take this longing

i’ve been thinking about winnipeg today. when I was 17 years old, i decided that it would be a good idea for me to ride my bicycle to winnipeg. i somehow managed to convince one of my best friends that she should do it with me. seeing that the longest ride that either of us had ever been on was about 50km, the concept of riding 1,500km should have seemed like a bad idea. it didn’t. we were both excited to be on our bikes for two weeks straight. excited to be out of vancouver. excited about the unknown.

at some point, i will post the journal entries that i wrote along the way. they still fucking crack me up.

anyway, i was thinking today about how living in winnipeg *felt* to me. maybe it was my age, the timing of the trip, the luck we had, the friends we made in random places - - - but everything felt so *possible* there. there were always people around who wanted to talk, play, eat, dance, construct, deconstruct, and go on small adventures. i found myself falling in love with everyone. i fell in love with straight-edge boys, with awkward waitresses, leonard cohen look-alikes, and a very special mennonite boy named neil dyck.

the drive home from winnipeg was sad. i still wonder what would have happened if i had stayed.

so that's what i have been thinking about today... falling in love in/ with winnipeg.