Seeing the World Post Excerpts
28 Days (Feb. 29/24)
Close to 5 pm, for 28 days, the back doors of the barn, looking to the east. Every day I empty the wheelbarrow, then turn to close the barn doors. I see the sky, fields and woods. Some days – most actually – I think ‘Wow, I should take a picture of this.’…
Photography (Jan. 1/24)
I’d like to introduce you to a new photography website – ta-da – jimstewart360.ca. Lots of photographs of places and objects. Also lots of information on farm equipment and astronomy. It’s my husband’s site. He’s been putting it together for a long time, and recently went public with it…
West Country Trilogy (Nov. 11/23)
I’d heard of the Battle of Jutland, but that’s it. No idea of who, when or where. Now I know, thanks to The Redeemed, third in Tim Pear’s West Country Trilogy. The novels are The Horseman (2017), The Wanderers (2018), and The Redeemed (2019). Starting in 1911, they tell the story of Leo, a 12 year old boy living in Devon, England. They’re informative – and astoundingly beautiful…
Gordon Pinsent 1930-2023 (Feb. 26/23)
Like most Canadians, I’ve seen lots of Gordon Pinsent’s movies and television shows, and seen interviews with him. He struck me as a nice man. Likely, I thought, as nice in real life as he was with those interviewers.
And then I got a chance to find out for myself. He was in St. John’s and I thought maybe I could talk to him about research I was doing on Canadian television. I went to where he was working and asked if he’d have some free time to talk. “I’ve finished up for today, so how about now?” he said…
Lewes Bonfire Night (Nov. 5/22)
A bonfire is a great thing to see. A lot of bonfires is an even greater thing to see. And then there’s Lewes. You’ll never see so many bonfires all at once than in the town of Lewes, in Sussex UK, on the 5th of November – Guy Fawkes night…
Hartland Covered Bridge (July 27/22)
This weekend, Hartland NB is celebrating the centenary of their 1,282 foot covered bridge across the St. John River. That’s 1/4 mile or 391 metres. From Friday to Monday, Hartland is having a birthday party for the bridge, combined with New Brunswick Day and Platinum Jubilee celebrations…
Officers and Gentlemen (Apr. 30/22)
Commander Ralph Neville was one of several English naval officers living in Bay St. George, Newfoundland in the early 1900s. They shared a love of salmon fishing. He bought land at Dump Pool near Black Duck. It adjoined properties owned by Antarctica explorers Captain Victor Campbell and Commander Frank Bickerton. At a dinner party, he met a young woman named Marjorie Carter…
The Ride of Her Life (Jan. 19/22)
In the fall of 1954, a woman decided to leave her home in Maine and, with her little dog, go to California. Annie Wilkins was 63, had been ill, had to sell her farm animals, and just couldn’t face another northern winter. So not an odd decision, really…
The Old Baler (Oct. 10/21)
I don’t know how old the square baler is. There’s no paint left. The name – McCormick – very faint. Old Faithful, I call it. A friend said you can use this until you get something else. That was several years ago…
Dr. Gino Strada (Aug. 16/21)
Friday on the news, I heard about the death of Dr. Gino Strada, Italian surgeon and founder of the medical NGO Emergency. He was 73. He’d worked in war zones including Afghanistan and Rwanda.
