My first housesitting assignment.

Today ended my first housesitting assignment, in Calgary. I spent 10 days living in Martin and Jenny's house while they were away in BC.
I took care of their two cats (as much care as one needs to take of a cat), ie. I fed them and made sure they didn't tear the house down, and in exchange I had a place to stay for free, which included a bed, a shower, a kitchen, etc. It was a great experience and I'd definitely do it again.
I know Martin and Jenny from before, having met them through the Western Canada Zeitgeist Convergence a few years back, and we had stayed in contact. This made it easier for both parties to make the necessary arrangement, as there were no trust issues involved and there was already an established friendship. I wonder if I should keep looking for more similar opportunities as I travel, to give myself an occasional break from camper living.
As far as I know, there are some websites where one can register for housesitting assignments, and though there is a membership fee involved, it might be worth the few dollars. On the other hand I could try to advertise my services for free, both on the internet and through my friend networks.

In the past 10 days I've spent a lot of time biking through Calgary, getting to know the city a bit, which was one of my main reasons for coming down here and deciding to spend close to a month in this city. Very early on I met a lovely lady on Tinder, and we quickly connected over slacklining and spiritual talk. Amy is a schoolteacher as well as a yoga instructor, and she dabbles in acro yoga and slacklining, which is one of my big passions. We've gone hiking to Kananaskis together, and I'm hoping we can go check out the Glenbow Museum together in the next few days.

Actually, speaking of slacklining, I had set up my line in front of the house a couple of days ago and at one point a van pulled up next to me and a woman with three little daughters and two young Korean ladies piled out and they proceeded to try the slackline. They invited me to join them at a pancake breakfast the next day, but I arrived at our agreed spot a few minutes too late, so I didn't find them. If any of them is reading this, I hope they weren't upset and perhaps our crosses will path again one day.

Today I biked down to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, but there isn't much to see there now as it's suffered quite a bit of damage from last year's floods and most of the trails are closed. I did chat with a few volunteers and checked out a woodpecker nest. I also had to get some personal closure from a previous relationship (it's a long story) by visiting Peter's Drive In, so I did that. It was disappointing, but at least now I don't ever have to go back there again.

Oh, and I have some landscaping work lined up for this week starting Tuesday! More on that later :)