Friday, December 31, 2021

2022 Goals

The last post foreshadowed this one.  They say if you state publicly something you want to do, it creates more accountability and makes it more likely you'll stick with it.  I have been thinking about what I want for the next year. This is actually pretty tame, but I am hoping by starting I'll get momentum going to continue after I hit the goals.  So here goes:

1. 30 hikes hiked

2. 5 new neighborhoods explored

3. 5 new Calgary restaurants tried

4. One work day taken off each ski season month to go midweek skiing

5. Once a month do something new - see a show, explore a neighborhood, try a new farmer's market, something that I haven't done yet.

6. I've printed out my 1000 Hours Outside tracker and want to see how far I get 

[edited to add] 7. One night hike with the family - get some use out of those headlamps!

There may be more ...

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Some small adventures

 Planning my new year goals and one is to get out of my rut. Try new things again. Lockdown has really gotten me out of the habit, even though one of my favorite things is totally COVID-OK - exploring new neighborhoods (Calgary is pretty low density so there are very few pockets where you have to be within 6 feet of someone on the sidewalk).

One thing I'd read about and wanted to try is making ice lanterns.  Basically you partly fill a container with water, then stick inside of it a smaller container to make the insert where a tea light will go, and set it outside to freeze.  I put one together, and then thought about coloring the second one. It turns out that food coloring will condense in the cold so it's a stronger pocket of green at the bottom surrounded by clear-ish water.  I've also seen examples where people put greenery and berries in the water before freezing. I have lots of ideas now.

 

The other thing is food. We have complained, well, more than we should have about the restaurant scene here.  Our trip to Vancouver inspired me to look for some of the things we ate there. Tonight it was hand pulled noodles.  We got the fried noodles that we knew the kids would like and a noodle soup for the adults. We got it spicy - the restaurant actually sells its chili oil, which I think Terry plans to buy next time. It was delicious and spicy. I kept coughing and my nose was running. Probably not the best scene in COVID times, oh well.  It bears repeating - it was delicious and spicy.  The kids tried sesame balls with sweet bean paste inside and liked it enough that we ordered a second round. The house tea was also exceptional. I have no idea what was in it - I think goji berries, peach flower, maybe chamomile, maybe chrysanthemum, I think some rose hips .... definitely honey but somehow the sweetness continued through several refillings with hot water.

Anyway, it has fueled my desire to do more exploring.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Gratitude 29-30

 #29. I am thankful for our amazing landlord. We really won the lottery with him.

#30. And I am thankful that he isn't selling the house so we can continue to live here for 3 more years!

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Gratitude 25-28

 

#25. I m grateful for the COVID vaccine. I would never have volunteered to wade into tents filled with thousands of evacuees – nor take the flights required to even get there – if I didn’t have that bit of security.

#26. I am grateful I get to spend more summer in Calgary. Mountains and hoodoos to climb, and to admire views from. Rivers and lakes with colors so deep Alex swears they have been dyed. Camping in the mountains and experiencing freezing temperatures in the tent. S’mores over the campfire. Moose, bear, fox, the adorable little beaver swimming with its little stick.

#27. I am grateful that we actually managed to score the campsites we were most intent on getting last summer: Dinosaur Park (climbing hoodoos!) and Two Jack Lake (canoe!). We did not clear the bucket list; there will be plenty more campsites we are waiting online like concert tickets to score.

#28. I am grateful for libraries. They are so much more than only places that have books, but even if that’s all they were, it would be enough (dayainu).

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Gratitude 21-24

 #21.  In a very generalistic, vague picture of reality, I'll explain that most of my days are spent trying to teach, coach and convince colleagues that disability rights is an important topic in foreign policy, and that physical and communications accessibility is worth the effort and possible inconvenience.  That often takes form as reviewing and editing speeches that senior diplomats will make to large crowds and to intimate gatherings.  I am grateful and even joyous every time I open a document to review and either the points I would have added are already in the original remarks, or that some other ally has already added them.  Over the last two years I have seen tangible progress and I am so grateful to be in this position, doing this work.

#22.  I am thankful that we were able to score the last, frozen, free range turkey from the butcher we frequent; local Thanksgiving was 6 weeks ago and Christmas turkeys aren't full size yet.

#23.  I am so grateful that Zoltan fits so well into his new school. He's thriving. And even more grateful he gets to stay.

#24. I am grateful to Terry for building me two bird feeders during the first COVID summer, one I can see from my desk and one in the back yard. It is such a delight to lift my eyes from the computer screen and watch the chickadees grab a bunch of seed and move through the pine tree bough, caching it (for the magpies later to steal. Circle of life.The feeder is too small for them to perch so that is also entertainment when they try.)

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Gratitude 16-20

 #16. I am grateful for all the luck in my life.  My socio-economic background, skin color, and education level - none of which are things I could have chosen for myself - have given me opportunities and protections that are not available to others.  There's a responsibility in that.

#17. Related to the above, I am grateful to be comfortable enough that I can use purchasing power to support my values - I don't have to pay attention to what always costs less. Did I buy a holiday gift for one of the kids last week that cost about 15% more in the independent store than it would have on amazon? Sure did. Not having to work multiple jobs to get by also means I had the time to go to that store.

#18.  I think I already wrote this but it can't be said enough - I am so grateful to be able to stay in Calgary. Especially as the kids seem to be more comfortable here than they have been anywhere else.

