A winter hike

Since we were lucky enough to have fresh snow on a saturday, we got the dogs out on a hike... We headed to a section of the Bruce Trail near the Forks of the Credit. It's in the area of the old ring kiln.
The dogs had a great time! Ender had a spring in his step, Shelby of course ran wide circles around us as we hiked, and Abby ran along as usual, with leaps and maniacal bursts of speed!

It was fairly rough terrain, rocky and steep, both ways. But everyone did well, and there were no injuries! The ruins of the old kiln are stunning. In one section, the trail darts between buildings, formidable walls of massive stone bricks running on either side. Here is a link with some info on the kilns: http://www.caledonbrucetrail.org/hoffman_industry.htm


Now the dogs (and Don) are napping... So here are some shots:

Using my powers for good.

...well, at least one of them.... that being the power of free time. Since I am unemployed at the moment, I have decided to use my time to get our house fully organized, so that when I do have to work again (alas) the house will be a more efficiently functioning organism.
There are some big jobs on my list - reclaiming my back room, and organizing the laundry room being the most daunting. There are about half a zillion small jobs on my list, and I've decided to start with a handful of those, to give me the oomph and gumption required for the more intimidating to-do's lurking around these parts.

On my last day at work, I was gifted two lovely bottles of wine in a plain wooden box. I enjoyed the wine thoroughly, and if you know me at all, you already know that the wheels in my head were turning the moment I saw that wooden box.
I've needed to do something pretty to organize my jewellery, and this box was to be the start.

I am very happy with the way it turned out! I will post my next project when finished, it will accompany this one.

January 2012

It's gorgeous, the sun is shining, the weather is mild... Too mild for January.
I'm keeping pace with one of the dogs on a walk; the peaceful sound of claws clicking on asphalt is slowly being muffled by the sounds of kids playing in the schoolyard.
Shrieks, laughter and shouting, "Emily! Come get me!" "Dylan, pass me the ball!" "Aaaiiiiiieeeeeeee, you can't catch me!!!!!"

This audible chaos is matched by the jarring visuals of every colour and combination of snowpants, jackets, scarves, mitts and hats imaginable.... It's a palette straight out of a crayon box....

Colours so vibrant, in motion, reeling... For a moment, it takes me a while to focus on the negative space between them... The flaxen dull green of dormant grass...

These little tykes are all dressed up, with no snow to play in.

It really only strikes me as sad when I see two of the brightly dressed children taking turns pulling each other over the dead grass on a bright red sled.

Out of work obstacle course.

Well, I have recently found myself unemployed, with the cushion of a little bit of time to relax and actually enjoy it. This is a fantastic position to be in, and one that I do not intend to waste!
Yesterday was day one. The first day of not going to work. I had an appointment first thing in the morning, at the unemployment office, and I caught myself wondering: "wouldn't it be embarassing if those old neural pathways just guided my way, and I end up at the office?"
Luckily it didn't happen, but just imagine!?

Monday was very smooth, I had a lot of errands to run, so it kept me busy, and I even found myself up against a mental challenge, even before leaving the house. Trying to be thrifty, I made myself a thermos of tea to take with me (avoiding the urge to buy said tea) Taking the tea bags out was a trick - the mouth of the thermos was too small to wedge them out with a spoon, and it was still early, so the synapses were firing, although weakly, and I thought, "This is your big, unemployed challenge of the day!"
Chopsticks made short work of the issue, and my thermos was set to go.

Later in the day, I was telling Don about my the big hurdle i'd overcome early in my day, and it made me laugh to imagine myself in an interview sometime, being asked by a potential employer to explain a recent challenge I'd had to overcome.
"Well," I'd say, "There was this one time, when I made tea in my thermos..."

Here's to overcoming obstacles, even the little ones!

xmas day hike with the dogs

Now that we are back home, we had a little walk with the dogs.... some pics...

Occidental Grand Xcaret

During our trip, we stayed at the Occidental Grand Xcaret, actually a really nice resort, maybe one of the nicest we have stayed at. While in Mexico, we visited the Xcaret park, dove in some local cenotes, climbed an ancient Mayan Temple (Coba) and won a beach volleyball tourney just hours before catching our plane home :)
check out some of our pictures here - once I am less sleep deprived, I will blog more about all of our experiences!

