What I learn today by belle auld

That it takes less than 10 minutes to get to the ferry
but that doesn’t mean you’ll get on.
I don’t.
 
There is a one hour and 20-minute wait between ferries.
 
That it is best to sit in the front passenger seat
of my car
in the rain
    there’s more room to knit there.
 
That eating a can of kippered fish in a closed car in the rain is not a good idea.
 
That the kids who sit across from me
on the ferry
are Willow and Jake
Willow is five and Jake is seven.
I know this because they tell me.
 
That the ferry takes 30 minutes to cross Kootenay Lake.
 
That Jakes’s soccer jersey has the number 7 on the back
Jake’s soccer team had to play in the rain
and they lost
to kids who were younger than them.
 
That Willow had a seed wart removed from her foot in Nelson
and that it didn’t really hurt much.
 
They had cokes while they were in town
and Willow got a new dress
and Jake got new soccer shoes that his coach says will help him score a goal.
 
That their mother died in Calgary three years ago
maybe it was four.
 
That Willow is learning to knit a scarf that is turquoise
and her grandmother is going to knit her a hat to match
maybe gloves and pants too.
 
That the car smells even more like fish when I get back in.