#19. I am grateful for winter in Calgary and all the cherished memories already made and the ones to be made. Rivers to hike – with ice cleats secure on my feet – to frozen waterfalls. Powdery snow to ski upon. Night sledding just a couple of blocks away. Ice skating on the “wild ice” of Two Jack and on the much more moderate ice of Olympic Park.  I am so ready for winter to begin!

#20. I am grateful for our landlord.  He is super relaxed and easygoing, prompt when there's a problem, and seems pretty delighted that we pay on time and don't trash the place. We've had some discussions about whether to look for a different place for our next 3 years here and keep coming back to the idea that (1) Rick is amazing and we've heard many horror stories of other local landlords and (2) the Even Steven principle would indicate it would be our turn for one of those awful landlords if we gave Rick up.

Monday, November 15, 2021

Gratitude 14-15

 #14. I am grateful for the garden.  As I blanch the last of this year's kale, I remember the well-loved line from Blueberries for Sal where the mother goes to pick blueberries "to have food for the winter."  I was surprised how tasty the tomatoes were, given that we picked most of them green the day before the first major frost was expected;  I am eagerly awaiting the finish of fermenting and bottling of the beer Terry made with hops from the community garden.

#15. Today I am grateful for telework - for having a job that enables it, for State for letting me do it. I spent my pandemic productive, safe in my own home, and with the added benefit of being able to throw a load of laundry in the machine during lunchtime. It is also lovely to greet the kids when they come home from school.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Gratitude 10-13

 #10:  The kids. I am not at all the same person I was before they were born – mostly for the better. They challenge me and push my out of my comfort zone all the time and I am excited to meet the adults they become.  Relatedly, I am grateful that Alex has been mostly delightful for more than six months now; she was always precocious and maybe this is a sign her teenage angst came early?

#11:  Today I am grateful for the military men and women who have volunteered to serve and protect.
 
#12:  Buy Nothing groups. Your crap is my treasure; my crap is your treasure. Everyone is happy.
 
#13:  Today Terry finished up the 2 day sourdough bread I started yesterday (no accolades for me; sourdough has been his thing since the pandemic started and I have only begun to take over).  He also had started chicken stock from a few carcasses, some aromatic veggies, and water;  today it became chicken noodle soup.  I went to the farmers market to buy our fourth box of apples (slightly smaller than a bushel); it was turned into applesauce we snacked on this afternoon.  Zoltan made chocolate chip cookies.  I am so grateful for the interest and ability of my family to put together from-scratch delicious food.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Gratitude 8-9

 #8: Today I am grateful for daylight savings time. I know that isn't popular, but I much prefer Alex biking to school in daylight than in full pitch darkness. Given that clear, dry streets in November is already an unusual gift, by the time it's black in the morning again she'll be bussing anyway.

#9: Grateful for my husband (again).  Today we were both in the office.  Tortilla soup that was meant to be my lunch launched itself across the lunchroom when I tried to remove it from the microwave. I'm talking the bowl flipped in the air and landed, on the ground, upside-down. I had soup on my glasses, my shoes, and all over my person in between. As well as the counter, the floor, the side of the fridge, etc. I looked like I had been vomited upon. Terry gave me his lunch. I assumed he'd treat himself to the yummy Korean restaurant at the ground floor of our building. Nope, he was so busy his lunch was a granola bar and an apple. Now THAT's a grand romantic gesture (one I would never make. The fight I would provoke while hungry would negate any gold stars I'd otherwise accrue).

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Gratitude 5-7

 So I guess this is how it's going to be this year.  Sigh.

Gratitude #5:  My health. Really. It’s a trope in my house that I don’t get sick except about one cold a year. I don’t take this for granted.

Gratitude #6:  My husband. Terry really is my perfect complement. 21 years! Soon our relationship will be older than he was when we met.

Gratitude #7:  Alberta healthcare. Three ER visits in our first year (thankfully none after that, although Terry did break his ankle). We paid a pittance for all that good care. I’ll take my “socialized medicine” any day thank you.

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Gratitude 1-4

 I love November gratitude. We should all be doing it every day of the year but at least it's an effort. It really does make life a bit sweeter to start (or end) the day thinking about all the good things that come to us.

So how did I manage to forget for THREE DAYS? Ugh.  Catching up ...

Gratitude #1:  Although my short term memory is definitely on a slide, I still don't need reading glasses. Given that I have worn glasses since 5th grade, I was sure that the day after my 40th birthday I'd be looking for bifocals.  It's been a few years since then, and Terry has his stock of readers, but I am still going strong with only myopia.

Gratitude #2:  I do love winter, and the cold and snow. But icy roads mean Alex has to take the bus or we have to drive her to school, and neither option is really awesome. So I am grateful for the mild, sunny, beautiful weather we have had this week. I even went for a run after work in short sleeves!

Gratitude #3:  As frustrated as I have been with myself on the nights I decided to get some sleep rather than chase the aurora and missed the show, I have now seen the Northern Light three times since we came to Calgary and it's the only bucket list item that never gets checked off.  The last time I saw them - last month - they were so strong we caught a bit from our own back porch. Given we are relatively close to downtown and all the related light pollution, that is a HUGE deal. I will not kick myself for not staying up last night and trying to chase them down (they were apparently going strong in the 4-6am timeframe).

