On Sunday, June 16, Vancouver puts on car-free day, where all the main streets, (including Main St.) are closed off to cars, in order to have a huge party on every block! On every street, there was a burst of excitement, music and folks hawking their wares, with warm faces greeting you, and an even warmer sun beating down on your body, melting you into the pavement. It was glorious! Walking around trying the cheap street food, as a 23-year-old dude, had to my favorite thing! The best part was, it was all vegetarian! ☺
I found my friend Sarah on Commercial Drive and we went up to her apartment on “The Drive” and made blueberry white tea, and chilled it with frozen blueberries, while chatting over yoga backgrounds. Yum! I met her dog Mattie too, who like all dogs, LOVED being pet by complete strangers.
After tea, we strolled up and down the Drive in search of good music, and harem pants! I WANT ‘EM! It was great discussing insanely deep ideals of what it means to be love, be of service and be more self-aware! After awhile we stumbled onto some folks with shirts off, having a contagious jamboree of music, excitement and yell/singing! We couldn’t help but join in! Mattie eventually wandered off, and after finding her, Sarah and I found the cheapest Thai food on the planet at a street food vendor! We walked to a nearby park to enjoy and lounge around! All-in-all, we spend five hours together, and I learned more about myself and Sarah, then I have in the past few weeks of being a recluse, and enjoying my self-development books!
I’ve decided car-free day is for sure a go next year! What a blast of over-stimulation, animals (dogs and otherwise), and warmth and cheers!
Cheers for being social!
Matt
Matt Cooke is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point majoring in health promotion/wellness and musical theater.