A charming chef at the restaurant, one of those people that you instantly like, always smiling - and composed - generally, which for a chef is rare.
And talking during his brief tenure in hell - what brought him here, about him in general, in specific. Some girl he'd known from high-school, a long time ago, he'd heard she'd moved out here, to the valley, wanted to set things right with her...
I'm a sucker for a good romance and this touched me. At first I'd thought he was gay, so this confused me a bit, but I take people at their word, and this is one of my great failings.
Later it comes out that he is - and I'm curious, I ask how he was intending to set things right with his girlfriend, old girlfriend, but - he had a plan, suffice it to say he wasn't about to straighten himself out for her or go monogamous.
He was made for this area.
Now he's a vegetarian, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, seldom does drugs, which for the region, the province, is a bit of an anomaly, sobriety in any form out here is rarer than Unicorns or Leprechauns. A lot rarer.
And so I'm grilling him about this - given the neighborhood it's a bit of an anomaly...
He'd had an epiphany, at Shambala a few years before, 1 too many tabs of acid...became a vegetarian, vegan, secluded himself on an island for 10 days to stop smoking, drinking, lost 150 lbs in weight, got his shit together. Got his shit together.
One of the more interesting life stories I've heard, I'm always intrigued by these stories of sudden transformation, thunderbolts, wisdom tossed from the gods, the opening of spirit...
I'm still waiting for mine. Maybe - before things get too dire here, time to break out a few treats and wait for the clouds to part...it's not the place, not by a long shot, that I'd choose to be, but Moses and Jesus both went to the desert and Calgary, after it's fashion, is a desert...