I walk the lounge filled with chestnut brown chairs
Seeing none empty
I circle back,
a plane with no clearance to land
Tiring of the scrape-thud-scrape
of my suitcase,
I wait, check-in
Why are people who help people
never as helpful as they could be?
I fumble for ID, empty my pockets
mumble apologies
Then there you are
serendipitously, next to me
Smiling that sly smile
waiting for me to notice you
Unbelieving: Why after decades of absence
have we met, like this?
With no chair in sight,
or a coffee worthy of the name?
Nevermind.
We seat ourselves
in a quiet hallway
Legs crossed on the floor
between us the detritus of our lives.
We recount and reminisce
stare at the floor now, then the wall next
You tell me where you've been
we proffer our secrets
layer by layer
Nevermind all that, you say
Let's come back around
to the simple joy of having met.
Let us enjoy these few moments
with both of us suspended
between our separate lives
The speakers declare the end.
In three tongues no less!
We make doomed promises
embrace with no tears shed
until we turn
to go our own ways
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Posted with Blogsy
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Shakespeare's Sonnet 138
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Road Trip: The Hip in Cleveland
North America is uniquely qualified by the presence of a network of super highways; road side amenities; a paucity of brigands and police road blocks; lack of civil unrest and potholes, to make a road trip the kind of journey which can be anticipated devoid of anxiety. In fact, I look forward to road trips as leaps into open-sky-freedom with my moods and whims and bodily functions as my only guides to reaching the destination.
The idea of the journey as destination also has it's place here: As, if I may quote myself, "The trip starts the minute I step out the front door." Or, "Anything that happens from now is part of the journey." I usually utter something like this in order to help my travelling companions take the vagaries of travel in stride. To put it another way: delays in take off, confusion at the ticket counter, forgetting to pack some necessary item, bumper-to-bumper traffic, must all be viewed as part of the adventure of travelling. In fact, to some extent, I am happier if some bit of adversity challenges me in reaching my destination. The idea that I will have to improvise, finagle, do an end run on some challenge makes the trip all the more memorable for me.
As an aside, and there seem to be a lot of those in this post, I have come upon a list which recalls many of the most famous literary road trips undertaken in America. You can find this list (which includes Kerouac, Twain and Steinbeck) on the Smithsonian Magazine's website.
My last trip to the Bahamas (find a second post here) and to Florida (find posts here, here and here)threw up just the kind of curve balls that cause these trips to stick to the otherwise teflon coated slopes of my memory.
My road trip this year consists of a five-and-a-half hour drive to Cleveland, Ohio. A city which was once tagged by media outlets as the "mistake on the lake." In recent years, C-Town has seen a re-invigoration of it's downtown core with the establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Centre, improvement of the school system, general economic revitalization of the inner city neighbourhoods and the emergence of the Cleveland Art Museum as a leading centre for the arts in the United States among others. In fact, Cleveland, once a part of the rust belt, was hailed in 2005 by The Economist as one of the most livable cities in America. In 1999, Cleveland was recognized as an emerging global city.
The chief reason for my trip to the home of the Cleveland Browns is to see The Tragically Hip. Seeing the The Hip in Canada can usually set you back about a $100 bucks and you have to share them with 50,000 of your closest friends. But when you attend a Hip concert in the States, you have the opportunity of seeing Gord and friends up close AND for virtually a quarter of the the price. My wife and I went to Cleveland one year, before the kids came along, and saw them at a club which had room for about 500 people. It was an exhilarating and memorable experience.
The idea of the journey as destination also has it's place here: As, if I may quote myself, "The trip starts the minute I step out the front door." Or, "Anything that happens from now is part of the journey." I usually utter something like this in order to help my travelling companions take the vagaries of travel in stride. To put it another way: delays in take off, confusion at the ticket counter, forgetting to pack some necessary item, bumper-to-bumper traffic, must all be viewed as part of the adventure of travelling. In fact, to some extent, I am happier if some bit of adversity challenges me in reaching my destination. The idea that I will have to improvise, finagle, do an end run on some challenge makes the trip all the more memorable for me.
