Journey & Adventure

As I’m sure everyone is well aware, it’s been a long winter - everywhere.  Longer than usual in my opinion.  Here in Ontario, Canada “winter” started a bit later than is typical.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t tropical beach weather by any means for the months of November or December, but the real “winter” with the snow, blowing snow, ice pellets, more blowing snow and polar vortexes didn’t arrive until sometime in January.  But since January, it’s been constant cold, little sun, snow and wind.  It’s been a never-ending story of misery - for me at least. Having said that, I see the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel”.  Slowly but surely, we’ve had a few warmer days, a little more sunshine and only trace amounts of snow.  I’m still wearing my winter coat, but I have now given up my winter boots for shoes.  Seems like a minor detail, but for me, it’s a BIG deal. There have been other signs of Spring in the air (m...

Today was our first walk on the beach for the season in Canada.  We started out with hats and gloves, but by the end of our 4 mile round-trip, we were toastsy (actually sweaty) and the sun was shining brightly.  There is still a lot of ice on the lake and it will likely be there for a few more weeks before the open water reaches the shore, but it was a wonderful, sunny day.  It's been a long, hard winter for sure. The beachcombing was also fantastic and I was able to collect a few treasures that had been uncovered by the winter winds and receding water.  Here is one photo of a large purple, frosted piece.   Purple is said to one of the rarest of colors, needless to say, I was super-excited to find it.

By March, signs of Spring have usually begun to make their appearance – warming temperatures, melting snow, longer days and more sunshine.  Such is not the case this year – winter is not letting go.  Unless you can count the Canada geese that are honking outside my office window and the smell of skunk in the air – those are the only signs that Spring may be in our future.   We have now officially had almost 5 months of below freezing temperatures. No joke!  I plan on burning all of my winter sweaters when Spring finally arrives.  Yes, I know I’ll need them next year, but I’ll worry about that then.  They are gone!  No joke there either.  I hate them sooo much.   I’ve packed on enough pounds this winter to easily get me through the next 3 winters.  I don’t even care. The last thing I’m thinking about is exercising or salads.  Comfort foods are the only things on my mind.  I’ll worry about weight loss in the Spri...

Over the course of the past month, I’ve taken the following series of photos of the wildlife here surrounding my work building. We actually are located in the middle of the city, but on a large landscaped property with beautiful courtyards and a manmade pond out front - a perfect haven for some wildlife. Can you spot the kildeer?  She made her nest amongst the tiny pebbles/gravel.  I would walk by her every morning and would have a hard time finding her. The large planters typically make great nests for the Canada Geese; however this year our custodian decided to kybosh the idea and strategically placed sticks in the majority of the planters. If you look closely you can see a planter in the background with the sticks. This goose however was one step ahead. Then, last week...I came to work to see this little surprise.  She had 6 babies (goslings). Then by the next day...they were moving out of the planter, into the world beyond. Da...

Well as you can imagine, being from Canada – I have more than my fair share of experiences with Canada Geese. Most of them, not pleasant. Canada Geese are somehow a symbol for Canada. A symbol for what, I’m not sure. They are an obnoxious bird, they honk, hiss and leave piles of unpleasantness everywhere. They are also mean-spirited and will attack you if you get to close to their babies. Hmmm, is that what Canadians are like? Perhaps. Anyhow, with Spring in full swing, the geese are everywhere and so are their goslings (no, not Ryan). As a courtesy, cars will typically stop (even on busy streets) in order for the geese and their babies to cross the road. I don’t like the birds, but I’m not a cold blooded killer either. So, this morning I was almost to work and when I spot momma goose with her brood at the side of the road looking for an opening in traffic. I slow my car to allow her and her seven babies to begin their trek across the four land road. By this time, traffi...

Spring is upon us and this is what I've found in my garden yesterday.   Have a great weekend!  I'm super stoked - it's a long weekend here in Canada...whooo hooo! 

Okay, part of any healing process is to admit there is a problem in the first place, so I’ll admit it - this Winter kicked my ass and then kicked it again just for good measure.     So, now onto the healing part…   This past weekend was gorgeous – the sun was shining, the grass was greening, the birds were singing, the weather was warm enough to say “bye bye winter sweaters”.   I was able to open up the windows and let the fresh air blow throughout the house.   In the evening, we were serenaded by the frogs and toads waking up from their long winter slumber.      Heaven…   I could literally feel the cobwebs blowing from my mind while I sat basking in the sun on our deck with an ice cold beer in hand yesterday afternoon.     All is right with the world again…   Thanks to everyone for listening to my bitching and moaning these past months – it was much appreciated.

Canada Goose Shit on the Sidewalks – Canadian Geese are simple vermin in the eyes of Canadians. We are overrun by them.   Thanks to global warming, they no longer “fly south”.   Nope, instead they prefer to save their energy and hang around during the winter and breed.     As soon as the weather warms slightly, they seem to appear and are everywhere.     Thanks to urban sprawl, geese have moved into many city neighborhoods.   They choose to nest in the oddest spots – including the shrubbery surrounding the building where I work.     If you haven’t had the pleasure of a run in with a Canada Goose, let me say this - they are mean-spirited and nasty and love to attack the unsuspecting.   Oh, and they are indiscriminate poop machines.       When the hissing and honking starts, you better start running or swinging or both.   I’ve seen them dent car doors and break car mirrors.   I prefer the cursing, pu...

As Spring is in full swing and summer is just around a corner or two, flowers are blooming and I’m fondly reminded of my childhood…seems like just yesterday… As a youth restlessness hounded me, as did the need to seek out adventure. Who am I kidding? Restlessness still hounds me, as does my need for adventure, but as I’ve grown older, I typically stop for a moment, albeit a brief moment to contemplate the consequences of my actions. As a youth however, the “consequence of my actions filter” malfunctioned frequently. I don’t start out looking for adventure; however deep down inside, I have the internal desire to find it or perhaps I’m unconsciously willing it to find me. Most would think my saving grace was that I lived in a rural area and the lack of population curbed by ability to find trouble – not the case. If I couldn’t find it within spitting distance, I would simply hitch a ride to town, saddle up my ride or gas up my motorcycle. On the rare occasion, I w...

After 5 long months, it was finally time to have my snow tires removed today. Yeah! I can't tell you how GREAT it feels to know that the snow has finally moved on - at least for another 6-7 months. In celebration of Spring, I'm heading to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Would that be considered ironic?

The weekday has begun as it typically does. Four-thirty a.m., I reach up to close the window above my bed. The crack of dawn hasn’t even cracked yet, it’s still dark, but the birds haven’t seemed to have picked up on that and are busy singing a freakin tune to whoever might be listening. “Stupid birds, spring is an overrated season”, I mumble to myself as I settle back into the pillow. Five-twenty a.m., alarm goes off. Fortunately, my husband’s swift movement has temporarily silenced the perky, caffeine-induced morning show hosts. The snooze button is a wonderful invention, although merely a band-aid solution intended to buy us ten more minutes before we have to drag our sorry butts out of bed. Actually, it’s only my sorry butt that requires dragging anywhere. My husband is a morning person (stupid man). It’s also a good thing he’s a morning person and has fearlessly taken on the task of getting my ass moving in the morning. Without him, I’d be unemployed. ...