ethicle

I thought I had published this post a long time ago but I see now that I just saved it as a draft. Oops!

For those who are interested, there is a search engine called Ethicle that operates the same way Google does, but it apparently donates one cent each time you do a search. As far as I can tell, the results are the same as what you would find on Google or Yahoo.

Think about using it and/or setting it up as your home page.

The Lords Prayer

I was listening to CBC radio this morning (up here in Orillia we get "Ontario Morning Today") and there was a segment on the Lord's Prayer being read in the Ontario Legislature. I sent an email to the CBC (and to my MPP who was one of the interviewees) after hearing the segment, and thought I'd share it with the world...

What do YOU think?

********************************************************************

Hi there,

I’m emailing in response to your story this morning about the Lords Prayer in the Ontario Legislature.

Both interviewees on the program repeatedly referred to this as “Dalton McGuinty’s thing” and stated that they have better things to be doing with their time and our money….

This sort of disdain is a way of minimizing what is actually a very interesting issue. I want to point out that, regardless of Dalton McGuinty’s own motivation behind this (which I’m not myself convinced are purely altruistic), it’s still important to think about this issue. Just because people/constituents don’t complain about something that’s happening, doesn’t make it ok. The fact is, this province is incredibly diverse – in ethnic, linguistic, and religious terms (not to mention many other types of diversity), and I would hazard a guess that this level of diversity is not even remotely represented in the legislature. I would also hazard a guess that many Ontarians (like myself) did not even realize that the Lords Prayer was read in the Ontario Legislature.

I’m a social work student and I’m doing some research on Hospice services and how they are responding to ethno-cultural diversity in their communities. It’s not like people are out there pointing fingers at Hospices saying – you’re not serving us, you’re discriminating, etc. But just because people aren’t complaining, doesn’t mean we can ignore the fact that this type of service is primarily being utilized by people of Canadian-born, white-Euro, Christian backgrounds. Without spending the time and money, and without allowing ourselves to feel a little bit “uncomfortable” in the process, this discrepancy could continue unnoticed for decades or longer. But that doesn’t make it right. Similarly, with the reading of the Lords Prayer in the Ontario Legislature, we could continue ignoring this imbalance for many years to come, but that doesn’t make the practice of reading it “right”. In societies like ours that are primarily “governed” by one dominant ethno-cultural group, I think there is a danger of leaving something like this “as is” because it costs too much to explore the issue, to do something about it, and let’s be honest - because what we’re doing suits us fine and no one else has noticed it yet.

In my experience, when something like this has “always been done”, it requires some serious critical reflection (which often leads to discomfort) in order to actually recognize it as an issue, and then to follow that recognition with action geared towards making a change. I’m not saying that the Lords Prayer should or should not be read. I’m simply saying that I think the process of review and public consultation is a valuable one, and that those who are involved should give it some more thought before disparaging it on provincial radio.

As humans, I truly believe we need to start thinking about WHY we do what we do, rather than just blindly assuming that it’s the “right” way of doing things. Because blind belief in certain ways of being and living and doing – that is how discrimination begins...

Regards,

A.S.
Orillia, ON

Hike for Hospice

I have registered to participate in the Hike for Hospice on Sunday May 4th, with Alliance Hospice as my chosen beneficiary.


Sponsoring me in the Hike, and helping to support Alliance Hospice, is as simple as clicking on this link!

Alliance Hospice is an organization dedicated to supporting people dealing with advanced illness, death and bereavement. In the client's home and community, our volunteers and staff provide practical, emotional and spiritual support in collaboration with family caregivers, health care providers and community support agencies. Alliance Hospice is the result of the merger of Bayview Community Hospice with CommunityCARE Home Hospice. The two agencies have been serving the people of Toronto since 1990 and have provided care to almost 6000 people over the last 18 years. This year, the hospice will care for almost 500 people with a life-threatening illness or bereavement.