As an aside, and there seem to be a lot of those in this post, I have come upon a list which recalls many of the most famous literary road trips undertaken in America. You can find this list (which includes Kerouac, Twain and Steinbeck) on the Smithsonian Magazine's website.
My road trip this year consists of a five-and-a-half hour drive to Cleveland, Ohio. A city which was once tagged by media outlets as the "mistake on the lake." In recent years, C-Town has seen a re-invigoration of it's downtown core with the establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Centre, improvement of the school system, general economic revitalization of the inner city neighbourhoods and the emergence of the Cleveland Art Museum as a leading centre for the arts in the United States among others. In fact, Cleveland, once a part of the rust belt, was hailed in 2005 by The Economist as one of the most livable cities in America. In 1999, Cleveland was recognized as an emerging global city.
The chief reason for my trip to the home of the Cleveland Browns is to see The Tragically Hip. Seeing the The Hip in Canada can usually set you back about a $100 bucks and you have to share them with 50,000 of your closest friends. But when you attend a Hip concert in the States, you have the opportunity of seeing Gord and friends up close AND for virtually a quarter of the the price. My wife and I went to Cleveland one year, before the kids came along, and saw them at a club which had room for about 500 people. It was an exhilarating and memorable experience.
And so, on November 2nd, I plan on pointing the car westward and enjoying a short ride on the open road, arriving in Cleveland in the afternoon and then making my way to the House of Blues in the evening to dance for a few hours with fellow Canadians and some Americans to the beat of some classic Hip songs and some new ones from their recently released Album. And that must be the longest sentence I have ever written!
The third day of the trip, November 4th, consists of a ride back towards Toronto, with a stop over at the outlet mall in Niagara Falls, NY, to visit the JCrew, Gap and Burberry stores. I will post along the road, so stay tuned and....thanks for reading.
For the second day, the plan is to go back downtown, take in the flavour of the city with a walking tour and visit the Cleveland Art Museum. And, as a seredipitous bonus, the museum will be opening it's doors for the first time for an exhibit of the works of William Johnson. I have always admired Johnson's work for it's vibrant colours, simplicity of presentation and the sometimes sweet and sometimes saddening subject of his paintings. In fact, the art work shown with this post (Little Sweet) is one I have up on a wall in my house.
Johnson (1901 - 1970) has been described as a "pivotal figure in modern American art. A virtuoso skilled in various media and techniques, (who) produced thousands of works over a career that spanned decades, continents, and genres."The third day of the trip, November 4th, consists of a ride back towards Toronto, with a stop over at the outlet mall in Niagara Falls, NY, to visit the JCrew, Gap and Burberry stores. I will post along the road, so stay tuned and....thanks for reading.
Monday, October 08, 2012
How to Bounce Back
I've lifted the following article from Bobbi Emel's blog -- thebounceblog. Emel is a psychotherapist whose self-asserted passion is to "help readers bounce back from life's challenges - the big ones as well as the little ones that trip you up on a daily basis.
Want to bounce back better and faster when life hits you with unexpected surprises?
Here’s a quick list of some of the most useful tips to get back on your feet.
1. Acknowledge what is in front of you. If you’re in the middle of a bad situation, it’s time to really see what is happening. You must be completely honest with yourself – no more denial or wishful thinking that it will get better. Strip away the intense emotion from it, identify the problem, and accept that it is reality.
2. Realize that change is always going to be in your life.
You struggle against change. You waste a lot of energy making sure that things stay the same in your life. Save your energy for better things and accept that change truly is a normal part of life. Expect it.
3. Learn to be an optimist.
Optimism and pessimism are ways you explain why things happen to you. Being optimistic allows you to bounce back because it helps you focus on the positive and not predict the negative. The web is full of great articles on how to be an optimist instead of a pessimist. Go check it out.
4. Be nice to yourself.
Here are the three keys to self-compassion proposed by researcher Kristin Neff: a.) Stop your inner criticism. Treat yourself as you would your best friend, b.) Everyone has flaws. Everyone. Remember that you’re a part of the human race so you’re bound to make mistakes, and, c.) Practice mindfulness by noticing your thoughts and feelings, but have no judgment about them.
