Starting Anew

Something needed to change.

I could not hold on to the dream of her any longer and look at myself in the mirror with integrity and self-respect.

I had to let go.

I did let go.

Tonight.

I went for dinner with her.  Biercraft.  Then we walked around False Creek, and near the Rogers Arena I said it.

Goodbye.

Tomorrow a new day begins.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have Mercy on me a Sinner!

Yo-Yo

One year ago I wrote the following words here:

As short as 3 or 4 months ago we were still quite close, perhaps too close, too emotionally tied, but in recent weeks I've noticed that she's become increasingly distant.  This hurts, because I haven't moved on yet, and I fear that she has.

This past year has been a relentless confirmation of the last sentence in the paragraph above.

Yesterday's dinner with her at Katzenjammer went well, but as in the last couple of visits, I end up a miserable man afterwards.  Not necessarily because of any nasty words said by one person or the other, but because of the slow realization after our visit that things are very different than they used to be.  Like a yo-yo, my emotional barometer goes up and down, from hot to cold, from elation to depression within minutes.

Katzenjammer, however, proved once again a worthy candidate for top 3 favourite restaurants in Vancouver.  Here's to a good plate of schnitzel, bratwurst, and rotkohl.  Oh and yes, a Hefeweizen too, please.

My Second Home

Another day in Vancouver, another lunch at Al Watan.  It's pretty much my second home.

Khalid, hospitable as ever, came out to welcome us, asked if the food's ok, and offered us tea.

Pictured below: James, Katherine Marie, Rosanna, and moi.

I don't have the energy to write about it now, but I went out for dinner with Jennifer today also.  I will write about it tomorrow.

Back To The Grind!

Yesterday we arrived in Abbotsford, after a few days in Penticton with family.

Early afternoon today I made my way further west still, to Vancvouver, where I met up with Hugh, Claudia, and Mark.  Together the 4 of us hiked up Grouse Mountain.

Actually, rewind a bit, because before meeting up with friends, I visited my good friend Khalid at Al Watan at lunch.  While there, I ate the lunch special.  Heavenly food.

After the hike we ate dinner atop Grouse Mountain.  Did I say something about eating too much a few days ago while still in Penticton?  Nevermind...

It's interesting how we grow accustomed to things.  When I was first introduced to this hike, oh, 14 years ago, I was stunned to find out that people actually voluntarily "hike" up this mountain, and not only that, they do it frequently, like, 3-5 times per week!  It's such a relentless climb!

For a few years I fought my way up the mountain, exerting not only physical but also psychological punishment on myself, but for the past 5 years, this hike has become such a part of me that I feel a massive gap in my life when I'm unable to hike it.

Indoor soccer in the prairie winter is no match for a good climb up snowy Grouse.

Most prairie hikes in the summer cannot compete with a climb up the Grind in July.

I'm at Ruth and Marty's now.  I'll be staying with them until Saturday.  They're amazing hosts.

Waffles, Pictures, Canals, More Pool-Time, And Some Risk

Making waffles for breakfast.  I think on most days, waffles are my favourite breakfast, especially when accompanied by vanilla pudding sauce and fruits!

A family picture just before dinner.

Today's highlight, however, was going on the channel.  I've taken the inner tube ride down the canal about 4-5 times now, and I never get sick of it.  Today, surprisingly, I had a great theological discussion with Terence.  Dylan too, was present, and although he didn't say very much, just having him along for the conversation was a treat.  So cool!

I spent some more time by poolside, desperately hoping to even out the "tan".

After dinner I took the whole nephew-gang for our traditional ice cream outing at Gilligan's.  Actually, I exercised great self restraint - I admit - and didn't get an ice cream for myself.  I felt bloated: done lots of eating not only this weekend, but I think since last weekend when I went to Cypress Hills I've been eating more than usual.

Finally, we ended the day with a great game of Risk.  Ted, Dylan, Neal, Terence, and I fought each other tooth and nail.  In the end, Neal and I were on top of the world. 

Gifts, Walks, Balls, Smoothies, and Red Faces

Gifts: shortly after waking up this morning I gave Ralph his (belated) birthday present.  See picture below.  As usual - and this is what I love about the new Ralph - he got quite emotional.  There is something really appealing and refreshing, even humbling, about his way of being after the accident.  He's always genuine, always transparent: if he's happy, tears of joy stream down his face; if he's sad, tears of sadness flow.

If only we lived in a world where it would be ok to bear our souls before one another....

Walks: Ralph wanted to go to Walmart.  I didn't.  But I did want to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner.  So we made a deal: we walk together to Walmart and to the liquor store.  The walk there was good - no complaints.  Even Walmart was ok, although signs of fatigue were become evident.  But picking up a bottle of wine on the way back proved to be a challenge.  He complained of pain in his legs.  The woman at the checkout noticed his agitation, so while I went and picked up a bottle, she entertained him.  Here are roughly the first few sentences that were exchanged between the two:

Ralph: Do you speak Spanish?  

Her response: No.

Ralph: Do you speak any other language?

Woman: Nope.  Just English.

Ralph: Really?  Just English?

Woman: Yes.

Ralph: I speak 3 languages: Español, alemán, e inglés.

Woman: (confused) What?

Ralph: (laughs) Sorry.  Spanish, German, and English.

