Vignettes of Life in Bucerias

MARVELOUS MEXICO

 

As we have previously mentioned, most things here at our winter home have become routine to us even though we are living outside the United States.  But they still hold a lot of charm, especially for those who have not ventured far from home.  Nothing wrong with home; not everyone has the same wanderlust.  We find it important to try to be attuned to the local culture and not impose – particularly patronizingly – our ways and values from north of the border.  And we think we have done a decent job of fitting in thus far.  Although we are proud to be U.S. citizens, we do not have a monopoly on what is right or good.  Every culture and peoples have something valuable to offer.  In this vein Mrs. T has a few vignettes of our life here. 

Mexicans love their holidays and find almost every opportunity to have a parade and celebrate.  Often we have just stumbled upon an event; we are not as plugged into the news as we would like.  Many times special activities happen on Sundays as happened with two of these stories.  As we do not normally take cameras to church, we do not have pictures for those episodes.

 

REVOLUTION DAY

As I watch Luche Libre, I think it might be a good metaphor for Mexico.  Full of color, passion, and movement, the spectators excited, involved – and yet no one really takes most of it seriously.  One of the things I really love about Mexico and Mexicans is the sense of humor.  Somehow I cannot imagine a wrestler in the U.S. wearing bright pink tights with a big purple heart across the rear.  (On the other hand, Mrs.T is not a devotee of professional wrestling.  –dt)

Which brings me to the parade.  After mass we encountered a parade down the lateral that parallels the highway.  It had already gone down several streets.  The parade celebrated the revolution of the campesinos which put Francesco I. Madero in power.  (There are several Maderos in Mexico's history. –dt) There were bands and a queen throwing candy.  There were several children's groups of various kinds.  Our favorite part of the parade was near the end.  A troop of little boys about 7 – 8 years old were decked out neatly in identical army uniforms.  Most of them had magnificent mustaches drawn on by eyebrow pencil and military hats made of construction paper.  They carried homemade mortars made of coffee cans fastened together and painted black.  How cute we thought.  The next group was a squad of campasinos of about the same age.  They had big sombreros and had bandoleers crossed on their chests.  Of course they too had mustaches and mortars.  There were some girls with them wearing big colorful skirts.  The girls had bandoleers and mortars too – but no mustaches; you might think it odd I mention that but you will understand if you have ever seen many pictures, especially self-portraits, of Frida Kahlo.  (http://www.reproduction-gallery.com/oil_painting/details/copy_artist/1022580036/masterpiece/Frida_Kahlo/museum_quality/Self_Portrait_with_Deigo_on_the_Breast_1953.xhtml   -dt)  Just as they got to where we were standing the kids started letting off firecrackers in their mortars making an impressive noise.  At first I did not understand but both some soldiers and campesinos began to fall down.  "They are fighting a battle," Dan said.  That explained why kids held their stomachs and made horrible faces as they fell.  They may have been crying and groaning too but I if so I could not hear it for the noise of the 'mortars'.  The battle went on for a few minutes with heavy bombardment and serious losses on both sides.  Finally we saw a small hand among the soldiers waving a white handkerchief.  The battle was over and the campisenos were victorious!!

 

VOTING

We knew elections were coming up.  There were the usual ads on television.  And the day after Thanksgiving we had seen quite a parade extolling the virtues of voting 'Green'.  But it was not a national election and we did not pay much attention.  When we arrived at church for Sunday mass – the week after the 'revolution' – we knew something special was happening.  There was more than the usual number of food vendor carts all around the square and other folks selling knick knacks.  People were milling about and a few musicians were playing.  We did not understand what was happening but there was a long line snaking around the plaza in the hot sun.  "What are all these people doing?" I asked a nun who was at her table selling rosaries and such. "They are voting," she replied.  (The nuns are there every Sunday; they are Sisters for the Perpetual Evangelization of the Holy Eucharist – or something like that.  They perform valuable community service.  –dt)

 

BIRDS

One morning I awoke to a cacophony of shrieks, hoots, screams, and whistles.  It sounded as if every bird in Mexico had taken up residence outside our window.  Not only that, but they all were complaining about it.  It did not seem possible to me that all those different birds could be in the same place.  When I peeked out the window I discovered I was right.

There was a good sized flock of Mexican black birds perched on the two palm trees near our window.  These birds are clever mimics.  They were going through their entire repertoire of other bird calls.  Whether this was some kind of bird version of our talent 'reality' contests or what exactly the point was I never did figure out.  Mexican birds do not seem to be as musical as the birds I am familiar with up north but they certainly are enthusiastic.