Alliance Hospice provides its services free of charge to the people they serve, so the hospice relies on donations from individuals, community organizations, corporations and special events like the Hike for Hospice 2008. All of the money you donate will go to support the people for whom Alliance Hospice provides care.

Thanks so much for doing what you can to help me reach my fundraising goal of $1000... just click here.

Hana-mi

I've been incredibly nostalgic for Japan this past year. In June 2007, I celebrated my ten year anniversary of flying to Japan. When I was living there (June 1997-August 1999) I filmed two videos of daily life and some special events. Those videos have provided several hours of entertainment for me over the past couple of months!

In one of the videos, I filmed myself at calligraphy class (me with a roomful of 10 year olds writing the most basic Kanji with big paint brushes) and then filmed the final results of my work that day. It was the Kanji for "Hana-mi" which means Flower Viewing....and refers to the time of year when the cherry blossoms (in Japanese they are called Sakura) bloom throughout the country. Here is a photo of my Kanji from that day (the orange circles are the stamp of approval from the teacher meaning "good job". Usually it took me 20-30 attempts before receiving that honour!):


I realized the other day, that it's Hana-mi season in Japan right now! In the part of Japan where I lived (on the island of Kyushu, in a town called Saga), the cherry blossom parties usually started towards the end of March, and continued into early April (the further north you go, the later they bloom...the most northern parts of Japan celebrate in early May I believe). The reason of the season, so to speak, is to celebrate the coming of spring by gathering with family, friends and/or co-workers in the parks, under the trees, to admire the beautiful flowers......and to drink lots of alcohol....

Ha.

But seriously, the flowers are stunning so I thought I'd share some photos from this site.

no more manicures...

...well, not for a while anyway.

Last night I got home from my Monday class at York, and I guess I was in a state of distraction (the class always makes my head explode) because when I went to close the garage door behind me, I managed to get my thumb caught in one of the hinges as it closed. Much screaming and crying ensued and poor Chris didn't even know what the problem was, besides the problem of me going berserk. It really really hurt. A lot. At first glance, I thought my thumb was actually crushed...broken...coming off my hand...but once I calmed down I realized it was just the tears blurring my vision and that yes, it was bleeding, bruised and swelling up...but no, it was not going to detach from the rest of my hand!

Needless to say, I am now working on a "9 finger" typing style (watch for patents soon) and have a short reprieve from doing the dishes :)

Here's a visual....




Note to self: Garage doors in Orillia are dangerous!

Social work at York University

Here's a link to an online article about Masters of Social Work students at York University. It's called MSW students promote social change and I'm one of the students featured!

having cats can be a nice distraction from BOREDOM

I never EVER thought I would catch myself, in the middle of my Masters degree, saying that I'm bored out of my tree.

But that's what I'm saying.

The short version of the story is: The degree is designed so that students do the majority of their coursework in the fall, and then they work more independently in the winter doing a) a research project and b) a work placement. The research project requires ethics approval from the university, which usually comes through in late January/early February. I received my ethics approval about 2 weeks ago and have begun to contact participants to schedule interviews etc. Exciting...but no great rush. As long as I'm done my interviews by the end of March all should be well.

The big frustration has been that my work placement completely fell through....twice...before I even got started. The majority of my colleagues started in the second week of January, so I am more than a month behind them in terms of getting my 400 hours done. Sigh. And, there's nothing I could have done about it. I spent the entire month of January waiting for the school and the agency where I was supposed to work to get their act together...which never happened. We officially pulled the plug on that arrangement at the end of Jan, and then I started calling around to see if anyone else would take me on (in a hurry). The good news is, I have secured another placement, but am still waiting to actually start.

So, in the absence of deadlines and stress, I am being pleasantly distracted by my 2 new cats! I'd like to introduce them to the world at large:

This is me with Clarence. He is orange (!) and these days he's sneezing a lot.


This is Owen. He is super skinny and he talks a lot - especially when he's in the litter box.


The blue sky is inviting me out to play...a rare experience this winter. I'm going for a walk before it gets dark!

klompengirl

For those who don't know what the name of my blog means, let me explain.