Gratitude #4:  The last 2 years have been the nadir of the cycle of aurora activity, so it's only up from here. And I am super grateful that I will have almost 4 more years from right now to decide to forego sleep once in a while and try to catch Lady Aurora dance.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Halloween 2021

 Things felt relatively normal this year - fewer than half the kids wearing masks and a sense that kids weren't being kept at home due to COVID.  This was also the first year we let the kids go off alone (albeit together). We thought we had a good grasp of what the neighborhood would hold, trick or treat-wise. We bought candy like we still lived in NE Philly. I advised kids grasping at whole handfuls that they really needed to take only one so other kids could be sure to get some candy.

Oops!

We overbought by about 100.

Other interesting tidbits are the two different business cards we got from two very different businesses - one was handed out at a house and the other was actually taped to the treat. That was something new! And the candy the kids discussed not liking that we discovered were Baileys Irish Cream truffles.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Once in a lifetime

Last night the aurora was so strong and so high we caught a shot of it from our back yard.  We live relatively close to the downtown area, so between trees, neighbor's houses and light pollution, it must have been a massive, amazing show for us to catch that little green line.  It was early enough in the night that I got Alex to come down and take look, although it was past Zoltan's bedtime.

I deeply regret not getting in the car and catching the real show somewhere darker.

(Photo taken with my phone, so one more reason it's not as spectacular as it could have been.)


Sunday, October 10, 2021

Catching up on the last few months

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent three weeks in Doha helping with the evacuation of Afghanistan.  In the space of just about a month, more than 120,000 individuals left Afghanistan. Roughly half of them passed through Doha on their way to other places: home, for those of dual citizenship; locations set up to process visas and humanitarian parole; in the end most are in the USA or will be.  The experience was physically, mentally and emotionally challenging and for all the things that went right, it's the things that went wrong that stick the strongest.

I returned home from Doha and spent about 10 days with my family before heading back out; this time to Boston, where I spent 10 days with my father in the aftermath of his wife's passing.  

Oh, and Terry broke his foot back in August so he hobbles around in a special boot.  No fall hikes for him, and his ski season will start a bit late.

It's been a hell of a few months.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Doha

 I'm back from three weeks in Doha helping move Afghan evacuees from Arrival Point #1 (Doha) to either Final Destination (for American citizens who just needed to get home) or Next Stop (for Afghans who need to be vetted and processed at some other location, like Germany, better suited for long-ish term living before being able to - most likely - move to the U.S.). Still processing the experience, but wanted to mark it.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

And a-camping we go: Rampart Creek


Part of the mad scramble for campsites means taking what you can get in terms of dates, or in terms of campgrounds.  My second priority was to camp along the Icefields - there are so many cool hikes but they are too far to get to from home. So, for this week of vacation we spent 4 days at Two Jack, came home for a night of showering, laundry, and repacking the cooler, then set off for 5 days at Rampart Creek.

The two campsites could not have been more different from each other. Two Jack is thinly treed and the sites are very close to each other.  At Rampart each site is nestled among trees and there is plenty of space between them. Two Jack was so civilized - running water and flush toilets!  Rampart has one spigot of potable water at the junction of all three campsite loops. For similarities: both places were a million times warmer than any of last year's camping experiences (a full 1/4 of the clothing we brought we never used, lots of long johns and woolens), both had really bad smoke and fire bans in effect. And mosquitoes.  We ended up cutting the trip short by one day due to the smoke and running out of bug spray.

First hike: Wilcox Pass.  Supposedly beautiful views, and I can believe it.  We did spend a bit of time playing in a patch of snow we came across, and when Terry and I took a short detour to a flowing stream the kids watched a prairie dog scamper about.  There were pretty wildflowers all along the path and in the distance.

Second hike: Parker Ridge. Similarly probably beautiful, lovely wildflowers, similar extreme smoke.

Last hike: For the aforementioned reasons, we decided to cut the trip a bit short and head home. So on the fourth day we broke up the camp, packed the cars, and headed over to Wildfowl Lake where our last hike of the trip - Chephren Lake - would begin.  It was the family highlight, mostly because the kids have become allergic to elevation and this one was barely up from flat. We usually pace 20 minutes per km, and for this it was a solid 15.  The hike itself is mostly a flat walk in the woods - so meh in my book. But the lake itself is stunning.  And because the mountains rise right out of its waters, they are close enough to photograph and actually see something.  On our way down we ran into a group that was going up to swim in that water - again, Canadians made of sterner stuff than us.

Bear: There were signs up all over the campground alerting folks that there was a bear in the area.  According to the chalkboard by the water source, it had last been seen 5 days ago.  But apparently all the good berries are now ripe because between 9:30-10:30am each morning the folks camping in sites closer to the water than us has sightings. One day on our way back from a hike we passed a car with its hazards on, pulled not-quite-over enough on the shoulder a couple of km from the campsite and Terry noted there was a bear the car had pulled over to watch. I only saw a dark blur as we drove past.  It's probably the same bear.

Sunsets:  It was a lot like Goldilocks' lunch. The first night we waited too long to wander over toward the creek to get a sunset photo and the sun was already behind the mountain by the time we got there.  So our second night we went extra early, but got so bug bitten we had to give up before it got the real fiery reds.  Third night was just right, and Terry was able to capture some pretty pictures.



Sunday, August 22, 2021

And a-camping we go: Two Jack Lake

 

When we were watching and refreshing the Canada Parks web site like concert tickets were about to go on sale, our strategy was clear: we wanted to camp at Two Jack Lake.  We've driven past it a million times, wandered along its shores from the Day Use Area and even ice skated across it. As Terry was 6000-something in line, we did not get our first choice of dates, or second choice, but we got dates that we could make work and we were thrilled.