5. Let it go.
Grasping tightly to a belief, behavior, or material object only drains your energy and narrows your focus onto that object. In order to be resilient, you need flexibility and openness to options and opportunities.
6. Have a tribe.
It’s vital to have friends and family who can rally around you in an emergency. Make sure you have a good, stable tribe at your disposal.
7. Look for the silver lining.
Always look for the lessons and gifts that are inherent in adversity. Maybe you’ll learn that you’re stronger than you thought. Maybe you’ll find out how many people really care about you. The silver lining is there if you look for it.
8. Develop post-traumatic growth.
When faced with trauma, a small number of people develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the majority of people bounce back naturally after a month or so, and the remaining people actually grow and benefit from the experience. How? The basics are being optimistic and looking for the lessons in their lives. Give it a try.
9. Find a mentor.
Researcher about childhood resilience shows that the presence of even one caring adult in a child’s life can make all the difference. It can for you, too. Find someone you admire and trust and use them for guidance and loving support.
10. Look at problems from different angles.
Although the crisis in front of you may look dire, ask yourself if there is another way to look at it. Might it actually open up opportunities for you? Are you magnifying it unnecessarily?
11. Remember that you’ve made it through tough times before.
Unless you’ve led a charmed life, you’ve been through difficult situations in your past. And you’re still here to talk about it, so have faith that you’ll make it through again.
12. Think about kaleidoscopes.
When you look through a kaleidoscope, you see a beautiful pattern. It’s so pretty, you may not want to change it. But, eventually, you have to turn the dial. Suddenly there is a chaotic jumble in front of your eyes but then, magically, another beautiful pattern emerges. Life can be like this, too. So remember when things are jumbled in your life that they may be actually forming a brand new, beautiful image.
13. Take a break.
It’s important to refresh both your body and mind so take a break now and then. And remember that it’s okay to distract yourself from mental and emotional experiences like grief and rumination, too. You could use a break. Go do something fun. Really, it’s okay.
14. Remember that you already are resilient.
As mentioned in #8 above, most people are naturally resilient and you are probably one of them. Just because you struggle for a bit doesn’t mean you’re not resilient. It means you’re human.
15. Common humanity.
Remember that you are a part of the human species and therefore quite likely to have some flaws and make mistakes. But everyone does. You are not alone in your experience of struggling with external or internal adversity.
16. No one said you have to like it.
You know what? Sometimes things really do suck. So, just because you need to be resilient doesn’t mean you have to like the situation you’re in. You can be accepting, open, and flexible while at the same time acknowledging that the problem sucks.
17. Look up.
Do you find that you keep your eyes to the ground a lot? Do something different – look up! You might see something you’ve never seen before. And looking up helps provide that distraction that we talked about in #13 as you notice the color of the sky, that cool piece of architecture, or the intricate spider web design in the corner of the room.
18. Simply notice.
Feeling bad? Okay, but you don’t have to buy into your emotions. Just notice them. And withhold judgment about them or yourself.
19. Be kind.
Commit random acts of kindness. Helping others creates positive emotions in you which then expands your sense of possibilities in the world - the idea that there is more than one way to get through your current crisis. Problem-solving a situation becomes much easier and you’ll find that positive emotions help exponentially with your ability to bounce back."
 |
| Spread from EMILY LOVES TO BOUNCE by Stephen Michael King |
Here’s a quick list of some of the most useful tips to get back on your feet.
1. Acknowledge what is in front of you. If you’re in the middle of a bad situation, it’s time to really see what is happening. You must be completely honest with yourself – no more denial or wishful thinking that it will get better. Strip away the intense emotion from it, identify the problem, and accept that it is reality.
2. Realize that change is always going to be in your life.
You struggle against change. You waste a lot of energy making sure that things stay the same in your life. Save your energy for better things and accept that change truly is a normal part of life. Expect it.
3. Learn to be an optimist.
Optimism and pessimism are ways you explain why things happen to you. Being optimistic allows you to bounce back because it helps you focus on the positive and not predict the negative. The web is full of great articles on how to be an optimist instead of a pessimist. Go check it out.