Klompen = wooden shoes worn by crazy Dutch folk

Girl = human of the female variety

ergo,

Klompengirl = a chick with a pair of clogs

That's me!! My dad was born in the Netherlands (note: the Netherlands does not = Holland). Which makes me, by default, a Dutchie.



Actually, he was born in a province called Friesland where they speak Frisian, not Dutch. But that's another story.

Given this heritage, I took it upon myself to get my own pair of klompen, so I asked my Uncle Bill to bring a pair over some years ago. He must have chosen the ugliest pair of klompen in all of Friesland. Wouldn't you agree? (...yes, those are horse heads...)



But, lucky for me, my lovely cousin Mary Simon Stenekes, took pity on me and bought me another pair of (way cooler) klompen for Christmas. These ones are slippers!



How cool is that?
I am stoked. I have my very own pair of klompen slippers.

For my more "cultured" readers, here's some information about an art exhibit featuring klompen, as pictured below.



And just to make you laugh, here's a video of some crazy Dutch folk dancing in their klompen (32 seconds).

ringing in the new year - in proper annalise fashion

yessssss, what year would be complete without annalise falling on her keister now and then? as luck would have it, i managed to sneak in one more classic fall on Dec 31st. chris was busy taking these pictures while I fell, rather than helping me up...and he enjoyed them so much afterwards that I thought I'd post them for the whole world to see. for those interested in details, we were snowshoeing in the "bush" behind the family house in Bancroft.

1) a bit nervous as i start down the hill. concentrating hard on not falling.



2) concentrating more. pretty confident that i'm going to make it. if i can just concentrate...a little...harder...



3) WHAM! there it is.



Sigh. This, and then I got beat by Chris' dad at cribbage just before midnight too. Let's hope I got all the bad luck out of the way and cleared a path for all the good luck to come in 2008!

for other funny showshoeing pictures, have a look at this post .

passing the time in orillia

wow. i'm 4 days shy of 2 months without blogging. if i'm not careful, i might get kicked out of blogdom. Hmmm. i suppose going to grad school and moving house are enough to keep one occupied for awhile. so, i've been living in Orillia for almost 3weeks now and it already feels like a lifetime! ha. i'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. the move went well, as did the "end of term" drama that consisted of 3 papers due in one week...except the prof extended the deadline on the last one so I officially finished my term on Dec 6. My next deadline is Jan 8 - for my research proposal. So i'm working on that in dribs and drabs, but won't get too stressed about it until after the new year.

with no school and no work, you may wonder what i've been up to these past couple of weeks in orillia? well, besides the usual unpacking, sorting, resorting, and hanging of things on walls....i've also been going for a nice long walk almost every day, have been working on some things for christmas (uber-time consuming!), and as per usual, have been spending lots of time in the kitchen....which brings me to today's post. i have found a truly amazingly delicious salad dressing recipe, and i just had to share.

It's called Jana's Famous Herb Dressing (from How it all Vegan, p. 77).

1/4 flax or hemp oil
4 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (or parmesan cheese for non vegans)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (I used 2 tsp dried thyme)
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped (I used 2 tsp dried rosemary)
1 tsp fresh oregano, diced (I used 1/2 tsp dried oregano)
1 tbsp sesame seeds (I used 2 tsp)

Whisk together in a bowl, or put ingredients in a jar and shake it up.

Presto!!! A very yummy salad dressing. The recipe book also says you can use it as a topping for rice, but I haven't tried that yet.

Pumpkin Bread (and procrastination)

Two of my favourite activities are baking, and procrastinating....and what better time to combine both activities than when you have a paper due?! You can all rest easy, the paper is as done as it's ever going to be, so now I have time to post a recipe to help YOU all procrastinate too :) For all those who think vegan cooking/baking is boring, let me introduce you to my favourite recipe for...