Chac Mool dec 2011

We travelled to Mexico for the first time this year, from Dec 17 to Dec 24. I'd have to say that the most amazing thing we did was dive in the cenotes. This is a network of underground rivers and caves running throughout the Yucatan penninsula. It was amazing. We dove in areas where there was NO natural light, the light in your hand was the only light you had. We popped up in an air pocket beneath some roots from the trees growing in the rocks over our heads. While we were in there, we heard the rumble of the other tour vans leaving the area, RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS! Carlos, our guide told us that the rock above us was probably about 5 feet thick. Amazing.

We had a really great time, we dove as a group of three, just the two of us with Carlos. I'd highly recommend him as a guide for the area, he took great care of us, even brought us lunch.
He knows so much about the area and the history - both geologic and cultural. I've got his contact info if anyone wants to look him up.

Breaking up with facebook?

Recently, I've begun thinking of breaking it off with facebook. Somehow, we've drifted apart. Maybe it's me, and not you, Facebook.... but I just don't feel as excited about our relationship anymore.
Really, the only thing that we do together anymore is email people I would already be in contact with on a regular basis. And, to be honest, I have other tools for that. I don't want to make you feel bad, but good old hotmail is fine for that.
I know, you're a pretty good place for posting pictures, that's right. But there are lots of other places I can post pictures that don't have marketing attached to the sidebars. There, I said it, I guess that's what bothers me most about you facebook... It's the corporate creepin' you have going on on the side. Kinda weirds me out.
In fact, there is a portion of my job that I'm told I can't do without a facebook account. Well, I draw the line there. There is no need for me to combine my facebook page and my job. And I'm not about to start a "legit" page that I can use for work. That's just too much work. And right now, my private page, that's my page, and it's not there for people from work to look at. I need some safe place, where I can be me... And facebook, you just don't seem like it anymore.

So, yeah, I am thinking of breaking it off with you. Once I collect all those emails from people, I guess it will be over.

from the 3:15 experiment

pushing forward and upwards
bit foggy
bermuda triangle? sometimes it feels like

I'm lost
sea tossed
and wind beaten

Fuzz inside my head
words escaping me

Overwhelmed

Need a glimpse of the light,
the beacon, that moment of clarity
to bring me back
Grounding me
Homeward
Back to what was never lost.

herd mentality

Toronto.
Rush hour.

I am crammed onto the narrow platform with countless other bodies.
Bodies, that’s all we are here

- there are very few minds present.


All trying to focus on something, somewhere or somewhen else.

We’re all working so hard to ignore the sound,
the sight,
the pressure
and the smell


of being packed together on this platform

with the bodies of so many



Strangers.


The train arrives
the mob bursts into the train, it’s every body for itself

Scrambling for a seat, a pole to grasp, an entry way to lean on,
or, at the very least a position between two other bodies that don’t smell too bodily

Still, all the while ignoring the humanity in bulk that surrounds us.

There are so many stories here.
So many individuals here.

So much angst, happiness, sickness, grief, anxiety, boredom, jealousy, struggle, loss, fear, success, hunger, sleeplessness, greed, sex, exasperation, imagination, paranoia, and...

loneliness.


It’s the overwhelming loneliness that gets me.

So crowded and so very lonely.

the 3:15 experiment

I have recently been working at my writing again, and while I was looking for inspiration, I found something called the 3:15 experiment. The premise is simple. Set your alarm for 3.15 - yes, that's am - and when it wakes you - write - it can be simple, long, stream of consciousness, anything.

So, I am trying to keep a log of these pieces, apparently part of the experiment is NOT going back to read the pieces, just to write them and be done with them. We'll see what transpires...

