Thursday, November 28, 2013

Nov 28 - Josh and Laura Depart


In May, Josh and Laura flew home from Western Australia to help their cousins celebrate their weddings - Caitlin and Drew in June and Fraser and Katherine in August. The rest of the summer we enjoyed their company as they reconnected with old friends, worked, saved and re-provisioning with some excellent new gear from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Josh discovered the perfect backpack that Pen and I also settled on.

Josh returned to work with BC Ferries and Laura combined her receptionist job at the Brentwood Bay Resort and Spa with several photo shoots. Check out her beautiful work at Laura McOrmond Photography.

We snapped this moments before we bid them farewell in Vancouver, bound for South East Asia. We're looking forward to reconnecting with them there on February 28 to travel together in Vietnam and Cambodia.

1978


Here's a 'selfie' we took in the English countryside in 1978 to illustrate our home made wedding party invitation. We were too broke to host a modern day extravaganza so we had a small family wedding with 16 guests followed a week later by a house party.

We used Letraset - the old school 'desktop publishing' tool of the era - to make the template for the photocopy master. Each sticky-back letter was painstakingly pasted onto the 8x10 photo. Look closely and you'll see that our letter alignment was a bit wonky. Today we'd bang this off on a computer in 30 seconds!

The old fashioned English stile in the background was very symbolic to us at the time, but probably lost on most recipients of the invitation :-)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Winterization

Winterize
As a new arrival to Canada in the fall of '78, one of the early additions to my lexicon was the word 'winterize'. I'd received a hint of what lay ahead while viewing a video at Canada House in London a few months earlier, intended to educate prospective immigrants. I remember just one image (and its related voice over) from the entire 20 minute production:
Voiceover: "Many people think of Canada as a land of ice and snow."
Image:












Voiceover: "This is true."

Having owned a VW Beetle in sunny South Africa in 1974, the sight of one buried in a snow bank in that welcome-to-Canada video is one of the enduring and endearing memories of my adopted homeland. For most Australians, 'winterize' means pulling on gloves and a beanie ( touque ) for the occasional frosty morning in mid winter. For the average Canadian, the list of chores associated with the word can last for days! The list is only amplified when planning to flee the winter and head for warmer climes, as that means you won't be around to deal with some of the things that can go badly wrong if you miss critical items. Examples:
Winterize the car:
    - switch all the tires from 'all season' to winter (an accident in winter with 'all season' tires       automatically negates your insurance.)
    - check antifreeze level and dilution (should be good to -20C)
    - put tire chains and ice scraper in the trunk
Winterize the house:
    - turn off all outside water taps
    - use compressed air to blow water out of underground sprinkler system
    - check condition of snow removal equipment (tractor/snow blower/snow shovel)
    - give local snow removal guy a bottle of something good to ensure your driveway is left clear
    - bring pot plants into the garage
    - mulch the base of eucalypts and other warm climate shrubs with bark chips to protect roots
    - put away patio furniture, lawn mower, BBQ
    - rake up last of the autumn leaves from lawn to prevent die-off
    - cut, split, season and stack the winter wood supply (about 3 cords)
    - remove brass garden hose adaptors to prevent cracking during freeze-up











In this our first winter as snowbirds I'm glad to report that our winterization chores are all checked off. As we step off our flight in Sydney next week, frozen pipes and snow-buried cars will seem as distant as that welcome-to-Canada video 35 years ago!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Esi


The count down is on! Two weeks today we leave our home and pets in the care of a good friend and set off on our new adventure. We're currently immersed in a zillion little jobs prior to abandoning home and family for 5 months. Despite the luxury of time to sleep in, I still favour my early morning quiet time for dreaming, scheming and writing. This morning while reorganizing some computer files I chanced on a journal entry made during my business trip to China in March.  It doesn't really relate to the Pete and Pen theme, but it is a travel story of sorts, so I thought I'd share it here.

March 15, 2013. 
I'm flying Vancouver to Beijing, reading Esi Edugyan's brilliant "Half Blood Blues". On a washroom break I walk towards the back of the plane. My timing's off and I'm trapped between a steward and a stewardess ponderously pushing catering carts, collecting lunch leftovers. 

The faces of my fellow travelers reflect the light of their video screens. Asian faces. Exclusively Asian faces. The steward in front of me stops to collect cans. Lots of time to survey the scene, and to realize that once again I'm a 'visible minority'. But wait. There's another visible minority! A beautiful petite black face, framed in a tumble of curls. When our eyes meet, I'm dumb struck. I'll swear this is Esi! Esi Edugyan, the author I'm reading just a few seats away. 

