BLOGG # 64 A GHOSTLY EXPERIENCE

A ghostly experience.  Today, as it was a brisk autumn day, I decided to take my car out for a drive and chose the coastal route along Dallas road to Ogden Point. Even though it was almost noon there were remnants of fog still in the air. Autumn on the west Coast and especially in Victoria is the harbinger of fog. It starts on clear days in late afternoons and deepens giving us lovely melancholic evenings to satisfy the most romantic of souls and often lingers until late the next morning before it starts to burn off. So if you are flying into or out of Victoria during this time, dear readers, keep that in mind as planes are often grounded because of it. But I digress. This morning was typical and as I meandered along the Dallas road the fog was just lifting. I parked at the quay and got out. As I shut the door I looked up and there she was out in the harbour –a two mast tall ship in full sail - a ghost ship in the fog.  I was immediately plunged into a Robert Louis Stevenson world with London docks, rogues and pirates swearing and cursing and rollicking crowds of sailors, the air exotically pungent with the aroma of spices, coffee, refuse and rats. Then the fog lifted and I could see her standing there in all her glory. The sea was silver and serene, the sky was silver and serene and she was silver and serene - a majestic sight. I stood there enthralled. Suddenly the still ocean was pierced by a determined head and a long wake. A seal was coming to shore. The spell was broken. I was pulled rudely back to my time, the rogues and pirates, aromas and smells disappearing and I was again on my familiar marine coast along with ordinary seals, screaming gulls and egrets. Was I sorry to be back? Of course I was. Who wouldn’t rather be in a Robert Louis Stevenson world? On the other hand, though I know I can fit into the most challenging situations with élan, I am not so very sure about rogues, pirates and rats so I  happily walked along the quay greeting my fellow walkers with a cheery good morning just as all good Victorians do.