Well, smoke from the wildfires. And even though it's so dry there are the aforementioned wildfires, and a fire ban so we couldn't sit by the campfire at the end of the day, nobody told the mosquitoes.  We had very recently bought a screen tent for over the picnic table and that paid for itself during the course of the trip, even if we had paid three times the amount for it.  Poor Zoltan looks like he has chicken pox from the bites and that was with the mesh doing a very good job keeping the 'skeeters out.

Our plan for Two Jack involved canoeing and swimming.  Except we didn't end up swimming because we had pretty well cooled off by the time we waded into knee-high water.  Canadians are made of hardier stuff than us (one of Terry's colleagues had camped just a week or two before and had done quite a bit of swimming).  We did get out in the canoe quite a bit though, in all kinds of 1, 2 and 3 formations - the canoe does not fit all four of us anymore.  Alex will deny this until her adulthood at least, but she enjoyed her solo adventures.  She'd be grumpy and grumbling, paddle away, and return 45 minutes latter full of smiles.  But don't tell her, she "hated every minute of camping."

There was the loon that I swear was mocking us, letting us get almost close enough to see it through the glacial-clear water when it ducked under, but then zipping away before we actually got that close ... and popping up on the other side of the canoe + 50 meters.


 


Thursday, August 19, 2021

Camp Chief Hector Part II

 

Lunch included a surprisingly delicious bean and quinoa salad, which was good as the sandwich was salami and I hadn't alerted the camp to any food issues.  After lunch we trooped over to the climbing wall.  There were two "easier" sides and two harder sides.  The harder ones were legit - even Alex didn't get all the way up them.  I regret not fully trusting the belay and thus not climbing higher than I did.

By this point the kids were mutinying for down time, so we headed back to the tipi for reading and resting.  We had originally planned to participate in the pre-dinner all-hands water fight but when it came time to go, we were cool and comfortable in the tipi. 

Dinner was a full scale BBQ feast. Pork loin and grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad and cauliflower salad.  We ate too much so I didn't feel up to joining the after dinner yoga session.  We were also in the midst of Master Labyrinth, which is played very, very differently from regular Labyrinth.  Alex absolutely swept the floor with the rest of us, showing once again why it is important to not have only one person reading the rules (She who reads the rules, wins. Unless others also read the rules).  After some digestion we had the kids teach us GaGa ball.  I now understand the name - every time I miss the ball I yell "Gah!"

There was a silly singalong the counselors led "around the campfire" (imagine an atrium with a fire pit at the bottom in front of the stage). Even the moody, jaded teenager was seen to laugh.

Not pushing our luck with the kids, we dropped them off at the tipi when we wandered back to the waterfront - we had wanted to try taking some photos with the real camera as opposed to our puny phones.  The haziness was way down - winds must have been blowing the smoke some other direction - and the view was lovely.  

On our walk back to the campsite, I was walking in front of Terry when he hissed for me to come back over to him.  I figured he saw a deer or something he wanted to show me, and I saw a dark shape move past through the trees alongside the path.  Yeah, it was a bear.  He said it was pretty small so he wasn't sure if there was a mama nearby and if we continued on we might get between them.  Of course, continuing on was the only way to get back to camp.  We waited and watched a few moments, then started backing away towards the trail.  We were basically at the corner of a wooden walkway that in wetter times crosses some kind of pond or lake but right now crosses a field.  As we started over the walkway, talking loudly about how "We're cool, mama bear, don't want anything to do with you and just going to head out now" a bear heads out into the field essentially parallel to us.  It was beautiful, Terry and I will forever argue about how big it was, and it is definitely just living its life, not concerned with us.  It was definitely the smart thing to do not to stop and take a photo (even though the camera was in Terry's hands!!) but we did regret it a tiny bit once we were out of range and no longer quietly freaking out.

We had seen two people in the frisbee golf area by the waterfront, so we went to the main lodge to tell the counselors about the bears.  Apparently other families had seen at least one of them in a similar area in the morning, so this is not a big deal.  To the Canadians.  For the rest of the trip whenever we went past the area where we saw them Terry and I would talk louder. We still haven't told the kids.

For our last day we headed back to the waterfront, this time to canoe by age-pairs - parents in one, kids in the other.  Terry turned out to be as motivated as Alex and I definitely did not rest as much as I had planned.  But it's OK because we saw the loon again, this time it was two adults and one baby, and they were farther away.  We went through a narrow area into a bay area where we watched what looked like a baby duck practice flying. It was barely above water, splashing all over the place, and going back and forth across a wide stretch.  Never seen anything like it!  Of course we failed to capture that on film as well.

After canoeing we headed toward the Adventure Challenge.  They did a great job with boards, tires, sticks, and imagination.  Our family was persisting in our last challenge after everyone else had left for lunch.

The last phase of camp was the high ropes course.  The first event was basically climbing to the top of a telephone pole that had a see-saw on top. People (kids) climbed up in pairs and were meant to stand on each side of the see-saw. If I remember correctly, there was only one pair that actually made it to the top with both standing. To get down, they lean back in the harness and trust their belayers to get them down.  This was nobody's favorite. The last event was like a vertical obstacle course.  I'm hopeful Terry posts a photo or video of this as I don't now how else to describe it. Alex was one of the few to make it to the top,  and she scrambled up it twice.

