8

In Chinese numerology the number 8 represents longevity.

Eight years ago Keith and I met on a flight from Edmonton to Calgary. 

Since then we've been through significant life events. Our children graduated high school and then college and university, found careers and in some cases life partners.  We supported each other through a significant health event and job loss. One of us went back to school while the other found new employment. A house flooded, a parent became ill, cars crashed and life threw curve balls. But together we stood as one, managing to find humour and adventure. We travelled and hiked and learned to scuba dive together.

So on our Anniversary, with our children and their significant others around us, we affirmed our committment to each other and got married amidst the beauty of the mountains at one of our favorite spots in Canmore, Alberta.

Bonne Femme Carnival

New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras before the 40-day-long fasting observance of Lent begins and Quebec celebrates Carnival.

The Quebec City Carnival has been held uninterruptedly since 1955. That year, a large ice palace was built for Bonhomme, the carnival mascot.

My daughter Andrea teaches French at a junior high school in Edmonton. They celebrated Carnival on Friday and she borrowed a costume from a school close to my house. Yesterday we met for dinner and she warned me that when I got home there was a bag with his body by the front door and his head was on the dining room table!  She asked if I could return ‘him’. 

So, here I am as ‘Bonne femme Carnival’. I’m tempted to walk over to the school in costume, waving to cars and kids and see what kind of reception I receive!

Gung Hey Fat Choy

Yesterday we celebrated Chinese New Year, the year of the snake. Around Edmonton there were many public celebrations with traditional dragon dances and drumming.   

It is an annual tradition for a group of us to get together at a local restaurant for Dim Sum (Yum Cha in Australia).   Since my daughters are part Chinese I always like to wear my Chinese blouse and jade jewellery and give everyone a red envelope with lucky money inside.  I arrived early to get a table and as I put out the envelopes the Maitre d’ expressed her pleasure at my knowledge of the Chinese customs. 

If only I was able to speak the language!

Happy Ground Hog Day

Today marks a North American tradition, Ground Hog Day. Around the two countries are morning festivities with a local ground hog or in some cases a ground squirrel - who determines whether or not there will be an early spring. As you can imagine, especially if you are in Australia or the southern hemisphere, about now we’re really tired of sub-zero temperatures and snow.  According to folklore, if it’s cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks. The reports on the radio today were that neither Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania nor Wiarton Willy in Ontario saw their shadows. I have not heard from our local Balzac Billy but if the southern part of the province is having the same weather we are it will be an early spring.  I certainly hope so.

Ground Hog Day is also the name of a film with a cult following. In the movie the characters go to Punxsutawney and then the main character wakes up the next morning and its Ground Hog Day again, and again and again.  Ground Hog Day becomes a metaphor for our lives as we repeat the same routine day after day after day with little change. I shook it up last year but I have returned to my former life here with the same routines, almost exactly. I guess I stepped off the edge and now I am back on it, hovering.    

So little ground hog, what should I do?

A year in review

In 2012 I stepped away from the comfortable and stable ground of my life to travel to Australia, where I lived for ten months, as well as New Zealand and Bali. Here's what I learned about myself and life (in no particular order).

I am extremely fortunate.
I see the world differently and not always in a positive light.

I learned a lot, more than I realize. I know a little more of what I didn’t know but there's so much more to learn.

I can push myself further mentally (7 days a week and sometimes 12 hours a day) and physically (riding 20 minutes every day up a 45 degree hill often in 30+C heat and swimming laps in a 50 metre pool)

I am learning to meditate and reaping the benefits.

We truly live in a global world.
You can go far away but you never leave yourself behind.

People are generous and kind, especially those who have little.

I have deep seated prejudices I am addressing.

I can live on little, and with little, and enjoy it.

My family is extremely important to me.

I have trouble parting with some things.

I like to write (and need to keep up the habit of doing it every day).

Age is all in your head.

I don’t value money the way I used to and feel freer with less.

I like being on my own (but not always alone).

I could live in Australia. It is a magnificently beautiful, wild and diverse country.

I enjoy being around Australians. In general they are relaxed, friendly, patient, funny, irreverent, self-effacing, patriotic, adventuresome and clever people.

The phrase that sums up Australia for me is ‘no worries mate’.

I enjoy the odd beverage more (than when I left Canada) and will miss Australian wine and cider.

I loved surfing and if I lived in Australia I would buy a surf board.
The weather is usually a minor detail in life.

The blog, and the odyssey, will continue on this side of the world as I continue to step off the edge. 
 Happy 2013!