 

COOLING DOWN

The weather here has varied from hot to balmy.  If I get hot, I sometimes jump into the pool to cool off.  (Mrs.T frequently is hot due to hormonal issues common to women of a certain age.  -dt)  One day I was pretty hot so I stayed in the pool a long time just peacefully floating on my back thinking of nothing in particular.  When I looked up I saw two vultures circling high above me.  As I seemed to detect them considering me thoughtfully,  I decided it was time for me to get out and dry off.  I hope we get solar heating installed soon because as winter comes – even in tropical Mexico – the pool becomes more and more refreshing, so to speak.

 

CONSTRUCTION

There is new building construction happening on both sides of our condo complex.  One building is another set of five new condominiums, one to a floor.  I am not sure what the other building is going to be.  The buildings are six and four floors and tower over our two story building.  The lot where the burro occasionally grazed will be gone.  The new buildings will take part of the sky and we will no longer see as much of the sun or stars.  I suppose whenever you live in a town the sky is not yours to own.  Sigh….  Mexican building construction methods are not what we are familiar with.  There is one particularly nice thing however – the workers sing as they build.

We also have a major street repair project going on in Bucerias now.  They are relaying the cobblestones.  The official title of this project is 'Fewer Bumps.'  Note that is fewer bumps, not no bumps – truth in advertising I suppose.  Actually the cobblestones are fairly smooth in the sections they have completed.  Dan and I hope they do not run out of either rocks or enthusiasm before they get to our street because we have quite a few fairly significant bumps and potholes on Francesco I Madero.

 

Some construction pictures; self-explanatory:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157628337193587/

 

Hope you are enjoying the beginning of winter.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

CALL ME REBECCA

Face to Face with Moby Dick

 
The phrase "once-in-a-lifetime experience" is overused and abused.  Last week during her diving Rebecca had the unique experience with angel rays.  That could have qualified as such a special experience.  But yesterday (Wednesday) Mrs.T had an encounter that truly warrants that trite phrase.  Here is the story:
 
 
People have asked me if I ever see whales underwater while I am diving. The answer was "No." You see most of the places we dive are shallow in whale terms, no more than 100 feet deep.  We may see them while on the boat, but never while underwater.  Alex, my dive master, has been diving the area for 25 years - he started as a teenager - and he had never seen a whale while diving, until yesterday!  We were diving at Chimo, one of the deep dives on the edge of the bay.  Alex and I were diving together maybe 100 feet down or so. I was just floating along looking at the fish when suddenly Alex grabbed me and turned me around. There swimming right towards us was a very large humpback whale.  Did I say large?  It was HUMONGOUS.  It was gigantic. It was, in Spanish, El mas grandisima!! And it came right towards us until it was about ten feet away when it turned and swam upwards. It came so close that I could see the bumps on its nose. Alex had a firm grip on me so that although I had a fleeting thought to try and touch it I could not. Although truth to tell, I almost immediately had a second thought that touching something that big might be a very bad idea.  How big was it?  A rough comparison had its flipper about the same size I am. Was I afraid? Not really, for one thing humpbacks are very friendly, and for another I did not have time to be. Was I in awe and shock? Absolutely! Why did this happen? I think maybe the whale heard our bubbles and was curious and came over to see who made them. Either that or God loves us or quite possibly both; we both are nice people. When we got back to the boat we didn't think they would believe us. Fortunately Tony, the boat captain, had seen the whale when it surfaced.  As soon as we got our equipment off Alex got on the radio and started spreading the news all over the bay.  "Y yo tambien!" I shouted, "Me too!"
 
Usually R puts in way too many "!"s when she puts her stories together, but this time the story deserves them.  Needless to say she has been ecstatic since her encounter – walking on air.
 
No pictures this time.
 
Best wishes.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

WARM!

MOVED SOUTH 2011

 

With each year our move south becomes more routine.  In about a week or less we are settled in physically and psychologically as well.  This year we came down a bit earlier than previously.  But the weather in Ohio was already taking on its usual grey drabness and it was time to go.  As one of our friends, WC, remarked, when the leaves had changed colors and were falling off the trees she knew we would soon be going south.  And the more we spend time here fewer things seem unusual to us.  The hibiscus, iguanas, Coronas, etc. are just all part of the background scenery.  So those of you up north may be reading more about ordinary things in Mrs. T's newsletters.

You probably noted that there wasn't any reporting during October.   R was still in recovery from her September show at ZAAP.  We had several social obligations and of course we were busy packing.  (We don't bring much down these days actually; everything we need is already in the condo.)  But here is a short report on our first few days.