We have caught too many smiles on film to take seriously Alex's complaint that it was a horrible time and she never wants to do anything like it again. What can I say, 13's gonna 13.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Wordless Wednesday

 


Camp Chief Hector part I



Alex was supposed to go to overnight camp last summer.  She was supposed to go to overnight camp this summer.  COVID made a hash of all that.  However, the camp does have a "family weekend" that we decided to try.

We arrived Friday after dinner, were directed to the family's assigned tipi, got a bit unpacked and returned to the main lodge for a snack and trivia.  They are super strict and serious about NO FOOD IN THE TIPI and basically food should be either in your car or what the camp serves, eaten in or near the main lodge.  This is worth taking seriously; more on that later.

The trivia was mostly about Canada and although we would have gotten a D if it were for school, we were happy we didn't fail.  The main lodge has games, arts and crafts (appealing to the littler ones), bathrooms with flush toilets and a water refilling station.  Families are assigned their own tables, and the camp operated like a restaurant in that we wore masks as we moved about the room but took them off when hanging at the table.

We decided to take a walk in the evening and wandered over to the waterfront area where we would be canoeing the next day.  There's wildfires raging around Alberta and B.C. and pollution is very pretty.

The tipis are outfitted with five bunk beds and a fire pit in the middle.  We didn't understand that we needed to open the smoke flap at the top when building the fire so things got a bit smokey.  It was too hot to keep the fire going anyway - such a weird feeling to be in short sleeves at 10:30pm at a campsite in Alberta. 

Sleep came late - that massive fireball in the sky keeping things light until after 11pm - and was broken by the sounds of squirrels frolicking all around, inside and out.  I gladly jumped out of bed around 7:30am and got myself dressed and ready for breakfast, which doesn't start until 8am.

Pierogies for breakfast was unusual but worked. The kids gobbled down the blueberry pancakes. There was actually a whole raft of food but I forget what else we ate.  First activity: waterfront/canoeing.  We were first told there needed to be an adult in each boat, so Alex and I paired up, Zoltan and Terry in a different canoe.  Alex had goals and was not impressed with my performance. When we paddled over to the menfolk they were watching a loon and her baby, so we hung around and watched them too.  And listened to their unusual call.

But we had other plans so we soon headed back to the dock where we shed the lifevests and canoes and trekked over to the archery range.  They didn't get a lot of families who owned their own bows so were more impressed than they should have been at the family performance (except me. I haven't shot a bow since my camping days about a million years ago).  After a few rounds we tried our hands at the javelins.  They had atlatls too, which Alex was excited to see as she had done a report on Aztec weapons last year and had learned about them. We were not particularly skilled here; I am pretty sure it's the kind of thing one must practice to get right.


 

 

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Centennial Ridge

 

Last week a woman I had met in a hiking group asked if I wanted to accompany her on a hike that, according to Alltrails, is way longer AND steeper than anything I had ever done before. But I have been wanting to push myself so I said yes.  On Friday night a wildfire started on the other side of the mountain we were to hike.  But others were heading up when we met at the trailhead so we decided to go for it.

The smoke at least obscured the sun, making what we supposed to be a "heat warning" day into something way more comfortable temperature-wise.  But, we were breathing in smoke and all vistas were obscured.  The trail is almost unrelentingly steep - we made 1000m elevation gain in about 6 km.  We hoisted ourselves up boulders and slipped on scree on some of the steepest parts.  I gave thanks for my water bladder because it meant I didn't have to stop and pull out a water bottle every time I needed a drink.  Also, it's so thin and light that I can carry a lot more than a water bottle will fit. I drank a LOT of water.

It has been quite a while since I have hiked a mountain where you get to what looks like it will be the top only to find it continues up. Four times we said "almost there" ... four times we were wrong.  We passed the weather sensors, which was super cool because these are on the ridge above the slope where we skied last winter, and every time we check the area's weather and I type "Kananakskis" in the search bar, "Nakiska Ridge Top" comes up and that is exactly where I was.  We continued along the ridge a while, but between the smoke starting to cause headaches and the understanding that we would have to recreate the hike to get some actual stunning views and some photos of something that doesn't look apocalyptic, we cut the hike a bit short (it's supposedly just shy of 16km total and we got to 11.2km).

On the way back we met this little guy.  We took a photo from way back on the trail, then walked a bit closer for a better photo, then realized it didn't seem to notice us at all so we got closer ... we probably could have touched it before it scampered off onto the ledge right beyond where we could see it.  I couldn't decide if it's very comfortable with humans, or has had so few interactions it didn't consider us threats.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Not awesome :-(

What's not awesome? Returning home from vacation to find the freezer door wasn't properly shut and everything is (thankfully) cold ... but entirely defrosted. All the ice cream is a loss, and now we are dictating what the kids can eat for lunch each day to get the food eaten.  I made an emergency cobbler to use up some of the defrosted frozen berries, similarly we'll get a round of fruit leathers going tomorrow.  And a massive cook --> freeze session planned for tomorrow. Many  high quality meats will be grilled this week.  I am very grateful that we haven't lost a ton, and obviously that this is not the only food we have.

But, still, not awesome.


