Getting pots with Vi

Spring just started and my monstera was terribly rootbound. My internet friends swore by Figaro's so I planned to head there for a 10" pot. I'd also just started talking to Vi online, and thought: why not meet up for the first time over an errand run? It'd be fun!

We met on Commercial, grabbing brunch at a place I can't remember and headed over to the garden centre. We browsed for a bit. Vi asked questions about what things were and why. I answered with too much confidence for someone only a few years into keeping plants.

It took 10 mins to find a pot I wanted for my monstera, and 5 more for me to decide whether to get an extra one (for Morris, my Guiana Chestnut). That second bit might be because there were two pairs of hands. We left the place lugging large grey pots in both hands and-

wanna keep talking?

yeah! let's keep walking

This was our first time meeting 1-on-1 so there was much to talk about: how we ended up in Vancouver, some of the things we like to do, relationship drama (one of my favourites), the full gamut. Our conversation kept getting interrupted by one of us noticing something on the street.

Wait, have LIME bikes always been everywhere?

A black cat in the bushes by N Grandview Hwy. Vi went right up to it. I could only admire enviously from a distance.

Can't walk through the neighbourhood without appreciating the woodland trees-I assume-it's named for, and some stubborn Mediterranean spurges pushing through construction fencing.

It wouldn't be East Vancouver without some quirky artefacts about. We saw an automobile that brought back childhood memories for both of us.

We had never intended to walk this long. Plan was to grab brunch, pick up a pot (now two), and head out. But here we were, looping the neighbourhood, each hugging a big grey pot.

This was unfortunately also the day I'd decided to break in new Birkenstocks (oops!). I'd felt the pain insidiously building but was too distracted by good conversation with a cool person. An hour and a half in, my feet were screaming!

We gave up somewhere along E 8th Ave, dropping right there at the bend of the sidewalk without a care (no one was really walking this area, to be fair)

Ha, you know this is my first time doing this?

She said it smiling, looking way too comfortable criss-cross apple saucing on concrete with a pot in her lap for this to be her first time. Her eyes wandered up to the canopy blotting the clear sky.

I followed her gaze up into the leaves, swishing in a soft breeze, and felt that quiet satisfaction of an errand run that became something more.

mmm, yeah