Sunday, August 10, 2014
ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Good Morning!
It is a few minutes past eleven o’clock on a beautiful sunny, summer morning. I am perched on top of a mountain, courtesy of the new and shiny Gondola that opened up earlier this Spring in my hometown.
The reason for my presence here is simple: I want to work for this company.
After 20 years of enticing, selling, organizing and hosting Adventure and Fun in our beautiful mountain town in British Columbia, I now need to be employed by someone / something other than myself. And this is a perfect fit. At least I think so.
I know how to present myself well, be it on the telephone, via e-mail and in the old-fashioned personal one-on-one interactions. I know how to combine professionalism with a relaxed attitude yet still maintain a highly organized, detail-oriented and “Job Well Done” manner.
I needed to ride the gondola in order to check out every possible facet of the operation so that I can storm the General Manager’s office tomorrow, or Tuesday, and convince him that I would be an incredible asset to have on their list of employees.
Courtesy of our wireless internet Hotspot (a plug for Rogers!), I am able to sit perched on a rock, off the main trail, looking out over Howe Sound, not being disturbed by anyone and blogging away. I am in heaven. I packed along the laptop, Ipad, camera, hotspot, home-made muffins and my new progressive-lensed eyeglasses. (A girlfriend in Orangeville was correct with her advice...don’t look down when walking down the stairs, or trails as the case may be. This has been a great opportunity on the well-maintained pathways up here for me to get used to the three sight-related distances in my glasses).
As I rode up from the base to Summit Lodge before 9:00am, with a gondola car to myself, I knew with absolute certainty that this is where I belong. It is beautiful, stunning, easy to access (next time I will hike to the top!), and offers the most magnificent views of Howe Sound, the Squamish Valley (yes, I live in Squamish, British Columbia), and the majestic Coastal Mountains.
I will bring with me enthusiasm, sophistication, discipline, a list of marketing contacts, my capability to succeed and a solid belief in what I would be selling: the Sea To Sky Corridor and the Squamish Valley. And the icing on the cake is that the Gondola opened this year on my birthday! Who could ask for a better indicator?
Back in the summer of 1987, I drove from Toronto to Banff to work for the summer. I had driven West with my parents the summer before and absolutely fell in love with The Rockies. After my first year at Ryerson University studying Business Management, I headed back to see what job(s) I could find. I found jobs, no problems there. On my days off however, I would drive and explore, and drive and explore. I could not get enough upon graduation in 1990, I promptly moved to Vancouver). On one trip I drove further west towards Radium. There was a sign at a look-out next to the highway that said: The Mountains Shall Bring Peace To The People. I stopped and took a picture of it. To this day, I firmly believe that statement.
With my husband, I learned to sail. He loves the ocean and had sailed as a child with his family in the Indian Ocean. Although I can fully appreciate the powers of the ocean (I love lying on a beach in a new bikini!), and we sailed with our three children for seven years in the Pacific, I must admit that my true love can be found in the mountains. It has been so since 1986 when I first laid eyes on The Rockies.
Now, I am not a fanatical mountain lady. I prefer to live at sea-level with little or no snow throughout the winter season. I cannot handle six months of snow on the ground. Yes, I love cross-country skiing (need to do more of that soon), and I love sledding with my children (now young adults), and I love playing in the snow when we see it here once or twice throughout the winter. I do love looking at snow-capped peaks, I just don’t want to live directly in the snowline. I like to wear shoes all year round!
But the mountains are where I find tranquility. It is in the mountains that I can breathe naturally. I am hoping to not sound “hokey” but everyone, I believe, has someplace where they feel completely comfortable. This is my comfortable place. The Mountains. And I am glad to be back amongst them.
Wow, music just started from the Summit Lodge area. I can’t see it but I can hear it: a group with a guitar and/or banjo and some pretty nice voices. Sounds great. A bit John Denver-ish, who I think is one of the greatest musicians ever. On the other side of the trail that faces towards the Squamish Valley, you can hear the warming-up of bands here for the Squamish Valley Music Festival. It really is the “Squamish Valley” festival as the entire valley can no doubt hear the music!
My two teenage sons thought I sounded a bit crazy yesterday when I described probably staying up here for several hours. I could quite happily remain up here until the last gondola downloads at 10 o’clock this evening. However, I did not pack my charging cables for my technological devices (what was I thinking?), so I will probably be returning home before dark.
This is what I am up to today. Watching chipmunks scurry about, the fantastic flash of blue as a Stellar’s Jay soars above the treeline, swallows dipping around the gondola car, woodpeckers, flickers, chickadees, and, I think, a ruby-crowned kinglet. Much to adore in nature.
I think next I will go to the Sea To Sky Gondola website and do some studying.
Have a great Sunday everyone.
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