Pumpkin Bread, from “the complete vegan kitchen” by Jannequin Bennett (p. 259) This is how it turns out, and it is SOOOO yummy! I still have a few slices left if anyone wants to come by for a visit. PS. The plate it's resting on was made by yours truly!


You need a blender/food processor, a sifter, and a loaf pan to make this recipe.

2 Tbsp Flaxseeds
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (you can use mashed sweet potato instead)
½ cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (I just used ALL whole wheat flour and it turned out fine)
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ ground cloves
(you can replace the last 3 spices with 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice)

Use a 9-inch loaf pan, coat with oil or spray
Use blender/food processor to blend the flaxseeds with 6 Tbsp of water until light and frothy
Whisk together flaxseed mixture with sugar, pumpkin and applesauce
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices into the wet ingredients
Mix well
Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350F for 1hr – 1hr 15 min.

sexy annalise

i'm not sure how many of you are aware of my Australian alter-ego. A few years ago, in a bout of egotistical curiosity, I googled my first name and I got a LOT of hits (don't remember the number I found back then, but today I did it again and it's 509,000!). Near the top of the list is Annalise Braakensiek who is an Australian model. It seems that she mainly models swimsuits, lingerie, fashion wear, and her own skin....and it's obvious that she is one sexy woman, with a lot of fans. Needless to say, I didn't think I had a lot in common with her!!!

BUT, yesterday I found a connection when I was searching online for information re: being vegan and knitting. I started following a vegan diet last winter, not long after learning how to knit. At first, I wasn't too concerned about the 'other side' of being vegan, namely, what I wear and what products I use on my body. I made a conscious decision to concentrate first on what I'm putting IN my body, and I vowed to start investigating the other issues within a year. The end of that year is fast approaching, and as the weather turns colder, I am beginning to pick up the knitting needles more often, so..... I decided to start the next stage of my vegan evolution by snooping around to find out what I should know about knitting (in which one mostly uses sheep's wool) as it relates to being vegan. Indeed, I learned that this industry is not free from the difficult issue of animal cruelty. Quite the opposite, actually. I found a website called Save the Sheep, and this photo of a very nude Annalise Braakensiek with a rescued lamb. Turns out we have something in common after all...



I also learned that there are many alternatives to wool for those who love to knit. Alternatives include "cotton, cotton flannel, polyester fleece, synthetic shearling, and other cruelty-free fibers. Tencel—breathable, durable, and biodegradable—is one of the newest cruelty-free wool substitutes. Polartec Wind Pro—made primarily from recycled plastic soda bottles—is a high-density fleece with four times the wind resistance of wool that also wicks away moisture." I've also seen bamboo wool for sale at Lettuce Knit a store that sells exclusively organic wool, as well as wool alternatives.

A photo of Bamboo Wool from Lettuce Knit.

Here are some excerpts from Save the Sheep, and I warn you, this information is disturbing:

--It may come from a sheep, goat, or Tibetan antelope. It may be called "wool," "mohair," "pashmina," "shahtoosh," or "cashmere." But no matter what it's called, any kind of wool causes harm to the animals from whom it is taken.

--Many people believe that shearing sheep helps animals who might otherwise be burdened with too much wool. But without human interference, sheep grow just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes. The fleece provides effective insulation against both cold and heat. Shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast work without regard for the welfare of the sheep. Says one eyewitness: "[T]he shearing shed must be one of the worst places in the world for cruelty to animals...I have seen shearers punch sheep with their shears or their fists until the sheep's nose bled. I have seen sheep with half their faces shorn off..."