 

Well here we are, safe in our southern home.  The flights were not too bad.  I was x-rayed because of my bionic knee.  (She always is despite having a card –dt)  And one bag did not make our flight but arrived and was delivered the next day.

It is very hot here – about 90F (31C) – every day.  Dan loves it and sits under the palapa reading.  (R does her own heavy reading; eyes shut. –dt)   But I feel it.  It drains me.  Fortunately I can jump in the pool and cool off.  (She doesn't jump in the fish pond behind the Philo house! –dt)   And it is only two short blocks to the ocean.  AH!  The ocean.  It is for me, dare I say, pacific.  Some conquistador got the name right as far as I am concerned.  Currently the Bay, our small section of the Pacific, and even a bit further out is quite warm and I can just float in it like the swimming pool.

Actually it has been too pacific.  I tried to boogie board, but the waves were not good enough.  My SCUBA guys told me to try later in the afternoon.  It was great to see all the guys again and I had two super dives this past week.  I saw lots of neat fish, eels, and rays.  One thing I had never seen before was an angel ray.  They have two rounded wings sort of like butterflies. They are two to three feet across and their stingers are only three or four inches long.  There were lots of them just resting on the bottom of the ocean floor.  (Mrs.T was actually out in the ocean at Las Marietas.  –dt)   If you dug carefully under each wing you could lift them up and they would just lay on your hands until you put them back down.  WOW!

 

I set a new personal record of staying down 52 minutes on one tank.  The record was especially noteworthy because it was my first time out for the season.  But Alex, my weekly dive master, does not breathe at all.  I think he is part Selkie (A merman; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie -dt)   Alex has big brown eyes and a mustache.  He is a little tubby.  (Sorry Alex.)  (I think I need to keep a closer eye on Mrs.T  -dt)

 

I was doing fairly well with Spanish but not so well with metric.  Fortunately Mathman has been able to keep me straight.  Recently he stopped me from buying 3 pounds of cheese when I wanted to buy 1 pound.  Between the two of us we do rather well.

 

Dan found a very large toad or frog in the condo pool bano.  And of course we have lots of kissing geckos.  They are called that because they make little smoochie sounds to each other and of course to me.  Did you know they can walk upside down on our ceiling?

 

As our condo is sometimes rented while we are gone, when we return we are never quite sure what we will come back to.  Things occasionally are missing or are rearranged.  We have generally been rather lucky and nothing important has disappeared or been broken.  Dan was a bit upset to find that we were missing about a dozen plastic ice cream and yogurt containers which we used to store leftovers.  Who could possibly want them?  And why did they leave the lids?  As we had mysteriously acquired a very nice Pyrex baking dish, I thought it was a good trade.  Dan hypothesized that the plastic containers were probably used as molds for a sand castle.  "At least they could have washed them and brought them back," he grumbled.  I valiantly offered to eat a whole lot of ice cream right away to get replacements.  For some reason this offer did not receive the appreciation it deserves.

Just a few pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157628119946654/

 

Hope all of you are doing well.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

LET THE SHOW BEGIN

TRAUMA

 

Well, Rebecca's show opened, and as stated in the last brief newsletter it was an excellent opening.  There were lots of good food and many friends.  It was especially nice that Marla and Rik came to help.  And it was wonderful that Drew and Sharon came a long distance to the opening.  It was most gratifying to see the support given to Mrs.T by the local arts community.  Thanks also to the several of you who came from Columbus and places other than Zanesville.  And we look forward to seeing a few more folks during September.

 

R is still recovering from the trauma of the opening.  As many of you know, being in large groups, especially as the center of attention, is not Mrs.T's forte.  However, she handled it with aplomb and may have actually enjoyed the moment, although it was stressful.  She should be justifiably proud of her accomplishment.  But you can tell by the brevity of her report that she is still processing the event:

 

 

Nick says I can take it off my bucket list.  The art show I mean.  Since I did not know I had a bucket list this is not much of a relief.  But at any rate I am glad that I have done it.  I was really quite proud of the work I produced.  And work is the operative word here.  I was also pleased and gratified by all the friends and family who attended the opening.  I don't really expect to sell much, maybe one or two; this is more just to share with the world what I have done.  Now I have just two more things to do.  One is to figure out where to put all these works when the show is over.  And Two is to find out about this bucket list.  (I hope I don't have too many things I have to do on that!)  At any rate we are linking pictures of some of the works in the show for those of you in far places who can not come.  I am using the royal we since Dan does all the work of putting pictures on line.

