Friday 27 January 2012
Cocktail Parties and Pirates
Some friends had a farewell party for me. There was a map of Australia that said " we Canberra to see you go but good luck with your koala-fications" and a kangaroo whose pouch was filled with all kinds of good wishes for me to read over the next 10 months. There were beverages, appetizers and dainties of a down under flavour. At the end of the evening we were each given goodie bags. Mine included survival kit items for me on my student living journey: a dollar store pregancy kit, a book of Coed living rules for having fun but staying safe; lots of chocolate and tablets that once soaked turned into facecloths. The men were given pirate hats and sabres.
Sunday 22 January 2012
Gung Hay Fat Choy
Happy Chinese New Year – Year of the Dragon!
I understand the dragon is the most powerful of all Chinese animals of the horoscope. We celebrated with friends on Saturday. Stefanie is a dragon, she IS powerful and here she is at our dim sum table. Andrea and Stefanie’s (male) friends ordered chicken feet and tripe – things we usually avoid! It was a fun and interesting meal.
Aquatic Life
Despite a warmer yet still wintery day in Edmonton my life was of the marine vein. Andrea, Jason, Keith and I re-certified our scuba skills in a local indoor pool in anticipation of the four of us diving the Great Barrier Reef this summer. Even sooner, Keith and I will be diving off the coast of New Zealand in a couple of weeks!
Then my dear friend Gail took my fish tank to take care of while I am gone. As I told you earlier in the blog, it has been unusually warm in this part of the country. We all knew it was not going to last and sure enough it crashed to -47 C with the wind chill last week. I knew I should have move the fish when it was +10 C on January 9th! But as luck would have it the temperature hit +1 C today and the sun was shining and heating things up.
The move went swimmingly, so to speak, and the fish seemed oblivious in the bucket with the heating blanket around it. Here they are before the move.
Now my trip seems more and more real as fish and plants are leaving my house.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Some of you may not know that I was born in Montreal and lived there until my teens! Mais oui!
I went to visit my bro' and then my sister and family in Ottawa.
You may recognize some of the finer eating establishments - Schwartzes, Fairmont Bagel, Orange Julep and how about the spruce beer in the fridge?
I also had a wonderful afternoon with my Aunt and Cousins in rural Ontario.
I went to visit my bro' and then my sister and family in Ottawa.
You may recognize some of the finer eating establishments - Schwartzes, Fairmont Bagel, Orange Julep and how about the spruce beer in the fridge?
I also had a wonderful afternoon with my Aunt and Cousins in rural Ontario.
Nothing to Fear
Hmmm. Someone I admire recently called me fearless. I was taken aback. Is this how I appear to the world?
Though I may appear fearless I do have some concern and reservation of the unknown I am entering into. It is like the cave we came upon on our hike up Mount Robson last summer. Only a couple of the members of the group went in, Peter and I. Peter kept beckoning me to come further into the tight, dark, damp cave and although it scared me, that fear was tinged with elation, anticipation, freedom and excitement. The same feelings I have now.
Here I am in middle age starting over so to speak. Most of my life is wonderful, so then why would I change things? Why give up the security of a monthly paycheck by working for myself and going back school.
Well it has to do with finding myself and figuring things out for me. But I do know that I want to learn, and I want to be around people who are making positive change in the world, who think somewhat like me. I want to live beyond my nice comfortable borders, and be guided by my heart.
As I embark on this journey of learning and travelling the following quotation rings true and thus informs the title of my blog:
“Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile... initially scared me to death. “ ~Betty Bender
So I hope you will join me as I blog about the many metaphorical caves I will be going into in the next year.
Cynthia
Though I may appear fearless I do have some concern and reservation of the unknown I am entering into. It is like the cave we came upon on our hike up Mount Robson last summer. Only a couple of the members of the group went in, Peter and I. Peter kept beckoning me to come further into the tight, dark, damp cave and although it scared me, that fear was tinged with elation, anticipation, freedom and excitement. The same feelings I have now.
Here I am in middle age starting over so to speak. Most of my life is wonderful, so then why would I change things? Why give up the security of a monthly paycheck by working for myself and going back school.
Well it has to do with finding myself and figuring things out for me. But I do know that I want to learn, and I want to be around people who are making positive change in the world, who think somewhat like me. I want to live beyond my nice comfortable borders, and be guided by my heart.
As I embark on this journey of learning and travelling the following quotation rings true and thus informs the title of my blog:
“Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile... initially scared me to death. “ ~Betty Bender
So I hope you will join me as I blog about the many metaphorical caves I will be going into in the next year.
Cynthia
Ladybug
I was gardening today, you read right. It is sunny and 100 C
here. Yes it is pleasant and better than the usual frigid weather we
experience in January. But it is frightening. All I can think of is the
polar bears up north stranded with fewer ice flows on which to leap.
In fact, since it is usually so cold I booked a flight to Pender Island months ago. I leave Thursday to visit the real Ladybug, my Mum. There have been many times I have left the cold, monochromatic snowy landscape of the prairie for the lush, moist, verdant BC coast. Not so much contrast this year.
So back to my gardening. I did some further pruning since my garden will be less tended while I am gone.
And look who I found in the garden with me!
In fact, since it is usually so cold I booked a flight to Pender Island months ago. I leave Thursday to visit the real Ladybug, my Mum. There have been many times I have left the cold, monochromatic snowy landscape of the prairie for the lush, moist, verdant BC coast. Not so much contrast this year.
So back to my gardening. I did some further pruning since my garden will be less tended while I am gone.