--In Australia, the most commonly raised sheep are Merinos, specifically bred to have wrinkly skin, which means more wool per animal. This unnatural overload of wool causes many sheep to collapse and even die of heat exhaustion during hot months, and the wrinkles collect urine and moisture. Attracted to the moisture, flies lay eggs in the folds of skin, and the hatched maggots can eat the sheep alive. To prevent this so-called "flystrike," Australian ranchers perform a barbaric operation-called "mulesing"-where they force live sheep onto their backs, restrain their legs between metal bars, and, without any painkillers whatsoever, slice chunks of flesh from around their tail area. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that can't harbor fly eggs. Ironically, the exposed, bloody wounds themselves often get flystrike before they heal. Within weeks of birth, lambs' ears are hole-punched, their tails are chopped off, and the males are castrated without anesthetics. Male lambs are castrated when they are between 2 and 8 weeks old, either by (I'm editing this section out because it is too gruesome). Every year, hundreds of lambs die before the age of 8 weeks from exposure or starvation, and mature sheep die every year from disease, lack of shelter, and neglect.

--When sheep age and their wool production declines, they are of no use to wool farmers and so are discarded for slaughter. This results in the cruel live export of 6.5 million sheep every year from Australia to the Middle East and North Africa, where sheep are crammed aboard multitiered open-deck ships. Nearly 800,000 sheep enter the live export trade from the U.K. and are slaughtered abroad. Australian and New Zealand sheep are slaughtered in the Middle East, after enduring a grueling, weeks- or months-long journey on overcrowded, disease-ridden ships with little access to food or water through all weather extremes. Many sheep fall ill, many become stuck in feces and are unable to move, and many are smothered or trampled to death by other sheep trying not to fall or trying to reach water when it is available. Shipboard mortality ranges up to 10 percent. When the survivors arrive at their destination, they are dragged from the ships and thrown into the backs of trucks and cars, eventually to have their throats slit while they are fully conscious. In the Muslim nations of North Africa and the Middle East, ritual slaughter is exempt from humane slaughter regulations. Some sheep are slaughtered en masse in lots, while others are taken home, often in the trunks of cars, and slaughtered individually by the purchasers.

My intention with this blog post is not to freak you out and send you running for the hills, but simply to draw attention to this issue and encourage you to consider supporting this cause in whatever way you are able. You'd be joining the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Pink, and Alicia Silverstone if you do! Not to mention one sexy Annalise...or two :)

the new digs

the past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind. Chris started work in Orillia on Oct 1, so he took the bus up with a backpack of belongings and camped out in a dorm room for 3 nights, then a motel room for 2 nights. he got the keys for our new place on the friday of that week, and then caught the bus back to Toronto for the Thanksgiving weekend. check out his veggie blog to see what we had for T-day dinner. Then we packed up the car full of chris things and drove up to deliver him and his belongings for a second week of work.

all of this on top of trying to be a good grad student, has me feeling a bit fried these days. it's a long transition period, but i trust that it will be worth it in the end!

our townhouse is completely empty, but i took some photos of it since a) the link i emailled out to people didn't work and b) i won't actually be moving in there for another month and a half. it looks like the photo i took of the front of the house didn't work, so i'll have to post that at a later date. so, here we go:

Chris entering our new home with his prized possession - the pool noodle.


view from the hallway into the living room.


view from the hallway into the kitchen.


view from the living room looking into the kitchen.


view from the living room looking to the hallway and the stairs leading to 2nd floor.


looking left at the top of the stairs - the washroom on the right, guest room in the middle, office on the left.


looking right at the top of the stairs - you can see into the master bedroom.


and...the master bedroom. 2 closets, 2 windows, a door into bathroom (not shown in photo) and probably space enough for everything we currently own.


chris stealing wireless from one of the nieghbours. hee hee.


a view of the back "yard".


there you have it! not sure what state the place will be in by the time i get up there. chris will probably be so used to living without furniture that he'll want to go all minimalist on me!

i'm not pregnant or getting married...but....