 

Here are some pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627611010390/

There are more pictures than usual here, but several are nearly duplicates from different photographers. (Thank you RMc!) 

 

Hope all of all you are making the transition to fall.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

Preview

OPENING SUCCESS
 
 
Mrs. T's show opening was excellent.  The works are well hung (Thanks Paul!) and look great.  Everyone greatly enjoy her art.  I am sure we will have many pictures posted soon and perhaps R will write a story about the experience.  Here is a sneak preview; be sure to look at the videos.  Enjoy.  http://www.whiznews.com/content/news/local/2011/09/01/the-trees-she-loves
 
Hope to see a some of you during the month.
dan (&rebecca)
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com 
 

ADDENDA

Hello everyone!
 
A couple of items to add about our last newsletters.  First, we have attached a photo especially for our Canadian friends; with tuque, scarf, official pin, and new bug zapper we are ready for the winter in Manitoba.
 
And a GAS note:  We forgot to mention that we encountered our good friend Domenico Cavallaro and Maestro Davide Savadore while in Seattle.  Now globe trotting with Davide, we know Dom from his days at Glass Axis.  We wish both of them a good future.
 
Hope all of you are well as the summer ends.  Maybe we will see some of you at the opening of TREES or sometime while it shows in September.
 
And something very special:  Congratulations to SD upon becoming SR; may you and C have many wonderful years together!!
 
 
 
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
 
 

CANADA - Part 2

Rocky Mountain High and Plains Drifters

 

 

Some of you may have thought we are still in Canada.  When we last reported we were in Vancouver watching hockey.  But that was just the first part of our Canadian adventure.  This edition of the trip log has been a bit delayed by a trip to Georgia for a family reunion of Mrs. T's siblings and by the muse's preparations for her upcoming TREES show.

 

The second part of our Canadian adventure was in Manitoba, and to get there we took the train.  This was not the train that some of you may see advertised as a "Canadian Rockies Adventure' or some such name.  This was the regular cross-country passenger train.  We took this nearly two-day trip to western Manitoba and Winnipeg to visit our many other met-in-Mexico Canadian friends. The train ride – beginning with more hockey at the train station in Vancouver - was wonderful and our visits were extraordinary.  We especially thank Barrie and Helen, Dwain and Marlene, and Ron and Diane for graciously providing room and board.

 

We must note that at the time of our visit Manitoba was suffering some of its worst flooding ever.  In the U.S. this did not receive the news coverage that it should have.  While the flood in Minot, North Dakota made headlines, it was old news north of the border.  The flood in Minot started in Canada and the water first flows south into North Dakota but then flows north again back into Manitoba.  It is a one-two punch.  The devastation in Manitoba was massive and we hope that they are recovering by now.  Mysteriously the rain would usually stop and the sun would come out at the appropriate times for us.

 

Here is Mrs.T's travelogue with some pictures interspersed:

 

 

 

When we checked in to get on the train the guy wanted to check all of our bags.  Well I was not having any of that! 

 

"I need my small bag because it has my pills!" I stated firmly.

 

"Well we can check your large bag," the attendant suggested.

 

"I cannot wear the same clothes for three days, I will be stinky "(!), I complained.

 

'I will give you this little bag and you can unpack a few clothes into it," the attendant suggested.  Obviously he had dealt with this problem before.

 

I viewed it suspiciously.  It was a nice little cloth bag with a zipper and two pockets, not too roomy but large enough.  I consented.

 

Now Dan was jealous because he did not get a bag since he had cooperatively relinquished his bag without complaint.  Oh well, tough to be him.

 

We had a nice little compartment for the two of us with a teeny, tiny, toilet which flushed with alarming force.  There were two nice chairs where you could sit and look out the window.  At night our car steward, Joe, came around and somehow the chairs disappeared and two bunk beds folded out.

 

The train had an observation car.  It had two levels; the downstairs was for playing games etc, and the upstairs had glass windows and ceiling so you had great views of everything.  It was getting late and there wasn't a whole lot to see so we went to supper.  It was excellent. How they cooked for everyone in that little kitchen I will never know.

 

When we got back the beds were made. I volunteered to take the top one.  It has been a long time since I went to Girl Scout Camp.  I carefully climbed the little ladder.  One more step and I would be high enough to crawl onto the bed.  BONG I bumped my head on the roof.  When I had recovered a bit I did a swan dive over the top step of the ladder and landed with a belly flop on the bed.  WOOF!  "Victory," I thought.  Of course it was almost worthwhile when I discovered a little chocolate on my pillow.  I awoke in the middle of the night.  Was it worth it to climb down the little ladder and brave the scary toilet or could I wait 'til morning?  Well when you gotta go, you gotta go.