4. Be nice to yourself.
Here are the three keys to self-compassion proposed by researcher Kristin Neff: a.) Stop your inner criticism. Treat yourself as you would your best friend, b.) Everyone has flaws. Everyone. Remember that you’re a part of the human race so you’re bound to make mistakes, and, c.) Practice mindfulness by noticing your thoughts and feelings, but have no judgment about them.
5. Let it go.
Grasping tightly to a belief, behavior, or material object only drains your energy and narrows your focus onto that object. In order to be resilient, you need flexibility and openness to options and opportunities.
6. Have a tribe.
It’s vital to have friends and family who can rally around you in an emergency. Make sure you have a good, stable tribe at your disposal.
7. Look for the silver lining.
Always look for the lessons and gifts that are inherent in adversity. Maybe you’ll learn that you’re stronger than you thought. Maybe you’ll find out how many people really care about you. The silver lining is there if you look for it.
8. Develop post-traumatic growth.
When faced with trauma, a small number of people develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the majority of people bounce back naturally after a month or so, and the remaining people actually grow and benefit from the experience. How? The basics are being optimistic and looking for the lessons in their lives. Give it a try.
9. Find a mentor.
Researcher about childhood resilience shows that the presence of even one caring adult in a child’s life can make all the difference. It can for you, too. Find someone you admire and trust and use them for guidance and loving support.
10. Look at problems from different angles.
Although the crisis in front of you may look dire, ask yourself if there is another way to look at it. Might it actually open up opportunities for you? Are you magnifying it unnecessarily?
11. Remember that you’ve made it through tough times before.
Unless you’ve led a charmed life, you’ve been through difficult situations in your past. And you’re still here to talk about it, so have faith that you’ll make it through again.
12. Think about kaleidoscopes.
When you look through a kaleidoscope, you see a beautiful pattern. It’s so pretty, you may not want to change it. But, eventually, you have to turn the dial. Suddenly there is a chaotic jumble in front of your eyes but then, magically, another beautiful pattern emerges. Life can be like this, too. So remember when things are jumbled in your life that they may be actually forming a brand new, beautiful image.
13. Take a break.
It’s important to refresh both your body and mind so take a break now and then. And remember that it’s okay to distract yourself from mental and emotional experiences like grief and rumination, too. You could use a break. Go do something fun. Really, it’s okay.
14. Remember that you already are resilient.
As mentioned in #8 above, most people are naturally resilient and you are probably one of them. Just because you struggle for a bit doesn’t mean you’re not resilient. It means you’re human.
15. Common humanity.
Remember that you are a part of the human species and therefore quite likely to have some flaws and make mistakes. But everyone does. You are not alone in your experience of struggling with external or internal adversity.
16. No one said you have to like it.
You know what? Sometimes things really do suck. So, just because you need to be resilient doesn’t mean you have to like the situation you’re in. You can be accepting, open, and flexible while at the same time acknowledging that the problem sucks.
17. Look up.
Do you find that you keep your eyes to the ground a lot? Do something different – look up! You might see something you’ve never seen before. And looking up helps provide that distraction that we talked about in #13 as you notice the color of the sky, that cool piece of architecture, or the intricate spider web design in the corner of the room.
18. Simply notice.
Feeling bad? Okay, but you don’t have to buy into your emotions. Just notice them. And withhold judgment about them or yourself.
19. Be kind.
Commit random acts of kindness. Helping others creates positive emotions in you which then expands your sense of possibilities in the world - the idea that there is more than one way to get through your current crisis. Problem-solving a situation becomes much easier and you’ll find that positive emotions help exponentially with your ability to bounce back."
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Sit
Sit, drink your coffee here; your work can wait awhile.
You're twenty-six, and still have some life ahead.
No need for wit; just talk vacuities, and I'll
Reciprocate in kind, or laugh at you instead.
The world is too opaque, distressing and profound.
This twenty minutes' rendezvous will make my day:
To sit here in the sun, with grackles all around,
Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.
Vikram Seth
You're twenty-six, and still have some life ahead.
No need for wit; just talk vacuities, and I'll
Reciprocate in kind, or laugh at you instead.
The world is too opaque, distressing and profound.
This twenty minutes' rendezvous will make my day:
To sit here in the sun, with grackles all around,
Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.