I bend down to ask. "Excuse me, are you my favorite writer?" 
"Excuse me?" says Esi. 
The catering cart bangs my bum. The stewardess huffs impatiently "Ahh ... Sir.. Excuse me!" 
"Are you a writer?" I ask.
"We'll, yes". says Esi
The cart clips my heels. I'm star struck. "I'll be back!" I blurt, as the stewardess eases me aft with her cart.

I end up trapped at the back of the plane for 15 minutes while another catering cart inches down the aisle. Finally I return to my fellow 'visible minority'. "Please excuse me once again. Are you Esi?" I ask. "Yes" says Esi, graciously. I kneel down and offer my hand. "My God I can't believe this! I'm reading Half Blood Blues on my iPad, just down there, and here you are! What a delight to meet you!"

I describe reading a review of Half Blood Blues in the Times Colonist just after its short listing for the Giller Prize. The reviewer had lifted a passage straight from page one, and as I read that passage I was immediately transported to a time and place far from my experience. What stunned me about the writing was how far the subject and characters were from the author's experience also. Far from her life experience, yet conjured so expertly in her imagination. After reading the review I had put down the newspaper, picked up my iPad and downloaded Half Blood Blues in a heartbeat.

When I returned to my seat and re-opened the iPad, I momentarily lamented the fact that I didn't have a print version of Half Blood Blues. Here was the perfect opportunity for an autograph. But wait! iBooks have a note taking feature! I opened the 'novel' to the 'flyleaf' and returned to pester poor Esi one more time. She kindly keyed in a digital message as a lasting memory of our brief encounter, high above the Arctic.

                                                                      Esi Edugyan

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Looking Back

View of Saanich Inlet from the First Peoples' Cultural Council Office in Brentwood Bay, B.C.
Imagine arriving at work each day to be greeted by this beautiful view in all its moods. Such was my good fortune over the past few years. Inside, a small group of wonderful colleagues shared a fine working environment devoted to the support of First Nations art, language and culture. During my 12 year FirstVoices career, I had the good fortune to visit numerous First Nations communities and made a point of returning to base with a small memento of each, which built over time to a treasured collection.


 














Jessica (pictured at right) is not part of the 'collection'! :-) She is, however, the treasured Operations Administrative Assistant at First Peoples' Cultural Council and the first person you'll meet when you drop by the office!

And here's my new view, for a few weeks, from our kitchen table. Very restful!

Monday, November 4, 2013

35 years after we hung up our backpacks...

... Halloween marked another turning point in our very privileged lives! We've retired for the second time and commenced finalizing our preparations for some more adventuring.

Our Back Packs from the 70's!

I first took "early retirement" from my teaching career in Hobart, Tasmania in December 1969, while Penny retired from her nursing career in Victoria B.C. in February 1971. Following our fateful meeting at the Darwin bus station on July 2, 1972, we travelled to over 60 countries around the world through the 70's, finally settling in British Columbia, Canada in November 1978.

For 35 years we focused on building our 'cottage in the woods' on Vancouver Island, B.C., raising our fine sons Josh and Aidan, and immersing ourselves in the joys of parenting, family and demanding but rewarding careers.

Our New Packs from M.E.C.

Now it's time to strap on the back packs and hit the road once again. First stop will be Australia. We'll visit relatives and friends in Sydney before spending a few months with my mum Joan in Tasmania. Then we'll return to South East Asia to catch some countries we missed during the early '70s.

Pen of course has a list of temples, pagodas and shrines that have been on her bucket list for 40 years. My main goal will be to try to recapture some of the simple life we enjoyed there 4 decades ago. A thatched beach cottage, fresh fish and rice for the main meal of the day and plenty of time to mingle with the local people, read and relax!

Our respective send-offs by our wonderful colleagues, family and friends were spectacular. Our warmest thanks to all for the outpouring of love you showered on us! Josh, Laura, Aidan and Heather checked us into the beautiful Brentwood Bay Resort and Spa for 2 nights of 5 star dining and accommodation. What a treat! After an amazing feast and celebration prepared by my fine colleagues at First Peoples' Cultural Council a number of us gathered at the resort to socialize for a couple of hours, then Pen and I walked the few steps to our luxurious room - undoubtedly our last 5-star accommodation for quite a while!! 

On Sunday November 3, Penny's colleagues from Victoria General Hospital plus family and friends helped her celebrate her retirement with a wonderful brunch and speeches honouring her 44 year nursing career. Now its time to plan, prepare, provision and pack before we pick up where we left off in November 1978!
Josh, Aidan, Pen and Pete after the retirement celebrations.