Isaiah and I grew up together and lived only a few kilometers from each other. I recall countless bike rides to hang out, innumerable hours jumping on trampolines, and various other activities. Not only did we grow up doing a bunch of classic kid things, we also played soccer together and seemed to know what the other was going to do better than we knew ourselves. Without a doubt some of my fondest memories from my childhood are with Isaiah.

     One story that cracks me up every time I reminiscence involves a hot summer day, a small trashcan and a hole. On this memorable day Isaiah and I were hanging out at my place with not a lot to do. As sweat perspired down our foreheads we formulated a plan to make ourselves a pool to cool off in. Our game plan was to dig a hole in my back field deep enough to put our legs in, then we were going to take a small trashcan, fill it with water, carry it 100 meters to the hole, dump it in and then have a nice cool pool. As you might expect, there were a few holes in this elementary plan. I don’t remember how old we were at the time but I don’t think we were strong enough to carry the selected water vessel that distance with any amount of ease. Regardless of our lacking strength, we made up for it with ambition and hauled the water out to the hole that we just spent approximately 30 minutes digging. I had imagined digging a nice 4’x4’ hole that would be roomy enough to sit in but my naivety bested me. Exhausted, we settled for a humble hole that merely measured 2’x3’ and dumped our little bit of water in. Now I don’t recall if we dumped multiple trashcans of water in or if we made this decision but we came to the realization that the water would just seep into the ground. Again, I’m not 100% clear if we made the ‘logical’ choice or if it happened by accident but some how the trashcan ended up at the bottom of our mud hole. It fit perfectly and provided the solution to our seepage dilemma. The only problem now was that it fit so seamlessly in the hole that it was now stuck. So much so that our prepubescent muscles couldn’t retrieve our water vessel that doubled as my family’s bathroom trashcan.

     Since it was so many years ago I don’t precisely remember the details and Isaiah might remember them differently but what happened next I think is a testament to how far my logic and reasoning has come. Needless to say, I had some anxiety because I had just lost my moms pink plastic trashcan in the hole we created. To add to my building anxiety we had to head to town for errands and were covered in mud. While experiencing a plethora of panic permeating through me, we manically mustered up plans that could possibly solve our multiple problems. The one that stands out to me, and maybe the most ridiculous, was to stand on a giant ant hill, which would then allow the ants to systematically removed the mud off us. I think my logic was that they would need mud to rebuild their home that we just destroyed and our legs were the closest source so obviously they’d removed the mess for us. Unsurprisingly, they just bit us and we had to shamefully walk back to my house to explain to my mom what shenanigans we got into. My memory concludes with her frantically trying to clean us off enough to get into the vehicle and head to town but maybe they remember more details.

     I didn’t expect that story to be so long but I love reliving many of the nostalgic memories I have had growing up with friends and especially Isaiah. Our friendship has grown and developed so much over the years and even though we don’t see each other too often, when we do it’s always special for me. The images below are from his birthday this past March when his girlfriend, Deeyana, invited Celine and I to go on a surprise hike with them in Banff. We decided on Tunnel Mountain and then went for food after at Elk and Oarsmen in town.  Overall it was a wonderful day.

B.T.W.

I realized that over the past year I’ve had the fortune of going on hikes or excursions with many of the people I care about most. Rather than merely talking about the photography or some random thoughts in my blog posts, a genuine reflection or simple acknowledgment of the people I love could have significant value for others and myself. I should also clarify that if you're a friend of mine and I don’t write a blog post to you, you shouldn’t be insulted, I just haven’t adventured with you recently or I just thought of this idea (haha).