Thursday, July 22, 2021

Vancouver finale


Our last day in Vancouver, the kids had their afternoon hour-playing-in-the-pool-because-they-can't-hide-in-the-room-all-day-like-mushrooms and even tried to skim a bit off that.  When Terry came back from work, he and I had our plans set.  We borrowed a pair of bikes from the hotel and set off to circumnavigate Stanley Park. The hotel was right around the corner and the Park is a Vancouver highlight.  The hotel estimates that it takes about an hour to bike around (including the stops) and they were spot on.  First stop: the series of totem poles - I had no idea they are unique to the coastal Pacific Northwest, ranging from Washington up through British Columbia and a bit into Alaska. We watched a seaplane gain altitude.  We caught the statues of the "girl in  wetsuit" and Harry Jerome (Canada's fastest sprinter) and the replica ship's figurehead of a dragon.  The sun glinted off the sea, the mountains were hazy in the distance.  We appreciated the tenacity of a tree growing ontop a large boulder.  We passed Third Beach, then Second Beach (where I had dragged the kids all of three days previously).  We traveled leisurely, stopping often to enjoy the views.

Thus refreshed, we dined our last night on Terry's "must do" food event, hand pulled noodles.  (Mine had been the sushi)  The server was definitely skeptical of our choices and tried to steer us towards the house specialties.  We ignored her.  Zoltan took our advice and was not the Barry.  We ordered too much and ate too much and thoroughly appreciated the meal.  We stopped by a 24 hour bakery to choose baked goods for the morning's breakfast, as we weren't sure about the time we needed to get ready, finish packing etc and get to the airport.

We should not have worried. In typical fashion, we were ready to go early.  With a sad "adieu" we promised to return, having only barely scratched the surface of Vancouver's excellence.



Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Vancouver Part II


On Wednesday the day started the same. Because I knew in advance the kids weren't doing much in the afternoon, I didn't mind when a call went over my stated end-of-workday.  And the call of course led to more work.  Another call was scheduled for a time that happened to coincide with pool time, so I took the call outside.  All in all it was an almost-full-day at work.

After work we met Terry at a highly-touted Vancouver adventure: Fly Over Canada.  The advertising for it is very alarmist about motion sickness. Given that I only learned a couple of years ago that the sick feeling I get on roller coasters is actually motion sickness, it made me nervous. Oh goodness, it's a lot of over-hype!  The experience is a lot of fun - you swoop along beautiful vistas all over the Canadian landscape as though you are riding a drone.  You're strapped into seats like a gentle roller coaster, because it does move a bit with the direction of swooping. There's water sprays when you pass snow and a few scent sprays.  All in all, totally worthwhile and a fun way to spend half an hour.

We finished the night at a Vietnamese restaurant.  We recommended to the kids the lemongrass chicken/pork/beef with rice.  Zoltan opted for a dish that turned out to be beef in a broth with carrots and radish. Needless to say, he did not enjoy the dish and it was delicious and Terry and I ended up eating most of it.  There's a TV show we're watching as a family and in a relatively recent episode a kid in the TV family goes against parental wisdom and orders a meal that is ridiculous for the venue, is expectedly not-delicious, and earns him derision from the family.  So now Zoltan has been warned to "Not be a Barry" in future ordering decisions.

We couldn't get a reservation for dinner at the highly recommended sushi restaurant we wanted to try so we settled on lunch.  That was Thursday.  We discovered when we arrived that, as I had been playing around with different days and times, and with tables for two or four, that I had made a reservation for two.  They had no tables for four available.  Um .......  Well, the kids had maps in their phones, didn't want fish anyway, and still had a fridge of meats and cheeses at the hotel.  We sent them back and stayed ourselves to enjoy the meal.  And everyone was happy.  On my way back to the hotel I checked out a pastry place and brought back treats for everyone - so even more happiness.

In the evening we headed toward Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  This time we took the SeaBus (not at all the same thing as the AquaBus) and were able to catch some lovely views of Vancouver from the viewing platform.  Terry and I ate fish and chips that rivaled the ridiculously delicious chips place in Haydon Bridge while the kids ate burgers from the vendor next door.  We took a walk to spur our appetites, then got Earnest Ice Cream.  It had been recommended and I had no idea they had such a variety of vegan flavors. Even better, the vegan flavors were DELICIOUS (this is absolutely not always the case).  We ate the ice cream on a bench outside, where we could see a produce vendor that looked like it was starting to pack up. As we were out of fruit, we ran over and thusly brought home a second stash of goods.  Sadly they were not quite as good as the first - Four Season Farms at Granville Market for the win.

Wordless Wednesday


 

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Vancouver Part I


[Disclaimer: Anything you think of to do in Vancouver, we probably didn't do it.  Terry was working, I was working, we didn't have a car, and many things were still closed. All reasons for a return trip!]

The border between B.C and Alberta opened just days before Terry's TDY (temporary work trip) to Vancouver. Having never been before, the kids and I tagged along.

We flew out on July 5, which was not a holiday in Canada so we were able to do some sightseeing. Being who we are, after dropping off our bags at the hotel we hopped an AquaBus to Granville Island where we ate our own weight and brought some home. In Alberta we're always pining over British Columbia fruit, so a visit to the produce vendor was in order. We followed the crowds walking around with bright yellow Lee's Donuts boxes and decided to splurge on a dozen.Oh. My. I had no idea donuts could be like that. We sincerely regretted buying so few and discussed going back.  We also got recommendations of other vendors to visit and decided that in addition to berries, we would stuff our mini-hotel-fridge with sliced meats and cheeses. They also make lovely lunches for the three of us spending our mornings in the hotel room* - Lynne working, kids frying their brains on TV shows and video games. 

