life is so exciting feeling. I feel like there are pages to be written about this smell, this feeling, but I can't locate them just now...The front room and kitchen are two enormous, old-style, open rooms with thin, marbled, pea green carpet laid over linoleum. The walls are wood-board. There are bird-feeders outside the front windows so we watch the Stellar Jay, the Robin, and the hummingbirds that are fighting over their places. Five children, one dead, one struggling with mental health concerns, three living on Vancouver Island. She is very much with us, very quick witted and chipper.
The third was further out, and had the same big front room/kitchen setup. That was a quick one, I wonder how she bathes people so quickly, but then remember I don't take so long myself either...
I'm exhausted by the end, and I go home and ride the bike up the road to the bridge with the dog. I throw the stick a few times, then race her back to the house and go to the basement to do some exercises. Then I pass out cold... after a relaxing jacuzzi bath!
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