Beauty And Exhaustion

There are times, moments really, when exhaustion simply flows over me, wiping away everything within me, stealing from me the ability to enjoy all that surrounds me, making the most beautiful of places simply uninteresting. The happened to me just about 15 minutes ago, in the midst of a day of exploration around some of the most beautiful landscape you can image. Now, even the act of typing seems inordinately difficult, my fingers stumbling over the keys, making a rough, correction filled attempt to scribe. Even the heels of my hands are tired, dragging across the base of my tablet.

The saddest part of this exhaustion is how it detracts for my setting. Here I am at Fairmont Hot Springs Lodge, a lovely hotel set amongst the pines and firs, perched beside one of Canada's largest mineral hot springs. The steam from those springs rises outside my window, drifting up into the tree branches, creating an almost mystical scene, something out of a fairy tale. It's warm outside, yet I am too tired to want to explore the hotel grounds, even with Katherine's willing help.

I slept well last night, not rising until noon. The lodge has been kind enough to change our breakfast coupons to lunch coupons once I explained my sleep and rest needs. Our wood paneled room overlooking the hot pools is near the elevator with easy access to the ski lodge type lounge and the full service restaurant. This morning we had lunch in the lounge, taking time to eat, enjoy the food, and soak in the feature wood and brick ambiance around us.

Perhaps it was our exploration in the truck. We drove up to Radium, ostensibly to check out their winter festival. In reality it was a drive to see what we could see, including the herd of Big Horn Sheep wandering their way through the middle of town, completely acclimatized to sharing their range with their human co-habitants. The sheep crossed the highway at the four way stop in the middle of town, waiting for traffic to come to a stop, as a good pedestrian should do. They, and the other locals, share the sidewalks and roads without concern or care that they are so different.

After Radium, we explored the small, alpine looking town of Invermere, its shops lining close to small sidewalks and narrow roads, both jammed with people enjoying a warm winter day here in the East Kootenays. We headed back to the hotel where Katherine needed quick access to our room. I waited a few minutes in the truck, and that's when the exhaustion hit. Instead of another two hours of exploring, we decided an afternoon rest was in order, at least for me.

I have enough energy to write, but not much more. After these few lines I am going to lay myself down and have a nap. I seem to do a fair bit of that these days, even in this most beautiful setting.