 

The next day after breakfast we went to the observation car.  We were approaching the Rocky Mountains.  This was why we had come.  Looking out I understood why people everywhere, in all cultures and religions put their temples on the tops of mountains and their God(s) in the sky. There is something that makes us yearn upwards.  The pure clear air leaves behind all that is small and meaningless.  And when it seemed impossible that after hours of contemplation our spirits absorb any more the train climbed around a mountain and I saw an immense rainbow that arced from peak to peak ahead of us.  As we descended we saw a second shadow rainbow beyond.  Although we were speeding along it seemed that we would never reach the rainbows, but at last we did and I thought perhaps we weren't in Kansas anymore.  As we came down, and always at last you do, we past foothills with forests and rivers and lakes and at last the plains.

 

As impressed as I was by the Rocky Mountains, I had expected to be.  I was surprised to find the plains were also overwhelming.  Columbus, Ohio, where we had lived for years is basically flat.  But in central Canada you could see huge fields that stretched for miles upon miles.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627234322259/

 

After we had lunch the stewardess announced the next few stops.  OOPS!! She did not mention Rivers where we planned to disembark.

 

"Oh yes, we know you are getting off at Rivers," she assured me with a smile.

 

If this was not a stop did they plan to slow down and shove us out the door, I mused.

 

"Your cabin steward will help you," she said.

 

"Your checked luggage will get off first," Joe explained.  I had a mental image of our bags rolling themselves down a ramp.  It seems the train was too long and the station was too small (about the size of our storage shed) for it to stop once. It would first stop to let our bags off and a lady in a forward car.  Then the train would creep forward a few hundred yards and Joe would help us off.  It went off like clockwork, but still I was greatly relieved to find we had our right luggage and that Barrie and Helen were waiting to pick us up.  (The train was a bit late.)  (We were required to yield to freight trains –dt)

 

This spring there was a lot of heavy flooding in central Canada. (And a lot of snow melt from Saskatchewan. –dt) The land is so flat the water has nowhere to go.  (And it had already been saturated with snow and earlier rain. –dt) There were rivers that were far out of their banks and water sat on the sodden fields.  Planting was impossible.  (Crops here are primarily sunflower, canola, and flax. – dt) When we arrived the water had subsided a little bit still it was a disaster especially for the farmers.  One river ran right beside Barrie and Helen's house.  Every morning we could see how far it had crept up toward their house or receded.  (This stream eventually fed the Assiniboine River. –dt) Their house was a lovingly cared for farm house that had been in Barrie's family for over 100 years. (It has been designated as a Century Farm.  -dt)

 

The next day we toured the area and stopped at a little town called Boissevain.  All over this town there were different murals.  The murals were painted by local people in all different styles.  I loved it.  The town mascot was 'Tommy the Turtle'.  ( http://www.boissevain.ca/visitors/turtlestatue.htm )   This was because the town was near the Turtle Mountains (rather small hills I thought but then I had just been through the Rockies.)  Evidently a lot of turtles live in those mountains.

 

Next we went to the International Peace Garden.  This park is half in North Dakota and half in Manitoba.  It was opened in 1932 to celebrate the peaceful relationship between our two countries.  What a lovely idea.  (http://www.peacegarden.com/  -not to be confused with the International Peace Park, also on the US/Canadian border but at Montana and Alberta.  -dt)  There is a bell tower, the Peace Tower, Peace Chapel, fountains, and flowerbeds arranged symmetrically so that each side is nearly the same for each country.  There is also a fantastic collection of cacti.  We found a friendly gardener who took our picture at the border with Barrie and Helen in Canada and Dan and I in the US.  As we left we all had to show our passports; I did not mention Mexico.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627359031454/

 

We visited Brandon which is the big city in the western part of Manitoba.  This is close to where the Souris River and Assiniboine Rivers meet causing massive flooding in the region this year.  In Brandon they had humongous sandbags protecting a particularly vulnerable retail area in a valley.  Why Walmart and other major retailers had built in this area is a mystery.  Probably the land was really cheap.

 

That night Helen made us a lovely supper and the highlight was Saskatoon Pie.  These are little sweet red berries.  I had never encountered them before but they are quite good!  (Second that! –dt)

 

After Rivers Barrie and Helen kindly drove us to visit and stay with Dwain and Marlene in Winnipeg.  Winnipeg was also flooding from the same rains.  (The Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet in Winnipeg. –dt) But it is not quite as close to their house.  In Winnipeg they took us to a restored shopping mall.  Marlene and I really enjoyed looking at the old china and glass and antiques in a store there while the two D's waited patiently. 