Woman: Are you trying to show me up here?
Ralph: What?
Woman: Are you trying to make me feel bad?

Ralph: (uncontrollable laughter) No.

From across the room, I smiled at them both.  I was thankful that this woman was gracious to "play along" with Ralph's power game.  It seems to me that so much has been taken away from Ralph in the past 3 years, that he feels that one of the only things he still has left in terms of "competing" with others is the language game: many Canadians don't speak more than one language, and this is an area he can "show someone up" in.  Bravo Ralph.

After I picked out a bottle of wine, we began our 10-minute walk back to the hotel.  It was a painful journey, literally.  Evidently he has a lot of pain in his legs still, because he used just about every Spanish swearword that I know of - and some that I didn't - to express his displeasure at the length of our walk.

Balls: early in the afternoon we went to the Skaha Lake beach.  Our aim was to play beach volleyball, but it was way too windy.  As an alternative (in my view, a better one anyways), we played fútbol instead, in a grassy area protected from the wind by some big shaded trees.

Man I'm out of shape...  But it was great fun.

Smoothies: I took my nephews and nieces out to a local farm that makes to-die-for berry smoothies.

 And the Sun: yes, I did have about 45-60 minutes of time to squeeze in a few minutes pool-side.

After taking the picture below I felt pretty good about myself, and sent the pitcture to my friend Tati in Brasil.  I thought .. you know .. sun, warmth, sunglasses, relaxing, all that good stuff.  Surely she'd come back with a comment like "Nice .. enjoy the hot weather" or "Wish I could take time off work too", but no, instead, I got: "How come your face and neck is so red, and your chest so white?"

Nice.

Thanks.

Next time I'm thinking of tanning I'll just keep my shirt on.

On The West Coast ... Again

It's been a long time since I've travelled so much in one year.  I think I'd have to go all the way back to 1999-2001, when I was traveling all over North America for HRIS training.

So far this year, I've traveled:

January: Vancouver - Regina and return

February: Vancouver - Saskatoon

March: Regina - Abbotsford and return

May: Regina - Calgary and return

and June/July: Regina - Abbotsford and return

Add to these trips my current itinerary: Regina - Abbotsford and return (including a Vancouver - Penticton flight)

Granted, none of these trips are long or far, but still, it seems that more or less once a month I pack my bags to fly somewhere.  Good thing I enjoy traveling...

So, I just arrived in Penticton, where I will spend a few days with family, before driving back to Vancouver with them and spend some more time there with family and friends.

Cypress Hills ... Again

I'm not sure how I'd have made it through these past 6 months without my weekly hiking routine.

Thank you Lord for providing the opportunities to get outside of myself, breathe the fresh air, walk the grounds, and see this beautiful land. Amen.

Food In Due Season

I've been a witness to Psalm 145:16 this summer:

"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season."

June 8: small potato plant.

June 17: peas and onions.

June 25: plot N2.  On the right, onions and peas; to the left potatoes (and watermelons, although not visible); above the potatoes are green beans and zucchini, and to the right of the zucchini is corn.

July 10: zucchini and green beans at the bottom left; corn right above it; potatoes at the bottom right.

July 15: lush growth.

July 23: First zucchini harvested.

August 3: first green beans, peas, and onions harvested.  More zucchini.  Watermelon's looking good, about the size of a softball.

August 12: Corn's looking great.  Watermelon's now the size of a futsal.  Zucchini's a size 12 men's shoe.

August 15: Days are getting shorter.  Picture taken at 8:20pm today.
 

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable." - Psalm 145:3.

Camping And Hiking Cypress Hills

Another weekend of hiking.  This time to the Hills at Cypress.

Three of us - John, Luke and I - left early yesterday morning, around 9am, and arrived there shortly after noon.  We parked our cars, ate lunch, put on our hiking gear and started hiking, covering around 10 kms in total.  The difficulty level was moderate and the weather was warm and sunny (24C).  But damnit, I lost my sunglasses again.  I think I've probably lost 10 pairs in the last 5 years!

After the hike, we found our camping spot and got ourselves setup.  I could get into this camping thing .. it was great fun.  But not being able to take a shower after a long hike is a definite drawback...

Next, we gathered wood, chopped it up, made a fire, and then cooked a delicious dinner.  I brought some good Spanish tempranillo wine, which went nicely with the food, but it did affect my energy levels on the hike today.  Note to self... 

I slept well though, and this morning drank a nice coffee, before heading out again for another walk.  Today we covered a more challenging distance, 17 kms.

Around 4pm, Luke and I packed our tents and made our way back home.  John stayed behind.  He has this next week off work, and has decided to spend it on the hiking trails.

I look forward to coming back here again soon.  In fact, the plan is to come here next weekend, with more hikers.  This time, though, we're going to stay in a townhouse.

Hiking Claybank

Went hiking today, on this, my first Saskatchewan Day in the province.

It wasn't a difficult hike, by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact it was too easy and too short.  But it was still good to get out there.  We hiked the surrounding area of what used to be a brick production plant. 

Actually, the best part today had little to do with hiking.

For one, they offer tours of the old production plant, so it was interesting to see the plant in virtually the same shape as it was when it shut down production in 1989.

As well, they serve great sakatoon berry pie at the "Brickhouse" coffee shop adjacent to the plant.  With ice cream, of course...