My Happy Place

In April, I had the most amazing vacation. It helped that I was totally in NEED of a vacation, I was completely stressed and burnt out. This place was exactly what I needed.
We went to Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras, and I was blown away. The first morning I woke up there, this was my waking thought: "this is the most beautiful place I've ever woken up, I want to come back!" - and my week's stay had barely begun.
What makes this place so amazing, is, uhh, EVERTHING...
First of all, it's a dive resort - so that pretty much trumps every other place I'd been right there. They have this amazing fleet of probably 12-15 new, shiny, well-run dive boats. Their dive staff is wonderful. Put your gear on the boat, and the rest is looked after - they switch your tanks for you, help you in and out of the boat... our dive master, Alonso, was totally laid back, a really approachable guy. Richard our boat captain was also amazing, he was always there when i needed to lift my tank laden BCD onto my shoulders - he watched carefully for anyone struggling with their gear. The boat we were on was called the Trevor, if you're looking for these two guys, this is where you can find them.
The diving was great. Turns out, the Bay Islands are located on the second largest barrier reef on earth, and it was the healthiest reef I'd ever seen. I saw large barrel coral over 5 feet tall, and probably 3 feet across; brain coral which was probably 4-5 feet across - loads of fish - all the usual suspects, blue tang, cowfish, clownfish,parrotfish... Angelfish, french and queen, in their romantic pairings, gliding over the reefs together... these were so plentiful, they became a secret favourite of mine, because they weren't as frightened of us, so they were visible for long periods of time. I could hang in one spot and watch them for quite some time.
We saw an eagle ray on one dive, he came gliding along the wall we were diving, it was amazing - this was the first one I'd seen underwater. The first live eagle ray I'd seen was spotted in the channel at the resort only a night or two earlier. So this was a big deal for me.
Turtles, yes, we saw lots of turtles - and my heart skips a little everytime I see them.
We saw barracuda and groupers - and one barracuda in particular was incredible, her name was Angelina, and she was probably more than 4 feet long. She was spotted as a juvenile, and the divemasters would feed her everyday, so she has stayed in the same section of reef for the last 4 years. She was amazing, and so comfortable with divers, she swam close enough we could see the shape of individual teeth. She and the groupers were very fast and powerful... again, I could have watched forever.

On our night dive, we saw an enormous king crab... his body alone was about 5-6" thick, and his legs all curled up around him must have measured about a 2-3' span. He was pretty neat. Then we saw lots of lobster, who look a bit like they are wearing disco sequins under water... they are just covered with bright spots in the light. We saw some octopi, which are amazing, because they move like liquid mercury across the reef, the whole time changing colours like crazy, trying to get out of our lights. The most impressive one went from a deep reddish colour to a bright aqua turquoise mixed with purple in an instant. It was interesting to see the fish sleeping on the bottom, many of them were kind of tipped over, against a rock or piece of coral, like a child's toy that had been dropped there. I hear you can pick them up while they are sleeping, turn them upside down, etc... I didn't try that. I feel completely reverent underwater, and I instinctually try to lessen my impact, so I normally don't screw around much down there...
The highlight of the trip was the shark dive - speaking of being filled with reverence, this was the most amazing thing i'd seen. Admittedly, it was a bit of an attaction. It's not like this is not a highly organized and repeated activity, these sharks are used to groups of divers... so these are wild sharks, but let's just say, they're acquainted with the proceedings. I'd still love to see a shark in the wild, for real, but I'm told that once they see our clumsy shapes and hear our loud bubbles coming, they get the hell out of duke. Too bad, but maybe not such a bad thing.
Anyway, this dive was amazing. The dive master puts us with our backs to a wall at a depth of 70 feet. The sharks commune once they see the first divers coming down the line, they know this is their cue. Once the group is at the bottom, and the divemaster has assessed the current and the sharks, he tells us we can swim off the wall - and this is an amazing moment. Your field of view is filled with sharks, most of whom are about 4-8 feet long, and you have a safe, large wall at your back - at this exact moment, i wanted nothing more than to leave the comfort of the rock behind me and float amongst the sharks... so we did.
This was the most relaxing dive we had. There is nothing to do but hover, move slowly through the water, observing the sleek, powerful sharks flexing and gliding through the water... they were breathtaking. They were beautiful, they were impressive, and looked to be highly engineered gliding machines. Their skin is amazing up close. I hung in the water looking all around, as sharks slid underneath me, in front of me, around me... wow... just amazing.
We did about 3 dives per day - and because the resort was filled with divers, this was a great conversation topic, so by the end of the week, you'd talked to everyone, and made many friends. It's a small resort, probably about 150 - 180 guests, and because they are mostly divers, they are mostly cool.
I say mostly, because there were some disappointing divers there. Seems not everyone shares my underwater sense of awe. I saw and heard stories of divers bracing themselves against coral to steady themselves or a camera shot. I watched divers with cameras race across an area to film some amazing creature, henceforth frightening forementioned creature out of visible range for ANY of us, not just their fancy cameras. But these types of divers, who would become known as wankerfish as the week progressed, were few and far between. Still disappointing representatives of homo sapiens, though.
Ahh, the wankerfish, once thought to be scarce, actually more prevalent than I had thought. The wankerfish is that diver on your boat who has more gear than you could shake your snorkel at, has better dive stories than anyone, and thinks this is the most boring, pathetic dive ever, because they've just seen and dove it all, you poor uninformed, inexperienced, ill-equipped novice, you. So, yes, they do exist, just try to steer clear of them, especially if they are barreling past you underwater to chase some poor sea creature away with their camera.