 

Then we went to Asssiniboine Park Gardens.  This park really has several parts.  There is an art gallery which had an original drawing of Winnie the Pooh, not to mention a lot of other interesting artists.  There was some really excellent landscapes.  One set of pictures was illustrations of different Canadian wildlife.  This is really nice.  There are formal gardens, a conservatory, and zoo.  The formal gardens make me a little nervous for some reason.  Then we came to the really exciting part - the sculpture garden.

 

The sculpture garden was my favorite part.  Generally I am not fond of sculptures of people because they look like children posed for a school picture.  But these were different- there is emotion and passion on these faces that gave you thought of what the real people must have been.  As Shelley said,

 

"Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;…"

 

(from Ozymandias)

 

 

Of course I loved the animal sculptures.  You would enter a little copse of trees and come upon two bear cubs tumbling playfully.  On down the path, you freeze so as not to frighten a group of deer browsing quietly. And then you realize that they are not alive, at least not exactly.  All these sculptures are by Leo Mol.  He was a Winnnipegian who emigrated from the Ukraine.  If you ever are in the area you should go.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Mol ; there are many pictures on the web. –dt)

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627361919300/

 

We next went to see Ron and Diane on the other side of Winnipeg and stay at their cabin.  The highlight of course was when Crystal brought over the baby.  Every one who knows her knows that Diane would never be so overjoyed!!  But Edwin was a happy peaceful child.  He cheerfully endured being held by strangers. I love babies.  Then we went to their cabin by Lake Winnipeg.

 

When I think 'cabin' I think of a little hut of logs with an outhouse.  The cabins we visited are as nice as our home in Ohio.  And the thing is all these clever and industrious Canadians did a lot of the work themselves.  Lake Winnipeg is one tremendously huge lake.  However as chance would have it many of our friends have cabins near each other.  We visited Lorne and Audrey at their cabin down the lake a bit.  Their cabin is in a more wooded area. There were lots of wild flowers.  And we could see how the flooding had toppled a lot of trees along the shore.  Meanwhile Ron and Diane and Ben and Road Bump were preparing for the party.  Ben and Road Bump are two gorgeous golden retrievers.  Road bump has another name (Barkley?) but he always wants to be near you so he lays down right in front of you so you step over him a lot.  But Ron was getting the grill set up and Diane was getting the food organized so when we returned all we had to do was sit by the lake and watch the pelicans.  (I didn't know pelicans came this far north but these were white pelicans.)  There were also a couple of geese with thirty or forty goslings.  Evidently this was the local equivalent of a goose day care center.  I was amazed.

 

Then came the party.  It was perfect.  The weather was perfect.  Cool but not raining.  The food was great: grilled burgers, all the appropriate sides, a few new things that were interesting, and of course chocolate.  The sun was lowering over the lake.  I am still surprised at how late it is light in Canada.  The evening was full of friends, laughing, talking, telling silly jokes, sharing interesting ideas.  And just sitting back in front of the lake, absorbing it all, sipping, lemonade, wine, beer or whatever, feeling mellow while the evening slipped through the air, until the party ended.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627237727817/  (Hope I have at least one picture of everyone (thanks to those of you who sent them); too bad we did not do a group photo.  Guess we will just need to visit again.  –dt)

 

Sigh!!  Our trip to Canada was over, and the next afternoon we flew home.  (Thanks to Al and Louise for taking us to the airport.  And thank goodness the Air Canada strike was over.  –dt)

 

Thanks again to everyone up north.  We had a fabulous time.  See many of you this season down south.

 

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO VIEW

TREES

An exhibition in various media by

　

Rebecca Terrible

opening

5 to 8 pm

2 September 2011

@

Z.A.A.P. Gallery

(Zanesville Appalachian Arts Project)

625 Main Street

Zanesville Ohio

www.zaapart.org

　
　
The show will be on display for the month of September. The ZAAP Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday 1 to 5pm. Please contact us if you would like us to meet you at the gallery; you are also welcome to visit our home in the holler.
　
For those of you coming to the opening, the ZAAP Gallery is located in downtown Zanesville between 5^th and 7^th Streets which both have exits from I-70 eastbound, approximately 1 hour from Columbus. Westbound travelers will need to exit at Underwood St. and proceed south to Main Street and turn right.
We know most of you will not be able to make the opening. But as noted, the exhibition will be up for September. Also, refer to the ZAAP website for more information, especially after the show opens. Please feel free to share this notice.

