TIME FOLLOWS ME

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT KENRICA HOTEL

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

KENRICA HOTEL

My motor had been running hard all summer and by that I mean my internal motor, the one that says go and stop. I was feeling like a rest would be do me good, stay in one place for a while. I didn't think the work would be really hard and I liked driving trucks. Drove a van to the airport the next day to pick up some guys that had been flown in to fight the fires. Stayed in the old local legend, The Kenrica Hotel in a single room. What luxury! I was actually exhausted having worked eleven hours this day. Decided to have a long soak in the bath.

My nose began to bleed in the bath. Sometimes that happened to me but it hadn't in a long time. It was so annoying, I just had to lean back and put a face cloth over my nose with cold water. It stopped for a while but then started to bleed again after I went to bed. In the morning it looked like there had been blue bloody murder. "My body is breaking down, damn it. Oh God."

Ate breakfast at 7am in the Kenrica Café, just toast and coffee. My boss Dennis Moon picked me up and we drove first to the jail in a van to pick up three convicts who had volunteered to go on a fire. They would get time reduced, something I didn't know or care about. What a laugh. I did various trips back and forth to the airbase. In the afternoon I was asked to drive the two-ton. It looked really large. The base crew filled it with equipment and food that was to go up the "Jones Road."

The Jones Road is a mess. The whole truck rattled and shook going over all the stones and potholes. The drive back was better. Wasn't worried about my gear flying off 'round the corners so I was able to go faster. On the way back, I stopped beside a lake that was right near the road with a small sandy beach. There was no one around for twenty-five miles. I stripped off my clothes and plunged into the cool northern lake. It was like being baptized by nature. Gone were my baggy orange fire overalls, hiking boots and T-shirt. I swam out into the lake and lay on my back floating, watching the white puffy clouds drift by. I could see the shapes of animals; I think I made out a lion.

Docked out of Base on the time clock at nine o'clock. My left eye had begun bothering me, really hurting so I bought some eye drops at the local drug store that helped a bit. I guess the stress was catching up to me. Maybe, I just need some rest, and consciously decided that I would not be working too hard. I would just stay awhile, and then go back home with a bit of cash. It would come in handy this fall. It might have been the sheer exhaustion of traveling 20,000 miles with just my thumb and it was catching up with me. We checked in again at the Kenrica Hotel that was billed to The Ministry of Natural Resources. Worked 15 ½ hours.

After work, my routine started with a bath, just soaking in the tub. It felt great to scrub the dirt off with hotel soap. You don't think of a bath is a luxury unless you haven't had one for a month! I would roll a beautiful joint. It was easy to score a bag from one of the crew guys. Fell asleep like a baby.