Wait a second, I think. So up to the attic, to a box of cassettes. One has Kigali hospital scribbled on the label. I play it. Yes…
Padstow May Day (May 1/21)
“Now imagine a still night, the last of April, the first of May… ‘For summer is a-come unto day'”… The obby oss festival that marks May Day in Padstow in Cornwall, England. Oss Oss Wee Oss…
Pelé (Feb. 21/21)
In the late 1980s in Costa Rica, my Spanish language teacher was trying to convey ‘juego’, or game. She gave what she thought was a huge clue. She tapped her finger on a picture taped on the wall: Maradona. Huh?.. If it had been a picture of Pelé, I’d have got it right off the bat. Netflix has a documentary about the famous Brazilian soccer player coming out on Tuesday…
John Prine (Apr. 8/20)
When I hear the name John Prine, I think of Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. Yesterday, John Prine died from Covid-19. Yesterday was also the 26th anniversary of the start of that 100 days of slaughter in Rwanda… Both these things made me think of Radio CFRK. The small radio station that UN peacekeepers set up in Amahoro Stadium in Kigali…
Plantar Fasciitis (Dec. 14/19)
Nearly a year ago, I bruised my heel. So I thought. When it didn’t stop hurting, I went to my doctor. Plantar Fasciitis, he said. What’s that, I said. The plantar fascia is a band of tissue on the sole of your foot. If it tears or gets inflamed, you feel excruciating pain in the bottom of your heel…
Portugal Day (June 17/19)
On this day in 1965 Newfoundland Premier Joseph R. Smallwood proclaimed June 17th Portugal Day in the province. “Newfoundlanders have a deep affection and a great deal of respect for the people and country of Portugal. We intend every year to have Portugal Day…
Boogie-Woogie Piano (Mar. 29/19)
Today, the 88th day of the year, is Piano Day. So CBC Radio q told me. One or another piano has kept me company almost all my life. And one very battered music book. My sister bought Boogie-Woogie Land when she took piano lessons. So her playing was my introduction to boogie-woogie. That, and the book…
Willow Grove Settlement (Feb. 27/19)
On the road to St. Martins in southern New Brunswick you see a sign in a clearing on a corner. Willow Grove Black Settlement Burial Ground, it says. Behind it is a large cross and a tiny church. You stop to take a look…
Ma Bell (Oct. 30/18)
Our landline was not working. So my husband calls BellAliant. Customer service representatives are all busy, would you like a call back? Thank you very much, he thought, and pressed the number for yes. Bell called back…
Dinner Talk (Sept. 22/18)
Swiss Chalet in Saint John, two 20-something women with a toddler each and one infant. Four full meals. One child picks at his food, the other has eaten all he wants. One woman eats her meal, the other appears to be done…
Justify (June 11/18)
A big chestnut colt won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Five weeks ago, Justify won the Kentucky Derby. Three weeks ago, he won the Preakness. So he won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred horse racing…
Mary Jo Kopechne (Apr. 12/18)
Known best as “the girl in the car”, Mary Jo Kopechne had a promising career as a political worker in Washington. She was idealistic and enthusiastic – the sort of person you want to see in public service. Then she died at Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts on July 18, 1969. The car she was in, driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy, went off a bridge…
Martin Luther King (Apr. 4/18)
I don’t remember what I was doing when I heard that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot and killed. I do remember the shock and horror I felt. The loss and hopelessness that it signified. Even to me, a kid. But a kid old enough to understand what he was saying, and how important he was…
Pegasus World Cup (Jan. 24/18)
This Saturday, January 27, is the 2nd annual Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Florida. The richest horse race in the world, it costs one million dollars to enter. The total purse is $16 million, up from $12 million last year…
Horse Fun Show (Oct. 31/17)
Saturday was a horse fun show at Butternut Stables in Hampton. And it was fun! Riding students on school horses, visiting horses and riders. A barn open house and bbq. Warm, sunny weather…
School Horse (Sept. 25/17)
To call yourself a rider, one horse can give you your best final test: a school horse. Horses ridden in lessons build up knowledge of what makes a good, and bad, rider. When you can ride a school horse consistently well, you can say, why yes, I do ride…
John Perkins (July 24/17)
On Saturday, July 22nd, John Perkins, of Butternut Stables in Hampton NB, died. He was my riding teacher. For many others, he was that and more. First, he was a family man and horseman…
Salisbury Horses (July 5/17)
“Outside this lovely home, drive down the circular driveway covered by mature trees and be greeted by an old barn and about 3 acres cleared ideal for horses.”