Onward to Canada

Canada – Part 1

 

Part one of our trip to Canada began with the Victoria Clipper boat from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia.  It is a very convenient way to get between cities if one is not driving.  The boat was at capacity partly due to the number of Canadians who had gone to a U2 concert held in Seattle the night before; the GAS conference closing party that same night was a sedate little affair by comparison.

 

Victoria, on Vancouver Island as distinct from the city of Vancouver on the mainland, is the capital of British Columbia.  As such it has the provincial parliament building and other governmental offices.  However, in general Victoria is a bit of a touristy town, especially in the small area we traversed around the inner harbor (or should that be harbour).  Our tour with Peter showed us that Victoria is a full-fledged, but somewhat sedate, city.  It seemed like a most pleasant place to live.

 

Vancouver on the other hand is a metropolis of 2 million+ population.  It had the normal hustle and bustle of a big city.  Downtown takes in a fairly large area but there is a very good public transportation system.  We were not able to explore much of the metropolitan area which spreads out quite a bit.  We were able to take in a few of the more popular sights. 

 

Mrs.T provides a summary of this phase of our trip:

 

 

Before we got on the boat to go from Seattle to Victoria the lady told us we should check our luggage.  We didn't have to but if we did not we would have to lug it around.  Since there was only one boat the chances of it getting lost seemed remote so we each checked our largest carry on.  The boat trip was nice enough, only a little rough.  When we got off to pick up our luggage it was in two long lines of shelves.  You walked down the middle and picked your luggage off from either side.  Dan suggested I take one side and he take the other and when we found one piece of our luggage then we would tell each other.  We were almost to the end when I spotted his carryon.  I got it down and we decided to continue on because we should find mine soon.  Well, no. 

 

"Are you sure you didn't miss it?" I asked.

 

"No, absolutely not; I didn't miss it!" Dan replied.

 

"I will wait here with mine and you go tell them you can't find your luggage," Dan commanded imperiously.  (The editor will let that slide through.  –dt)

 

This did not seem fair to me but rather than argue, I agreed.

 

When I had explained this, man said (rather condescendingly),  "Why don't you go look one more time first."

 

Well I knew I had not missed my carryon so I started back up the side Dan had checked.  I had not gotten very far when there it was in plain sight.

 

I got my carryon and returned to where Dan and the luggage guy were standing.

 

"Oh I'm glad you found it," the luggage guy said.

 

Dan, very wisely did not say a word.

 

We proceeded to customs.  Dan went first and zipped right through.  When it was my turn a rather bored customs guy asked why I was coming to visit Canada.

 

"To visit my friends," I replied with perfect honesty.

 

"Where do your friends live?" he asked.

 

"All over the place," I replied.  (this might have been a slight exaggeration but Dan had the list with everyone's' addresses and I did not remember.

 

"Where did you meet your friends?"  he asked.

 

"In Mexico," I explained.

 

"Are you bringing anything with you into Canada?" he asked a little more firmly.

 

"Well my clothes, a few books, some glass samples, my pills,…" I wasn't sure quite what he was getting at.

 

"What pills are you bringing?"  (Was it my imagination or did he seem to be paying more attention?)

 

"Well the purple pills are for my tummy; the little yellow pills are for hot flashes, the little pink pills are for depression, the big white pills are for anxiety, the large blue pills are multivitamins…"

 

"So all these pills are prescription medicine?" he asked.

 

"Well I did bring some Rolaids, some anti diarrhea pills and some cold pills," I admitted.

 

Suddenly light dawned.  This man thought I was a mule carrying drugs into Canada.

 

I glanced over at Dan's face and had no doubt that he thought I was an ass!

 

"How long have you known these friends from Canada?" the interrogation continued.

 

Eventually it was all sorted out and I was allowed to enter Canada (no searches were involved).  I slunk over to where Dan was waiting trying to pretend he had never seen me before.  "Never mention Mexico!!" he hissed.

 

Our travel agent (dt) had done a good job and our hotel was right across the street from the dock.  When we checked in we found two messages, one from Paul and Kathleen welcoming us to Canada and one from Serah saying she was on her way.  (I love getting messages at hotels!)  In fact Serah was there by the time we finished checking in.  She drove us around Victoria showing us some sights and we had dinner at a seafood restaurant that looked out over the Inner Harbour.  They made their own beer there and Dan had one.  Going back to our hotel we passed the Parliament which was outlined with lights; it looked charming.  There were horse carriages parked beside it that would take you for a short tour.  That looked like fun but I was too tired.