Vikram Seth
Friday, September 14, 2012
Ghazal - Sudarshan Fakir
Mere Dukh Ki Koi Dawa Na Karo
Mujhko Mujhse Abhi Juda Na Karo
Na-khuda Ko Khuda Kaha Hai To Fir
Doob Jaao Khuda-khuda Na Karo
Ye Sikhaya Hai Dosthi Ne Hame
Dosth Bankar Kabhi Wafa Na Karo
Ishq Hai Ishq Ye Mazaq Nahin
Chand Lamhon Mein Faishlaa Na Karo
Aashiqi Ho Ke Bandagi 'faakir'
Be-dili Se To Ye Fida Na Karo
Mujhko Mujhse Abhi Juda Na Karo
Na-khuda Ko Khuda Kaha Hai To Fir
Doob Jaao Khuda-khuda Na Karo
Ye Sikhaya Hai Dosthi Ne Hame
Dosth Bankar Kabhi Wafa Na Karo
Ishq Hai Ishq Ye Mazaq Nahin
Chand Lamhon Mein Faishlaa Na Karo
Aashiqi Ho Ke Bandagi 'faakir'
Be-dili Se To Ye Fida Na Karo
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Assessors, Navigators and Aggregators
One of the chief pleasures of the internet is the serendipitous discovery of sights and facts previously unseen. A few of the tools I use to do this, mostly on my iPad, are Stumbleupon, Flipboard, Instapaper, Pocket, and Zite. (Hmm, see the trend? Face-book, Stumble-upon, Flip-board, Insta-paper, You-Tube...there must be a name for this enthusiasm for naming your company/app with two evocative words instead of the good old brands like Ford, Black's, Kodak, GM, IBM...but this is tangential to my point, sorry).
Stumbleupon and Flipboard both operate on similar principles: You tell the app what kinds of things interest you and then, in the case of Stumble, you are sent on a corkscrew ride through the interweb. Things are a little hit-and-miss with Stumbleupon but the chances of happening upon something truly interesting keeps me coming back. Stumbleupon also asks you to give a thumbs up or down for any given site you are taken to and subsequently refines it's searches to better suit your tastes. So less stumbling as it "learns" you. A terrific time waster.
Flipboard also asks for your interests and then presents sites and articles that it figures you will be interested in reading. Instead of taking you to a specific site, Flipboard shows you a number of sites in the form of a magazine cover. If something interests you, you click and read and then return to the app to peruse more pages. Yet another app, which I don't often use, is Zite: highly recommended by various sites as an aggregator of your personal interests. Zite works pretty much in the same way as Flipboard, including presenting material in a magazine format. It would be only a matter of taste as to which app you choose to use. Oh, heck! Why not live on the edge and download both?
InstaPaper is one of my favourites. It is an aggregator of long articles from such esteemed online and hard copy publications, inter-alia, as the NY Times, New Yorker, The Boston Review, GQ, Vanity Fair, Foreign Affairs and The American Scholar. It is a great app to use if you take transit as it will display articles in their entirety even when your device is not online.
InstaPaper is related closely to a web site known as Pocket, formerly known as Read it Later. This is a service which will save articles/pages from anywhere on the web with one click, allowing you to come back to these saved articles at a later time when you find time to read them. I guess this assumes that you are not going to be rooting around the web all the time, but will take time and read the articles you have archived. My relationship with Pocket is sometimes hot and sometimes cold.
Flipboard also asks for your interests and then presents sites and articles that it figures you will be interested in reading. Instead of taking you to a specific site, Flipboard shows you a number of sites in the form of a magazine cover. If something interests you, you click and read and then return to the app to peruse more pages. Yet another app, which I don't often use, is Zite: highly recommended by various sites as an aggregator of your personal interests. Zite works pretty much in the same way as Flipboard, including presenting material in a magazine format. It would be only a matter of taste as to which app you choose to use. Oh, heck! Why not live on the edge and download both?
InstaPaper is one of my favourites. It is an aggregator of long articles from such esteemed online and hard copy publications, inter-alia, as the NY Times, New Yorker, The Boston Review, GQ, Vanity Fair, Foreign Affairs and The American Scholar. It is a great app to use if you take transit as it will display articles in their entirety even when your device is not online.
