Yesterday I took a pirate oath, and now I am officially a pirate. And did other piratey things, like run a sunset 5k on Friday and a half marathon yesterday. I also went to the Lower Deck, which is an appropriate name for a stone-wall and wood-benches bar in Halifax. I got in trouble for attempting to dance on a bench, but hey, that’s what pirate wenches do.

This photo is right after the half marathon. I didn’t dress up like a pirate (although I totally will next year), but my race bib has my pirate name (Wine-Soaked Siren). I am with Red Bread Beard, who completed his first half marathon despite the wonderful heat and the humidity that felt like it was choking us. I’m so proud of him, and he has said now that he’s more impressed with me having done marathons because he would never want to do a second lap after the race yesterday. One day…one day.

The races were amazing. I loved seeing the sunset over the ocean and I had to stop every kilometre to take photos. It was gorgeous. Then yesterday morning: it was super foggy and looked super cold. I wore pants and a long sleeve shirt over my tank top. By the time I got to the race, I realized how deceiving that fog was. It was super warm, and getting warmer every minute. (Note: the people in this province are unbelievably kind. I begged a woman at a store who I only knew because I had talked with her so many times about her art to guard my long sleeve shirt because there was no bag check. And she did. So kind!)

The half was amazing. I swear it was all uphill (this entire province may be only uphill) but I prefer that because running downhill hurts my knees. It was such a great route though, there were so many people who came out to cheer the runners on. I was so blown away by the number of local runners too. I can’t really think of the right words, but it seemed like such a community event, between all the volunteers (those dressed as pirates and those dressed in modern clothes), the cheering section, the runners, even the performers who were doing highland dancing. I was blown away by how many people were there and engaged in the events. I still stopped to take photos along the route. Nova Scotia is so different from Alberta and so gorgeous. I love the ocean.

I love this humidity. So much. I realize that I’m sweaty in like 5 seconds and everything is damp and stays damp. I realize that everything kind of smells musty because of the humidity. I do not care. I love it. I will trade humidity and wetness for whatever it is that I think is worthwhile in Calgary (in all honesty, I cannot even visualize what it is that I like there… snow? Ice? Dryness?). I think it snowed a day or two ago in Calgary, while I am sitting here out by the ocean, appreciating the salty sea breeze and watching GIGANTIC seagulls.

I was also having a conversation with a guest at one of the Inns and I mentioned something about having epilepsy. She told me that she just saw an article in Canadian Running about a runner with epilepsy. I almost lost my mind because I couldn’t believe someone saw it and remembered it, and it wasn’t just because they already know me. Mind blown. Apparently I look nothing like those photos though, because my hair is so short now and it was so long then.

Tomorrow I head to the airport and head off for the next leg of this journey. I made the poor decision of bringing a novel that is part of a series and I finished the book in the first four days and can not find the next book anywhere. I found the third one, and I have it just in case. I’m also sending a pile of clothes and stuff back to Calgary with Mr. Bread Beard, because I either don’t need it or I am already running out of room.

As for the big ass spiders mentioned in a previous blog entry, they have predominantly left me alone, so I’m good with them too.