Thus reads the real estate listing I found online for a 5.6 acre property in Salisbury NB. It is now owned by the Dangremond family… While putting up horse fencing last year, they were told that the property is zoned RU, Residential Use…
Goderich Postcards (Jun. 16/17)
My grandmother’s parents, Matthias and Emily Lymburner, lived for a few years in Goderich, Ontario. These are postcards sent from their early days there in 1911…
Princess Louise Park (Apr. 27/17)
Sussex has the best all-in-one park I’ve ever seen: Princess Louise Park on Leonard Ave, just off Main Street. There are other recreation areas in town, but PLP puts a whole lot of everything in one place…
Hanover Horses (Jan. 10, 2017)
A Facebook share – Waco Hanover celebrates his 40th birthday in 2017. He’s a Standardbred pacer, living in Vermont. From his name, I knew he was of Hanover Shoe Farms… I read online about Ralph Hanover who won the US pacing Triple Crown in 1983. He was the only Canadian-owned horse to do so…
Christmas Stable (Dec. 21, 2016)
Their stalls are decorated, the horses snugged in. Wintertime at the stable, and Christmas approaching. Stockings soon will be hung on stall doors…
Dan Patch (Dec. 13, 2016)
Dan Patch was a harness racing horse, a pacer. He was crazy good, they said. 110 years ago, he was the best pacer ever seen. He was a huge celebrity in the US, the first multi-million dollar sports superstar. His story is told in Charles Leerhsen’s 2010 book Crazy Good…
Therapy Visitors (Nov. 2, 2016)
“A woman was here today, a long time. I don’t know who she was. She had a dog. I don’t know if she was lost.” My mother told me this one day at her assisted living home. She had Alzheimer’s. I doubted that this woman and her dog really existed. But I asked the nurse. “Today is the day the therapy dog comes,” she said…
Horse Show (Aug. 13, 2016)
A horse show is a great way to spend a day. Sleek horses, adorable ponies and their riders showing their skill. It’s watching beauty in motion. Today at Spring Brook Stables near Moncton, Jamie, my favourite school horse, was competing. He did wonderfully…
The Great Benjamin’s Circus (July 13, 2016)
The circus came to town last Friday. The Great Benjamin’s Circus at the Princess Louise Park in Sussex. Catching sight of a circus tent with lights flashing and flags flying – all the ‘adulting’ I was in town to do went right out the window…
Cuba (Mar. 21, 2016)
In the late 1980s, with one wintry week off, my boyfriend and I decided to go to a resort. We found a last-minute deal in Cuba…
Annabel (Feb. 19, 2016)
Michael Crummey wrote of Kathleen Winter’s novel Annabel, “a beautiful book, brimming with heart and uncommon wisdom.” That’s on the book jacket. It’s true. This is a beautiful love story – of two young people, a family, friends, and a big land…
Heaven (Jan. 27, 2016)
When my dog Jack died, my mother-in-law gave me a card with a little story in it. It’s about a man and his dog looking for heaven’s gates. At the beautiful golden and pearl gates with a sign saying Heaven, they’re told “sorry, no dogs allowed.” They continue walking. At a rickety gate in front of a small farm, a sign also says Heaven. The man asks if his dog can come in and is told “Of course”…
Santa Dogs (Dec. 3, 2015)
The Christmas season, for me, officially begins with the Santa Claus parade. But you have to start feeling festive a bit earlier if you’re going to be in the parade. The St. Thomas Dog Owners Association decided to enter a “float” of dogs in the 2010 St. Thomas Santa Claus Parade…
Breeders’ Cup (Nov. 2, 2015)
Saturday was Hallowe’en. A big day. This October 31st was a big day for another reason. The Breeders’ Cup Classic horse race and the chance to see something that’s never happened before. Wire to wire, American Pharoah won the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He won the grand slam…
Fire Muster (Sept. 1, 2015)
The Fire Muster is this coming weekend – Labour Day Saturday and Sunday – in Pinafore Park, St. Thomas. A chance to see fire fighters, fire trucks old and new, classic cars, and dogs. On Sunday afternoon, there’s a dog show. It started as a Dalmatian show, and there are still special prizes for Best Dalmatian and Best Dalmatian ‘wannabe’…
Backyard Birds (Aug. 19, 2015)
My knowledge of birds is minimal. There’s brown ones, speckled ones, starlings, other big black ones, robins, doves, cardinals and jays. We have all of these in our backyard. It’s quite a world…
Ron and Secretariat (July 22, 2015)
Last weekend, my dog and I went to Grand Falls/Grand-Sault in northern New Brunswick to see a statue unveiled. It is Ron Turcotte and Secretariat crossing the finish line at the Belmont Stakes in 1973 and thereby winning the Triple Crown…
American Pharoah (June 9, 2015)
Saturday, I saw something I’ve never seen before: the winning of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. I hadn’t expected it to happen, but I hoped. American Pharoah made it look easy. It’s not…
Musical Ride II (June 4, 2015)
The RCMP Musical Ride was in Sussex this week at the Princess Louise Show Centre. Tonight they are in Moncton for a very special ride, to honour the three Mounties killed there one year ago. A lot of emotion…