InstaPaper is related closely to a web site known as Pocket, formerly known as Read it Later. This is a service which will save articles/pages from anywhere on the web with one click, allowing you to come back to these saved articles at a later time when you find time to read them. I guess this assumes that you are not going to be rooting around the web all the time, but will take time and read the articles you have archived. My relationship with Pocket is sometimes hot and sometimes cold.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My Bucket List
I have begun, at this later stage in my life, to make a list of things and places I absolutely must see or do, or have done to me. So here goes:
- Hike the Grand Canyon
- Visit Gujurath, India with my friend, Anwar and make a documentary of it.
- Safari through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Parks with my family and take a side trip to show them the town in which I was born. You will spot my town right next to the Lake Nyasa label -- Songea. And end the trip on the island of Zanzibar.
- See the Amazon by cruising down the river in guided tour boat. (I know my limits and I don't want some exotic worm getting in my eye and working it's way to my brain to reproduce.)
- Ride a Segway for hours on end in Miami Beach or Toronto. Totally doable.
- Dive in Thailand at the Richelieu Rock Dive Site.
- Go for a pilgrimmage to Mecca, Saudia Arabia.
- Visit Jamaica with my family for an all inclusive week-long holiday so the kids can see where mom was born. Again, easy-peasy!
- Pursue photography and writing. More.
- Read more. More.
- To not worry so much what people think about what I do and say....fuck yeah!
- Quit smoking.
- Debunk any debunkers!
- To not use so many commas in my writing.
- See a great pianist play the Brandenburg Concertos in their entirety.
I will periodically revise and add to this list.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
At The Cottage - Pics
We spent five days at a place called Lazy Acre Cottages. A place on Desert Lake, which is itself just a trailer resort anchored by a general store, a playground and a half-moon shaped beach which at it's widest is only 4 metres wide.
The cottage was recommended by one of our neighbours and, to be frank, was a disappointment.
Nevertheless, here are the pics of, at least the kids enjoying themselves, fishing, catching frogs, over-dosing on sugar (there was no TV at the cottage) and swimming.
Nevertheless, here are the pics of, at least the kids enjoying themselves, fishing, catching frogs, over-dosing on sugar (there was no TV at the cottage) and swimming.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
In Response to an E-Mail Entitled: Why Are the Jews so Powerful?
Sunni or Shia, Allawi or Hazari, Zaidi, Ismaili, Ithnasheri, Bhora, Khoja, Dawoodi-Bhora (a sub-sect of Ismailism)....why? Honestly, just because. There is not one iota of difference between these people and their continued need to split off from the original faith except that it is human nature. And the original faith was itself a splitting off from the religious ideas present at the time of the Revelations.
So when Muslims, even amongst themselves, endlessly split away from each other, it is not surprising that people (all people) are happy to pounce on and denounce, at various times, the Jews, Italians, Japanese, etc. It is just a bigger way to differentiate oneself from the OTHER. Sometimes the OTHER is a Muslim, at other times a Jew.
It is best at these times to look at yourself and realize that most things in life exist on a continuum. A series of decisions or compromises that suit the individual at one point in time. Everything else follows the individual's decision: Including the need to build a theory which will then support our own selfish decisions.
So whether you are a Twelver, a Fiver or a Sevener, it makes not a bit of difference in the greater scheme of things. Born in Wales, Scotland, England; Dublin, London, Devonshire? Honestly, who the heck cares? And can you really spot the difference on the Don Valley Parkway, returning from work on a Friday at 6 p.m.?
So when Muslims, even amongst themselves, endlessly split away from each other, it is not surprising that people (all people) are happy to pounce on and denounce, at various times, the Jews, Italians, Japanese, etc. It is just a bigger way to differentiate oneself from the OTHER. Sometimes the OTHER is a Muslim, at other times a Jew.
It is best at these times to look at yourself and realize that most things in life exist on a continuum. A series of decisions or compromises that suit the individual at one point in time. Everything else follows the individual's decision: Including the need to build a theory which will then support our own selfish decisions.