...i have an announcement to make to the world. i'm moving to Orillia. oh my!! it's pretty strange to say that with such finality. i've known for about a week and a half that it was POSSIBLE that chris would get a job in Orillia, and that this would lead to some changes re: where to live. yesterday the possibility became a definite. chris was offered the job (yay!) at the Orillia campus of Lakehead University, and he accepted. some might think this decision has come out of the blue, but the truth is that we have been talking a lot in recent months about our common desire to leave Toronto, to live in a smaller community, preferrably with lots of land around it so that i can learn how to grow things and eventually we might be able to eat what i grow (unlike most of the produce that comes out of our current patio garden, as pictured below).



the bonus about Orillia is that there not only a lots of land, there's a lot of water too.



it's a perfect spot to be for outdoor fun - hiking, water activities, rollerblading (there's a paved trail through town), etc etc. also a perfect spot to be if i decide i want to open a veg restaurant instead of being a social worker :) -- there are no veg restaurants in town, as far as i can tell. luckily, it's only 1.5 hour drive to Toronto, and a 2 hour drive to my parents in one direction, and to Chris' parents in the other direction.

also, i've ensured that a) there are possibilities for me to do a work placement for my masters degree in either Barrie or Orillia and that b) there are some possible job opportunities for me once i'm done school this year. no guarantees, but there are definitely some possibilities.

as for timing, we are still ironing out the details, but i will likely stay in toronto until december, and then move up to join Chris in Orillia during the break between fall & winter terms.

so all in all, i'm excited....but i'm also freaked out, nervous, and a bit overwhelmed with the thought of packing up and leaving the city I've called home for 8 years.

Some quotes about change that will hopefully help me through the next few months:

Nothing endures but change.
Heraclitus

We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance.
Harrison Ford

Change is the process by which the future invades our lives.
Alvin Toffler

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.
Anatole France

under the weather

I'm sick. I woke up on Sunday morning with a sore throat and a general feeling of lethargy. By late afternoon it was a full-fledged head cold. The timing of this was not great, as I had 3 "first" classes to attend on Monday and Tuesday (my 4th class met for the first time before I got sick). I'm sure I've made a great impression on my profs and fellow students. At Monday night's class I wasn't very smart, in that I didn't have any Kleenex with me, so I grabbed a strip of toilet paper from the women's washroom and used that to dab at my nose all night. Of course, I was sitting right beside the prof (not planned, she came in last and the room was set up with 4 tables in a square...I just happened to be at the corner where she chose to sit too). And of course, my nose was dripping and clogging up way more than that weak little strip of no-name TP was designed for. It wasn't pretty. But, I didn't get accepted to grad school for naught...I learned my lesson, and for my two Tuesday morning classes I carried around my own personal (and large) box of Kleenex. And a little garbage bag too. Didn't want to leave my germs on someone else's future seat or writing surface! It was still a pretty sad situation, but whilst back at home, I managed to entertain myself by:
a) becoming addicted to Facebook Scrabble, and,
b) watching season 3 of The Office. The whole season. In 3 days. Wow.

By Wednesday I was starting to become more cough-y and less stuff-y. Miraculously, I slept like a baby on Wednesday night (had been waking up a lot every night from inability to breathe through stupid clogged up nose). Woke up this morning, but as I am alone here for the week (Chris is up north) and I have no classes today, I didn't speak to anyone all morning. I finally made a phone call around lunchtime and upon leaving a message, realized that I sound like a 12 year old boy on the verge of puberty (if I'm lucky that's what I sound like). So I've spent the day croaking to a few people on the phone and at Shoppers Drug Mart and at the post office. And now I'm off to bed. Wonder what I'll sound like tomorrow?

Algonquin Park

I went on my first canoe trip! My friend Bridgette and I have both dreamed of doing a multi-day canoe trip in Algonquin Park, and we both realized that dream. We left Toronto on Friday August 17th and drove up to the park. Just getting there was an adventure in that we encountered 1) a dog loose on the 401, 2) a major fire on Hwy 7 just east of Peterborough and 3) torrential rains all the way from Maynooth to Whitney. But we made it. We set up camp at a traditional drive-in site not too far from the Outfitters Store on Friday night, and organized all the stuff we'd thrown into my car. We both felt very unprepared, but we managed to get our act together and made it to the Outfitters Store on Saturday morning to pick up our canoe and get paddling.