There are a couple other impressive pieces of AKR's amazing dive operation I can't leave unmentioned. They have these great dive lockers, right on the dock where you can store your gear between dives and over night. This is brilliant, because you don't have to haul your gear around with you each time you prep and leave a dive. Also, they have an amazing contingency plan for inclement weather. Roatan is a skinny island, something like 3k across - so if it's too rough on the AKR side, this is the plan. Load up your gear on your dive boat, and the boats depart for the opposite side of the island, with your gear, but not you. You get to take a comfortable ride over in a bus, no sea sickness required. You reach the boat on the calm side, feeling steady and ready for some diving! It's brilliant! They've even built a facility on that side of the island, complete with a gorgeous swimming pool and restaurant, a beach, a gift shop, and most important, spacious, spotless bathrooms. In case this impression has eluded you thus far - these guys have their shit together!


The resort itself is amazing. Most of the rooms are located on the key, a tiny island located across the channel from the main property of the resort. On the main island, you have the entrance, restauarant, marine institute, dive shop, med clinic, complete with a hyberbaric chamber. (see last comment of previous paragraph) The key, which is a short boat ride across the channel, has most of the rooms, which are built on stilts raised above the beach, rocks or the ocean, depending on the location of your room.



We had room 42 - probably the best room i could imagine. We faced west, and the balcony was equipped with hammocks, for your sunset viewing pleasure. We opted for a room without glass windows and no air conditioning. This was very comfortable, because the screened windows have been equipped with louvres, which can be opened or closed to keep out light and breeze or let it all in. It was beautiful - each morning, i woke at about 6am to the sound of the waves rolling in below my windows, the rustle of the palms and the cooing of the doves...except on the rainy days, which opened with crows cawing, apparently the doves took the rainy days off.
We only had a couple rainy days, the rest was amazing. And we were diving, so what's a little rain?
The food at this place is amazing. The kitchen staff really know what they are doing, the portions are generous without being gluttonous, their fresh homemade soups are wonderful, every meal includes a soup and salad. And you have to look for Celasse and buy this man's hot sauce- he makes it himself, hot peppers, some coconut, it's amazing.. take some home with you!
I feel like I came away from this place happy, relaxed, and with some new friends i hope to see again.



I'll have to update this later, I have more to say, but not enough time right now...



Check out the resort

Breakfast of champions....

So… this morning, I was trying to get to work early, like 7.45am instead of 8.15 am – it’s only half an hour, but considering 8.15 is hard enough for me to manage, getting in half an hour earlier was a real feat!

I woke up, pretty foggy, but I managed to get myself into an upright position and stumble my way into the shower.

After the shower, I let the dogs out, and back in again, and fed all my furry creatures, and put the kettle on to boil. I normally pop a teabag in my mug as soon as I grab it, but I remember thinking this morning, NO - - THIS MORNING YOU NEED COFFEE….. (this was said in a very loud, foggy voice in my head) So, I prep my coffee, I have a little filter that sits on top of the mug, so I can make one cup at a time, directly into the mug.

And I’m having my toast and coffee - - in a total haze - -when I get to the bottom of the mug, I see this weird lump… it was a teabag ! I had put a teabag in my mug, as usual, and then made coffee right over it!

Don't bother trying this at home: For the uninitiated, the assumed extra jolt of caffeine this may or may not provide wears off as quickly (sadly) as if I had only selected one of these beverages. But I have to say, it really didn't taste all that bad, I drink pretty strong coffee, so that's all I tasted...