 

The next day we walked around seeing the sights of Victoria.  We took a self-guided tour of the Parliament.  We looked at lots of totem poles and statues.  We went to the undersea museum.  This was a very large aquarium with lots of local fish, octopi, shellfish, anemones and so on.  Then we went on a carriage ride; silly I know but I enjoyed it.  The horse was a Belgian whose name was King.  When the driver said gee step King would go right.  When she said haw step he would go left.  Step meant straight ahead.   As we rode the driver gave an interesting commentary about the history of Victoria.  All went well until a large semi screeched to a halt right in front of us.  "

 

"Gee step!" the driver said calmly. 

 

King turned his head completely around and stared at the driver in disbelief. "Do you really want me to go out in front of that big noisy thing?" he seemed to ask.

 

"Gee step!" the driver repeated.

 

King shook his great head; heaved an immense horsey sigh, and made a right turn.

 

That evening we had dinner with Paul and Kathleen.  It was good to see them as we had missed them in Mexico last season.  They both were doing well.

 

The next day we went to Butchart Gardens.  This is probably the most beautiful garden I have seen.  I especially liked the sunken garden which was built in an abandoned gravel quarry.  As our home is on an abandoned strip mine I immediately began to see similarities and possibilities. At the gift shop I bought 3 packages of seeds.  Since I could not bring home the 54 gardeners they employ I suppose my efforts will continue to pale by comparison but we do what we can.  One flower that was especially beautiful was the blue poppy.  I bought some Canadian lily seeds so that I could commemorate our journey, if they grace us by growing.  (It was a bit rainy that day, but no worries.  The garden provided umbrellas which they even brought out to folks when the showers started.  –dt)

 

That evening Peter picked us up and took us to some of the interesting spots around Victoria.  We climbed the highest lookout point and from there we could look down and see both sides of the island.  There was a little map that showed us the names of other islands across the bay.  There is something wild and free about being on an island.  The world flows by around you, it seems to me.

 

That evening we went to dinner at Peter and Judy's home.  They had prepared a lovely salmon dinner for us. And for dessert our mutual friend Daphne had made a lovely trifle.  We had a wonderful evening with most pleasant conversation.  We talked of things we had done and places we had been and made plans for next winter when we all will meet again in Bucerias.

 

Sadly we missed seeing Brian and Susan and David and Lorraine; we hope everyone is better and we catch up with you sometime.

 

(Pictures from Victoria:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627147799092/ )

 

We took a bus to Vancouver – sort of.  To go to Vancouver we first rode on a bus and then on a ferry and then on the bus again.  The bus from downtown Victoria drove right onto the ferry which was docked at a bay on the other side of the island where we disembarked the bus for the ride to the mainland.  Then we reboarded the bus for the trip to downtown Vancouver.

 

Although we probably could have walked, we decided to take a cab to the bus station In Victoria for the first leg of the trip.  A little confusion with Canadian currency left a very happy cabbie with an $8 instead of a $2 tip for a very short ride.  (I counted 1,2,3,4 when I should have counted 2,4,6,8.  –dt)

 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dan asked.  What was he going to do demand a refund?

 

We settled in for a short but rather rowdy stay in Vancouver.  No, we were not rowdy but it just so happened that the days were there were the days the Vancouver Canucks were playing in the Stanley Cup.  But we did take in some of the sights.

 

In Vancouver we visited China town.  At one of the herb stores I talked to a man who sold ginseng.  He was eager to buy from me direct until I told him we were only allowed to sell to government registered dealers.  We went to Stanley Park (Good recommendation, Gord. –dt) where they had a great aquarium.  While we were there we saw a Beluga show; they were charming animals.  Then we rode on a little train and saw a Disneyesque enactment of a Indian folk legend. (In Canada they are called 'First Peoples.'  -dt) I enjoyed it but I think it may have been a bit hokey for Dan. (He just is not in touch with his inner child.)

 

The next day we checked out but still had lots of time before our train departed. (For the second part of our Canadian adventure -dt), so we wondered around downtown a bit and visited some art galleries.  Returning to the hotel to collect our luggage we saw many locals with blue faces carousing in the streets.  We took a cab over to the train station and after checking in for the train watched the end of the hockey game on a big screen TV in the waiting lounge.

 

"Do you think we should be rooting for the US?" I whispered to Dan.

 

"Don't even think about it!!" he replied.

 

(Pictures from Vancouver:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627028690663/ )

 

 

The next adventure will be about the train to Manitoba and our wonderful visit there.  If any of you in Manitoba have additional photos to share, forward them soon so that they become part of our next newsletter.

 

Best wishes to all.  Stay cool.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com