Saturday
We did the unthinkable and paddled up Lake Opeongo to the North Arm. The staff estimated 4-6 hours, and we made it in just under 5. It was a long, hard day, but such an accomplishment!! We both felt invincible!!

Set up camp and got warm and cozy around the campfire.


Sunday
We paddled the rest of Opeongo and did a 2km portage over to Happy Isle lake. Oh. My. God. That is one long portage! We carried all the gear the first time, and then doubled back and carried the canoe together. Camped on Happy Isle.


Woke up to this beautiful morning mist.


Monday
Paddled across Happy Isle, and did a .5km portage over to Merchant Lake. Found an amazing campsite on Merchant, spacious, with a lovely "point" and a view of the sunrise and the sunset.


Once we got settled (see photo!)....

....we paddled over to a 60m portage (yes, 60m) and took the canoe over to Lake Chickadee to look for the only campsite on the whole lake. After much searching (we paddled around the entire lake), we finally located the site. There was no orange sign advertising it's location, and when we got closer we realized there had been a fire, so the site is probably closed to the public for a while. This portage was so easy we had time to stop and take a few photos :)


Tuesday
Stayed at Merchant because we loved our site so much. This was my favourite reading nook.


Paddled the perimeter of the lake to explore. It got very choppy and I got very nervous, but we were ok. Found a beautiful campsite with a long narrow beach. Hoping to go back there someday.


Wednesday
Paddled back to Happy Isle and found a campsite on the island. Had a lazy day, reading, getting screamed at by the local squirrels, doing a photo shoot, etc etc.


Thursday
Paddled back to the 2km portage, and went for an impromptu swim before embarking on the 1.5 hour endeavour. Funny thing is, we changed into our swimsuits out in the open on the little beach right at the end of the portage. Just after changing back into our normal clothes, 3 canoes full of 6 American men came paddling into shore to embark on the portage themselves. If only they'd arrived 3 minutes earlier, they would have had quite the show! After the portage, we waited for the ferry to take back down Opeongo (yes, we cheated, and it was worth every penny!).

Memoirs of a sensei, part three

ACROSS THE WORLD
Memoirs of a sensei
(Excerpts from my journal entries dated August 1997 on the tenth anniversary of my first summer in Japan.)

THREE: Subtle Changes

"Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still" (Chinese Proverb)

August came. My life began to stabilize. People and things began to distract me.

I sang. I found myself at the centre of the musical crowd in town. Accidentally I began singing in public. One night at the pub the guitar was out and suddenly I was singing Simon and Garfunkel to a roomful of strangers. My confidence slowly began to build.

I travelled. I couldn't speak any Japanese, but I travelled with a friend who had been in Saga for 6 months, so I thought we'd be just fine. It turned out that 6 months of Japanese is pretty basic, so we had an interesting (read: cursed) week. I think we spent more combined hours waiting for transportation in various locales than we actually spent travelling to any given destination. But it was fun I admit. And educational. I learned a lot. I learned not to believe Ben when he says it'll be more rewarding to climb the volcano than pay 10 bucks worth of yen to take the tour bus. I learned to look at the map myself rather than trust his sense of distance when he suggests that we not walk down the volcano the same way we walked up because he'd rather see different scenery and the other way down doesn't look much longer. I learned not to believe Kevin O'Keeffe of County Kerry, Ireland, when he says he'll meet you on Wednesday at 5:30 and will split the hotel bill with you. I learned to bring extra cash because when Kevin decides not to show up, you have to split the bill two ways instead of three which was not what you originally budgeted. I learned to book accommodations ahead because we might just spend an entire day travelling to a famous mountainous area in the pouring rain, only to arrive 40 minutes before the last bus heads back to where we came from, only to find out that all the hotels in the area are fully booked except for the ones that charge 100 dollars per person per night. I learned that a frustrating experience like that can be worth it just because of the split-second glimpse of an amazing waterfall en route, that only I seemed to notice. I learned that sunrises in Japan are spectacular. And I learned that in six short weeks I came to regard my little house in Ise Machi as a home, since coming back to it felt so good after my week of travels.