So whether you are a Twelver, a Fiver or a Sevener, it makes not a bit of difference in the greater scheme of things. Born in Wales, Scotland, England; Dublin, London, Devonshire? Honestly, who the heck cares? And can you really spot the difference on the Don Valley Parkway, returning from work on a Friday at 6 p.m.?
Trip to Kingston, Ontario
Seth and Tarah at Chapters looking for a book to read at the cottage. We weren't in Kingston at this point but since it's my blog, I've taken some liberties with the chronology.
While we were busy getting bored at the cottage, we decided to go into Kingston to find some grub. Ended up eating at a Thai food restaurant called Mango. Marsh and I last ate at this place about two years ago. The food and service were every bit as good as that first time.
Seth pleading his case to mom.
The mango salad and chicken satay were delicious.
Later, we took a walk down, the appropriately named, Princess Street and found a store named Tara Natural Foods. The owner was putting away some wooden pallets in his truck and watched me taking pictures of Tarah in front of his store. I told him the reason why we thought his store worthy of a picture; he promptly said, "I should get her a treat. Wait here a minute, I'll get her a treat." And then returned with some popsicles for both Tarah and Seth. So nice to have these things happen out of the blue.
Aside from horse drawn carriages, handing in a wallet which Seth found to a police officer, we also came across this beautiful truck outside a restaurant by the waterfront.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Algonquin Park - East Entrance
We will be canoeing this time with everything we might need in one canoe. This has meant a little more planning but it will be well worth it to let our sons get a taste of true wilderness camping.
I have canoed through Algonquin on four other occasions: In the early 80's, I tripped on my own and covered almost the whole distance that I planned on completing. My route: Canoe Lake - Portage 260 m - Joe Lake - Tepee Lake - Little Oxtongue River - Little Doe Lake - Tom Thompson Lake - Portage 2.3 km - Ink Lake - Macintosh Lake. I retraced my steps to return to civilization. (If you click on the picture above you should get a larger image).
This first time, I carried way too much stuff and suffered for it. I saw moose, heard loons, carried my canoe for several hundred metres, camped solitary and survived to tell about it. I must admit that I was stumped when I arrived at the 2.3 km portage between Tom Thompson Lake and Ink Lake. There was no way I could have carried the canoe and then my bag of food/equipment and clothing.
Several years later, probably 1986, I revisited the route I took on the first trip with my friend, Rob. We did the long portage and rested on Macintosh Lake for several days of swimming, fishing and exploring.
In the early 90's, I took the same route but this time with my wife, Marshalin. A fantastic trip, with lots of learning on Marsh's part about canoeing. At the dreaded 2.3 km portage we managed to carry our clothing and food bags to the end of the portage and returned to the beginning point to pick up the canoe and yet another bag.
The terrain along this portage is/was rocky, with endless hills and boulders and, of course, bugs. Once we hoisted the canoe onto our shoulders, I heard Marsh say, "I can't do this, I can't." And she started crying. So we took 10 minutes to gather our energies and talk. We were in an impossible position. Half of our stuff was at the head of the portage and the other half was at the tail end of the portage. We would either have to make the trip to retrieve our bags or carry the last of our stuff and canoe to the destination end of the trail. The canoe and bag won because it would mean only doing the portage one more time.
The feeling of elation and accomplishment was powerful when we finally got to the Ink Lake side of things. We took a well deserved break, snacked, watched other people as they came off the trail huffing and puffing. We parked ourselves on Macintosh Lake and luxuriated for three days, after which we took on the portage again to head back home.
My third trip entering through Canoe Lake was the same as those above with the exception of a black bear ambling into our campsite at breakfast time. It didn't take much to scare him off and then we got all our belongings together as fast as possible and finished breakfast in the canoe.
I chose to enter the park from Whitney this time because the paddling looks a bit easier for the first day than Canoe Lake, which is massive and often windy.
 |
| The arrow points to our entry point |
The above screen capture shows one of the islands we hope to camp on Rock Lake after a second day of canoeing. We will stay on either Rose (Jean) or Jean (Rose) Islands. No clue as to why they are identified with alternating names on the map.
Needless to say, we are all excited and looking forward to our 'wilderness' trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)