Luck—A Product Of Judgment And Opportunity

Bicycling Halifax To Yarmouth
Aug. 1, ‘82

Bruce suggested I stay an extra day because of the rain, and I spent
much of it (after the rain quit) at the Citadel, a large fortress
built by the British to defend Halifax. I was still feeling the affect
of last night's hangover, so I spent part of the afternoon sleeping on
the pristine greens that surrounded the Citadel. After that I went
back to the Video Art Center where Bruce had his studio. He wasn't
there, but a lot of friendly people were, which made it easy for me to
find a comfortable place to read my book. Bruce finally showed up and
gave me the key to his apartment. With key in hand, I left with Major,
his dog, leading the way.

As far as I knew, Bill was still with his girlfriend, but after I
phoned him from the apartment, I found I was a bit misinformed. "I
haven't the faintest idea where Bill might be," the girl on the other
end of the phone said. Bill finally called me late in the evening. He
didn't stay with the girl he left the bar with. Instead, he met two
other ladies and took them out for drinks and dinner. Eighty dollars
latter, apparently, he was invited to spend the night with one of
them. Budget wise, Bill and I were worlds apart, and that bothered me.
On the phone, we made arrangements to meet and leave town in the
morning.

Over breakfast, Bill and I disagreed on routes. He wanted to bicycle
the south shore, a continuation of the beautiful scenery we had been
traveling through, while I wanted to take the valley route, which both
Bruce and another person I met on PEI (who lived in the valley) said
was a "must see." The distance to Yarmouth was the same in either
case, so we agreed to go our separate ways and meet in four days. We
would meet on the Yarmouth docks, and together board the ferry bound
for Maine. Our decision was a good one, but a couple of hours out of
Halifax I met Michelle, a female bicyclist out of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
She was also biking the Maritimes and was heading down the valley.
There was a mutual attraction between us, so we agreed to travel together.