* Note: Because of Marriott status, our regular room was upgraded in a larger room with an actual desk - critical feature for the one working half days from the hotel room.

The heat was nearly unbearable even with the help of gelato (around 75F ... we are so ruined for living anywhere else in the world), so after our shopping we were wilting and ready to hang at the hotel for a bit.  With the relaxation of COVID restrictions, the need to book certain times for the outdoor pool ended the day we checked in so kids and I headed off to the pool to cool off.

After a bit of Googling, we settled for dinner on a yakitori place not too far from the hotel.  It's been more than 20 years since Terry lived in Japan, so with our assuredly altered palates we deemed it not only delicious (it was) but authentic (it definitely seemed so). 

The next morning breakfast at the hotel consisted of eggs Benedict, bacon for Terry and smoked salmon for me.  And the eggs had the darkest most orange yolks I have ever seen, and we've been buying our eggs straight from a farm.  Thus fortified, Terry headed out to the Consulate and I to my desk.

Not gonna lie, working off a small laptop with sticky keys and no mouse is not as productive as working off my home setup.

I had grand plans for the afternoons but the kids defeated me.  I did make them accompany me across Stanley Island to Second Beach - one of Vancouver's many inner city beaches and recommended as one of the nicer.  They boycotted the water, opting instead to read under a tree just beyond the sandy area. I gave up and we headed back, although we did take the long way and linger a while by Lost Lagoon ("look, we found it!"). All future afternoons were spent by the kids inside reading or outside by the pool.  

We finished the day with a delicious dinner at Joe Fortes and began my streak of eating fish daily while in Vancouver. Mmmmmmmm.

Friday, July 16, 2021

The birdfeeder

Amazing Terry made a bird feeder from old pallet wood scraps and the plastic siding of Costco cashews.  It hangs from a tree in the front yard and my view of it sits perfectly between the two monitors on my desk.  This morning, a poor squirrel - beautifully acrobatic but sadly unknowing that the feeder is empty - has been trying to get to it.  The first attempt I only caught out of the corner of my eye as the creature went flinging back to the earth. For the she second attempt I watched it ready itself from the steps, spring into action, and cling for a few pregnant seconds onto the wooden roof/top before falling back.

I desperately wish I had caught that on video.  It seems to  have moved on now.

I take that back.  Squirrel just tried again. And apparently managed to knock a few grains off, as it has been nibbling in the ground under the feeder these last few minutes. Wandered off again. Will it return?

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Edmonton


When all our beautiful B.C. dreams fell through because the border was not in fact open the way we thought, we cast about for something else to do over the long weekend.  Still having never visited the province's capitol, we decide to use some of the Marriott points burning a hole in our pocket and head up for a weekend.

The kids begged for a trip to Canada's largest shopping mall, the West Edmonton Mall - home of stores, of course, but also an indoor amusement park, an aquarium, and a water park. Having visited an amusement park the previous day, we settled on the water park. And it was a delight! We took no photos so this will have to do.  By the time we ended our day and checked into the hotel we were beat.

Next day was what Terry and I had wanted to see in Edmonton - Elk Island National Park.  To try to draw the kids in, we downloaded the geocaching app and found a couple of caches ... but the kids were not into it. Oh well. We also had planned to go in the water at the beach, but it was super silty/dirty and cold so that was also a bit of a bust.

On the wildlife side, though, it was a spectacular home run win.

First up: bison.  The bison are a main attraction at the park, with a particular roadway known as the Bison Loop. From the parking lot within the Loop we could walk over to where there was a herd (about 50+ bison) of all mamas and babies. We kept a generously wide berth though, so didn't see much detail about what they were doing. And the babies were just little dark blobs.  As we continued on the loop, just after we had gotten into the car, we also saw a bull (male bison) who was just off the roadway. We watch him run a distance and who knew they run so awkwardly!  It was like a mix between a hop and a gallop.

We then found a picnic table where the kids could hang out and read while Terry and I took a little stroll to a lake ... that didn't actually have any water.  We went on a different path where the butterflies were continually taunting us with being really pretty but never stopping long enough to focus the camera lens. I guess they eventually got tired of that because a few did stop and let us take the pictures.

Last stop in the park (which by the way is not an island) was the beach. It reminded me a lot of the beach club near our cabin and was only slightly larger. Zoltan went in for about 5 minutes, Terry and I stood ankle deep for longer, chatting and feeling the sand and pebbles under our feet.  Then we decided to go for a wander, taking a few different trails and again leaving the kids behind to their own devices (but not electronic devices).

We watched ducks and their babies paddle about. Terry even caught a photo of a duck feeding its baby a delicious leech (ick!) We heeded one of the park signs to sit on a bench and listen to the wind and the lap of the waves.  We noted the number of fallen trees with telltale beaver gnawing signs and the number of lodges, from cozy to swanky.  We read a sign about beavers being most active at dusk and dawn and just as I finish saying "Well we're obviously not going to see anything at 2pm" we watch a young beaver swim by right in front of us!  We watched it go around a corner and it disappeared.  We continued our walk, and on the way back swung by the same spot where now the little guy was swimming in a different direction, going around a different corner, but clearly pushing a little stick. (obviously, it could have been two different beavers. But it was a pretty small one so it could have been practicing for when it's big enough to help build the lodge).