And look who I found in the garden with me!
Really Stepping Off the Edge
Today I joined some of my hiking friends to watch over 3 hours of
gripping yet beautiful films of the annual Banff Mountain Film
Festival. The festival travels the world so we watched the films in
Edmonton (although going to see them in Banff would have been nice!).
This is something we do every year to inspire us to greater hiking achievements, to see what other and mostly much younger and more daring people are doing, to be awestruck by beautiful images of the amazing geography and topography of the world.
This year more than any many of the films spoke to the global environmental changes that are affecting the ecosystems that allow them to do the activities. As we experienced record breaking temperatures of 80 C today with little snow this message hit home.
We watched artistic and exciting films that were shot in Alaska, Chad, the Congo, Fernie, Vernon, Trail, Utah and Pakistan. We witnessed people kayak, ski, climb, leap, base jump, and even slackline, a relatively new form of tightrope walking between rock and mountain peaks. While my hands were dripping wet during most of the movies the daredevils on screen were in no way cavalier about their sport. We heard people reveal on camera their innermost fears and worries, their humaness and emotion bared for all to see and hear. I was especially surprised by an accomplished climber whose self talk was about how stupid he was for getting himself in an avalanche area. Many spoke about how the experience, good or bad, changed them for the better. We may see some of these people as crazy yet they were extremely thoughtful and in most cases spiritual about their experience and what it taught them about facing death and life.
I am only going to Australia, not kayaking down the south Nile where if the Class 5 rapids don't kill me a hippo, crocodile or the local militia might!
I highly recommend this experience: www.banffmountainfestival.ca
You can get a taste at: http://blueobsessionfilm.com/
Cynthia
This is something we do every year to inspire us to greater hiking achievements, to see what other and mostly much younger and more daring people are doing, to be awestruck by beautiful images of the amazing geography and topography of the world.
This year more than any many of the films spoke to the global environmental changes that are affecting the ecosystems that allow them to do the activities. As we experienced record breaking temperatures of 80 C today with little snow this message hit home.
We watched artistic and exciting films that were shot in Alaska, Chad, the Congo, Fernie, Vernon, Trail, Utah and Pakistan. We witnessed people kayak, ski, climb, leap, base jump, and even slackline, a relatively new form of tightrope walking between rock and mountain peaks. While my hands were dripping wet during most of the movies the daredevils on screen were in no way cavalier about their sport. We heard people reveal on camera their innermost fears and worries, their humaness and emotion bared for all to see and hear. I was especially surprised by an accomplished climber whose self talk was about how stupid he was for getting himself in an avalanche area. Many spoke about how the experience, good or bad, changed them for the better. We may see some of these people as crazy yet they were extremely thoughtful and in most cases spiritual about their experience and what it taught them about facing death and life.
I am only going to Australia, not kayaking down the south Nile where if the Class 5 rapids don't kill me a hippo, crocodile or the local militia might!
I highly recommend this experience: www.banffmountainfestival.ca
You can get a taste at: http://blueobsessionfilm.com/
Cynthia
Identity
"So who am I?" In this year of change I find myself asking that question. Does everyone ask themselves the same thing?
From my readings on Aboriginal peoples, identity is an important concept. The Elders say "You must know where you have come from to know where you are going." It teaches us that we must know our histories to know who we are (Monture and McGuire, 2009). Loss of identity has had traumatic implications for aboriginal peoples health and social systems.
When I went to work everyday for someone else I defined myself by my job. Now I mostly work for myself so who is "myself'?
I am a mother, partner, sister, daughter, friend, scuba diver, swimmer, teacher, advisor, cyclist, the best boss I ever had and hiker. Below is a photo of me summiting Opal Hills in Jasper on an unusually hot but windy September 25th, 2011.
Next year I'll add full-time student to the mix... and maybe surfer chick!
Stay tuned.
From my readings on Aboriginal peoples, identity is an important concept. The Elders say "You must know where you have come from to know where you are going." It teaches us that we must know our histories to know who we are (Monture and McGuire, 2009). Loss of identity has had traumatic implications for aboriginal peoples health and social systems.
When I went to work everyday for someone else I defined myself by my job. Now I mostly work for myself so who is "myself'?
I am a mother, partner, sister, daughter, friend, scuba diver, swimmer, teacher, advisor, cyclist, the best boss I ever had and hiker. Below is a photo of me summiting Opal Hills in Jasper on an unusually hot but windy September 25th, 2011.
Next year I'll add full-time student to the mix... and maybe surfer chick!
Perspective
I have started to reread the Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. Each
day has a message. I read the book every morning last year, even
photocopying the pages to take with me on my travels. I really wanted a
new book with a meditation for each day but then I realized that I see
the world very differently now than I did one year ago.
On this day last year I was looking out to the mystical Greek islands in the Aegean Sea wondering what 2011 would bring. I could never have imagined the year I’ve had. In summing up the past 12 months I would say the best word to describe it is change. It was a year during which I experienced both personal and professional changes that have caused me to see the world in a very different light.
I would like to go back to the Santorini Hotel where this photo was taken, where I sat alone, meditated and sipped tea early in the morning.
On this day last year I was looking out to the mystical Greek islands in the Aegean Sea wondering what 2011 would bring. I could never have imagined the year I’ve had. In summing up the past 12 months I would say the best word to describe it is change. It was a year during which I experienced both personal and professional changes that have caused me to see the world in a very different light.
I would like to go back to the Santorini Hotel where this photo was taken, where I sat alone, meditated and sipped tea early in the morning.
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