I wrote. I regularly sat on my 2nd floor patio and mused about the world. Sometimes I watched the reflections of the sunset, and sometimes I watched the moon follow it's course across the night sky. I wish I knew the words to describe the awesome works of Nature, but they are beyond my grasp. Nature is the art of God, I think Dante said. I could never actually see the sun setting because I don't have a clear view from the balcony...too many houses...not too mention the huge statue of Buddha overlooking the cemetery next door. But I could see the effects of the sunset on the sky above me. It reminds me of God, who we can't see...but whose presence effects the world around us every day. It also reminds me of God because it has two distinct natures. It is excruciatingly hot these days, painfully hot, but the heat is necessary for the growth of crops. It gives what is needed whether we like it or not. But that violently hot sun is at the same time so magnificent in it's beauty and artwork, the way it rises and sets, the way it changes the image of a cloud or shines through the leaves of a tree. One entity, two personas. As it is with God, who teaches me things I don't want to learn, and leads me places against my will. But only God knows what it will take to grow me, whether it be extreme heat or gentle breezes. And the art produced by God, otherwise known as Nature -- this moonlight I've grown so fond of, the volcano I climbed last week rising out of the water, the tree that has stood for hundreds of years reaching for the sky and refusing to relinquish it's goal, the dark clouds that move so swiftly across a clear sky to bring thunder and lightning and refreshing rain -- all these things I have seen in one week of living, and the time I take to appreciate them changes me in subtle ways.

wandering in the forest

Chris and I took off last weekend. Originally we'd planned to do a weekend away to celebrate our birthdays, but we ended up booking it on the weekend following my last day of work, and also realized that it is our 2 year anniversary of co-habitating! So, we had a lot to celebrate.

We drove up to the Orangeville area on Saturday and went to the Mono Cliffs Inn for lunch. Lucky for us they had 2 veg items on the menu, so we each ordered one and shared. I'm not convinced the salad was full vegan, but it was delicious and nothing bad happened to me after eating it. Chris had a curry bowl. Then we hiked for a couple of hours along the Mono Cliffs trail , which connects to the Bruce Trail ,and ended up at a great lookout pictured below. Parts of the trail were very sandy (strange) so we got very dirty feet also pictured below!






We then drove up to Shelburne, about 20 minutes further north, and found our "B&B" - which was really a woman named Carole who rents out her basement space...but let me tell you, this woman can COOK! We paid extra to have dinner there, and of course, the breakfast was included, and both were terrific organic vegan meals. There are not a lot of places out there that cater to vegan folk, so we were very pleased to find Carole.

Saturday night we attended the Canadian Open Olde Time Fiddle Contest!! You might think this would be all stomping and fun, but it was some serious business! Especially the kids....they were totally into it, and they were amazing!

Also while in Shelburne we stopped to see a "wind farm", pictured below (the pictures don't do it justice).






Sunday morning we decided to strike out and try a new hiking trail, which turned out to be a bit of an adventure. It was part of Boyne Valley Provincial Park, and the trail we hiked (very badly) was the Primrose Loop trail. It was supposed to be about a 2km loop but we were walking for about 3 hours!!! I don't think we did the loop more than once, but we definitely strayed from the blue-marked path! Chris blames it all on The Best of the Bruce Trail book....so if you're ever talking to him about hiking you might want to recommend that book to him and see how he reacts!

As Chris mentions in his blog, getting lost in the forest was a good thing for us because we saw a deer, a turtle, and we almost got run over by some crazy turkey vultures (at least that's what we think they were)....now I'm not so sure because I just looked up turkey vultures and they don't look anything like what we saw....(they burst out of the forest onto the trail ahead of us and ran so fast we couldn't get the camera out in time). These are some of the pictures we did take.





Anyway, now I'm off to Algonquin for another week of wandering in the forest, this time by canoe.....stay tuned!