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Vancouver = Mushroom Town???

 In a conversation about how awful we are as parents for forcing her to go on vacation, Alex gave an example of a small town where there is nothing to see or do but a few mushrooms.  I told her that in 20 years I will remind her she compared Vancouver to a small mushroom town and she will apologize and buy us drinks.

Friday, July 2, 2021

Fridge battles

Alex likes having a particular place in the fridge to put her things for the next day's lunch, so she can just grab the stuff, pack it up and go.  She put a little note at one small corner but the sanctity of the space was often violated. So she put up the fridge equivalent of an orange cone.



Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Vermillion, er, I mean Sylvan Lake

 Super heat wave in Alberta, so what outdoor adventure makes the most sense? Taking the canoe out, of course!  We had been by Vermillion Lakes once before and realized the only way to really experience its beauty is being on the water.

We plan to leave at 10am. I run an errand that has me home around 9:15am and Terry informs me he can't find the essential strap for ensuring the car holds the canoe securely.  We split up and continue searching.  Still no dice. I let my fingers do the walking and go online to see if a store nearby has it. The closest Canadian Tire does not but a different one across town has five in stock. We decide it's also time to get the kids life vests that fit (last year they were under 90lb, if only barely) so I grab Alex for trying them on if there are different sizes and we set off. To make a painful story shorter, there were zero of this strap in stock. How?  I dunno. It's still tender when I think about it. With Alex in the car I wasn't doing anything other than heading home and regrouping.

We decide on the next best thing - find a beach! Many of the lakes and rivers around here are glacial or otherwise deadly to try to swim in so we find one that's 1.5 hours away, and should be tolerable to immerse in.  We re-pack for swimming rather than canoeing, and off we go!

Ninety minutes later it's the worst, most crowded beach "strip" area and zero parking within the ZIP code. We can see the beach and it is wall-to-wall people there too.  It's also past lunch.  Grumpiness all around.  We drive past all that, find a place to pull over and figure out our options. There's a Provincial Park up the road with a campground! At the very least we can expect a day use area with picnic tables. Off we go!

After lunch we're all feeling a bit better. Checking the map, there is definitely water nearby - the only question is whether there is a way down to it. After a couple of fits and starts, heading the wrong direction and righting ourselves, we find the water!  There's no beach, the hill basically ends a couple of feet before the water begins, but there's a bit of dry space for our stuff and a few other groups of people along this "shoreline" to proclaim that this is a legitimate access point.

Unfortunate for our late start, we could only stay a couple of hours.  The water was pretty chilly despite being probably the warmest beach around - Zoltan kept getting blue lips and we had to make him get out and warm up.  But we splashed around, swam a bit, and looked for rocks in every color of the rainbow.  And although she'll deny ever saying this, even Alex had fun.


Saturday, June 26, 2021

The first harvest!

Just today, we pulled up a bunch of radishes partly because they were ready and partly because dinner called for them and we didn't have any (oops). The one on the bottom right is the biggest radish I think we've ever grown.  Some salad greens are also ready to pick.



Saturday, June 19, 2021

Lake Agnes Teahouse

Something I have pretty much never done before - taken a random day off from work to do something fun!  A friend was celebrating her 50th birthday and wanted to do a hike followed by a lunch with a view.

Lake Louise view from the trail

Lake Agnes lies above Lake Louise (you also pass Mirror Lake on the way up) and you start the hike from the Fairmont Lake Louise. Several other popular hikes start from here, and the parking can be impossible on weekends and/or in summer.  Thus, a weekday before schools let out was the perfect time.We also had the perfect weather, bright and sunny but not too warm.


Lake Agnes. Yes that's ice still in the lake. Yes it's mid-June.

While sitting on a bench at Lake Agnes, soaking in the view, a very cheeky chipmunk scampered onto the bench right next to me ... then into my lap!  I held my breath while mentally telling the chipmunk "please don't bite me"... when I did not immediately put food in its mouth it scampered back off. Whew!

It's a mystery why they call this one "Mirror Lake"

We finished the hike at the Fairmont, with lunch on the patio overlooking the lake. Somehow I took no photos there but be assured it was stunning. The water is still the same turquoise blue that Alex swears is a result of dye. 

Three hikes in one week!  Woooot!

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Prairie Mountain

 


As said before, the family vetoes hikes with an incline. So, a little nervous about the possibility of bears, I clutched by bear spray tightly and embarked on one of the most popular hikes in the area: Prairie Mountain. I can see why folks love it - it is only an hour outside of Calgary and 7km round trip. It also covers 700m of elevation, or nearly 2300 feet, of elevation in that time. It is not for the faint of heart.

I tried my best to take many beautiful photos and they all look fake. They also don't nearly capture the view. This happens when all you have is a crappy phone camera because your husband, who wields the fancy (and heavy!) camera, decides not to join.

The summit has a perfect 360 view of mountains and the valley. For some reason my cell phone battery was dying quickly today so I didn't linger at the top past eating lunch. The parking lot for the hike is at the Elbow River so I did pop over there to dip my feet before driving home. Just a bit down the road, I saw a ton of cars pulled over on both sides and assumed there was some hiking trail with an insufficient parking lot. The camper in front of me was trying to maneuver because some of the cars hadn't pulled over all the way. Then I looked to my left and saw this handsome fellow. I pulled over (all the way) and took a couple of quick shots before heading on my merry way home.

Moose and mountains, is there a better way to spend a day?