Wearing a stealth concert tee today in honour of The Boss' show at Rogers Arena in Vancouver tonight. The city's still a-buzz from last night's Paul McCartney show at BC Place. Apparently, there was no Springsteen guest sighting as had been rumoured but it certainly sounds like everyone had a good time. When Jeff and I were arriving home, we could hear the bass and crowd and SEE the fireworks in the finale as they rocketed above the roofline of the stadium. From. Our. House. (aka no where near BC Place)
As a woman on the bus with me this morning was describing the concert to her friend, I took the opportunity to ask if the roof stayed open for the entire show. She assured me that the roof was closed for the entire show. I assured her that there was no way that it was closed for the finale as there is no way I could've seen those fireworks if it had been. She pulled out her camera and showed me pictures she took of the finale.
"See," she said,"there's the fireworks!"
"See," I responded, pointing,"that's the night sky."
Yeah, she had no idea if the roof had been open all night or not.
I bought this shirt at Springsteen's last concert in Vancouver - March 31, 2008 - part of the MAGIC tour. In thinking back, I have to marvel at how much things in my life (as well as the E Street Band) have changed. Hence, the mangled amalgamation of concert tour names in this blog post's title actually has meaning.
Since March 31, 2008, I have seen the end of one long-term relationship and the beginning of a life-long one. I have traveled to Scandinavia, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Montreal. I have witnessed my close friends' families expand and grow and learn to walk/run. I'd like to think that I have established myself in my classroom, my school and, somewhat, within my profession. I have celebrated my friends' professional achievements - book publications, art exhibits, show openings, contracts, promotions, athletic competitions, new businesses - as well as a few lives ended to soon but celebrated nonetheless.
So take this crazy mental Flux-Capacitor-driven Delorean ride with me and tell me where you were and where you've been since March 31, 2008. Nothing is mundane. Nothing is too detailed. Everybody's journey deserves a souvenir snapshot. Let this be yours.
I have a blog, so I've already told everyone where I've been since March 31, 2008 :-). Relevant to this post, since that date, I've been to four Bruce Springsteen concerts. Opening songs for each show: "Spirit in the Night", "Out in the Street", "Badlands", and "We Take Care of Our Own".
ReplyDeleteWild prediction for opening song tonight in Vancouver: "I'm a Rocker".
As you know, the concert opened with "Shackled and Drawn". As always, a fabulous experience. And my count is TWO now although, sadly, I do not have a t-shirt to commemorate this one.
DeleteI like looking back to see where I've been. This should be fun.. so thanks for inspiring this journey down memory lane. Since I seem to have given up my blog it's been awhile since I've done this sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteOn March 31, 2008 I was living with my mum in Cold Lake, Alberta, the town where I was born. I was teaching at the high school I graduated from 15 years earlier. My colleagues included my sister and her husband as well as several amazing teachers who had taught and inspired me in my youth. I thought I would end up back in Cold Lake for about 6 months between living in England and moving to New Zealand. However, the paperwork process took longer than I anticipated and I ended up with a what turned out to be a too long stopover. On the positive side, I was really able to reconnect with my family after living abroad for a couple years. But the boredom of small town life in the middle of the cold prairies nearly drove me crazy. I couldn't wait to escape. I finally did in January 2009.
The winter of my departure was one of the worst ones in memory. The 6 weeks before getting on the plane to Auckland was a total deep freeze. Temperatures were in the minus 30s or 40s every single day. Very strangely, on the day in late January when my dad drove me to the airport to board my flight, the temperature did a complete turnaround and hit plus 20. Making the leap to the southern hemisphere (for the first time!) was an absolute delight as I was blessed with day after day of glorious sunshine. I quickly learned that there was something to this hole in the ozone thing and that 10 minutes without sunscreen was too much.
In the nearly 4 years (wow - where did the time go?!) since coming to New Zealand I have made the transformation from what I would consider a beginning teacher (since all I'd done was relief and short term stints here and there) to a confident, competent teacher of mathematics and statistics. I've taught in two schools and lived in 6 different houses with 22 different people. I have witnessed my baby sister become a mum. I've done some incredible travelling and diving in Australia, Fiji, Palau, Guam, the Philippines, Thailand, Samoa, Vanuatu, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Indonesia. I was crazy enough to have lasik in Bangkok so I no longer need to wear glasses. I've bathed tigers, rode elephants and fulfilled my dream of swimming with whale sharks. I've bungy jumped, skydived and gone hang gliding. I have really LIVED.
My life has changed a lot since March 31, 2008. I've probably had more adventures than many people do in a lifetime. But the most important thing of all is not where I've been or what I've done. It is that I am truly happy with my life. And that is worth reflecting on and being grateful for. Thanks for encouraging me to take the time to do that today. :)
I never expect anything less but am always astounded by the things you manage to pack into your life. I'm proud to say I was with you on the bungy-jumping bit and one day I'll dive somewhere just to say I did.
DeleteThanks for the comment! :)
You are responsible for the bungy jumping bit! I never would have done it without you. :)
ReplyDeleteYou do recall that you went first, right? :) I could've just backed out at the last minute. But I'm very glad I didn't...
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