Remembrances

Winter in Vancouver is relatively mild. But if you ask me it is cold like hell.
Please, do understand me. I was born and raised in Colombia, in a cool, wet temperature region that drops no lesser than 10 degrees Celsius during the day. In the highlands, there are people living in colder zones called “páramos”. So, unlike me, for the same question about cold weather, a person who lives in there might answer very differently.

One winter day was sunny in Vancouver, and I decided to go for a long walk. Robson Street, in Downtown, was full of people from all over the world. I counted French, Japanese or Korean, Farsi and Spanish passing by me at the same time, let alone the people who were not talking.

On the improvised track I made I remembered I needed groceries for home. To get the food I like I go to a handful of places. I buy tortillas here, Asian seasoning and dates over there, brownish tomatoes at this other place, fresh cheese somewhere else, and so on. I can spend week after week getting the provisions. No rush.
That sunny day I ended up carrying all the foodstuff within a large, rectangular box. I decided to take a bus
instead of a taxi. The bus was standing still and the driver was waiting for the right time to start the engines. When I entered the entire vehicle was waiting for me to choose any chair. No other passenger but me. Isn’t it neat when you must bear a rectangular box?

I sensed something earlier: somehow everything was the same but different. – An electrical vehicle yet, I thought. But the smell! And the look! I said in my mind but not out loud. And picked a spot to sit down and place the box. Once I was settled I looked closely and recognized the aroma.
I remember that whiff from my childhood! At the beginning of the school year there were lots of new supplies made of plastic. That was a time when humans were naive (I don’t want to say careless) about the
contaminating attributes of this material.

In the bus the colours were shinier than usual, the textures sharper, the edges brighter, the cushions definitely softer, and new features were added for the passengers’ safety. I was happy to sit on the cushiony chair way before it gets flattened. – Mint car, I thought. And suddenly I had a memory of the stiff and fluffy plants of the “páramos”. Please, do understand me!