Musical Ride (May 27, 2015)
The RCMP Musical Ride was in Hampton NB last week. The horses stayed at Butternut Stables where I ride. I was there when they arrived and, next day, I ran alongside as they walked from there down Main Street to the soccer field where they performed. Black horses, red serge. Impressive. Imagine them precision riding at top speed…
The Tao of Horses: Review (Mar. 18, 2015)
“If you knew a horse, you could depend on him and if he was going to do something bad, you could depend on him to do that too.“
Retired US Captain Thomas Stewart, in The Tao Of Horses by Elizabeth Kaye McCall. At the end of WWII, Capt. Stewart and Dr. Rudolph Lessing, a German army captain and veterinarian, got 200 Lipizzaner stallions and broodmares out of Czechoslovakia…
Winter Resort (Feb. 3, 2015)
Winter wonderland for skiing, skating and snowshoeing when the mood strikes and the weather is perfect. Nature-made snow sculpturing. Little birds buffeted by wind in their brave search for seeds and suet. Nights with clear skies, millions of stars overhead…
Coming Home (Oct. 1st, 2013)
Returning to your home after an absence, you see it differently. When you leave one home to visit another, you get it both ways. Going back to Ontario after a year in a new home, I was both visitor and resident simultaneously…
Hampton Court House (Feb. 6th, 2013)
The 140-year-old Court House in Hampton, New Brunswick has heard its last case. Court cases for Kings County will now be heard in Saint John. The town knows a new purpose for the building must be found, something befitting its beauty and its position as centrepiece in the town. But…
The Christmas Gift (Jan. 2nd, 2013)
This Christmas, I got lots of nice presents but my favourite is a list of stores written on a scrap of paper. It’s about the present that didn’t happen, but not for lack of trying. My brother and I went to Saint John in mid November. In the uptown mall, Brunswick Square, the annual Christmas craft fair was happening. I said to my brother, “I’m looking for a crocheted toilet roll cover.” “Huh?” he said…
That Good Night (Oct. 17th, 2012)
I have always loved Dylan Thomas’ exhortation to his dying father: Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yes, I thought, “old age should burn and rage at close of day.” But Dylan Thomas knew something I didn’t. Sometimes it’s time to hang up your hat and say goodbye…
House Deconstruction (July 22, 2012)
Three weeks in our new house and slowly it’s coming together. A new house is like a Rubik’s Cube: frustratingly impossible to figure out the parts but hit the right one and somehow the rest fall in place. I haven’t moved in over a decade. That’s too long, I’ve decided. Move every five years so you don’t have time to accumulate too much, or never…
Ponta Delgada (Apr. 25th, 2012)
I’m not a city person, but one city stays in my mind. Ponta Delgada, capital of Saõ Miguel in the Azores: a tiny perfect city…
Interlibrary Loan (Mar. 7th, 2012)
I wanted a book a while back. The public library didn’t have it and neither did the local bookstore. Did I want to drive to London to look for it? Or order it online? I checked at the library again. The librarian said “You can get it through interlibrary loan.”…
Merry Solstice (Dec. 21st, 2011)
Whatever the name of the event you’re celebrating, Happy It. The one thing that all the festivities happening at the time of the solstice have in common is that they are celebrations of life and light and sacrifice…
North Cape Trail, PEI (Nov. 30th, 2011)
We went to Prince Edward Island in November for “oh, a day or so.” Just off the bridge, we get a map. We decide to turn left to Summerside and the North Cape Trail around the west coast… Three days later, we emerge back at the bridge…
Jeep (Nov. 17th, 2011)
I got me a Rubicon! I’ve never had a Jeep, always wanted one. In my head, I have a list of vehicles, or types of vehicles, that I want at some point in my life. Big old tough 4 by 4 can now be checked off…
New England Fall (Nov. 5th, 2011)
Driving to New Brunswick by the American route, trying to pick out roads as the crow flies. But mountains and forests in the north. Looking at an out-of-date map, it looks like small roads and moose territory. So a loop a bit south of where the crow would fly…
Walking in the Woods (Oct. 12th, 2011)
When I moved back to southwestern Ontario, I thought woods walking would be over for me and my dog. Groomed parks maybe, but no acres of forest or meadows. I was absolutely wrong. There are lots of places where you can get lost in the wilderness…
Goderich, Prettiest Town (Aug. 23rd, 2011)
The slogan of Goderich, on Lake Huron, is “The Prettiest Town in Canada.” It’s never seemed like hyperbole to me. Last Sunday, downtown Goderich was slammed by a tornado. Buildings, trees and vehicles were devastated. A man was killed…
Going to Graceland (August 17th, 2011)
Despite liking Elvis, Graceland had never been on my ‘must-see’ list. But passing through Memphis once, it seemed wrong not to see Elvis’ house. Even pulling into the parking lot, though, I had quibbles. “Our money will be going straight to Priscilla and Lisa Marie’s pockets,” I said, “there’s starving children who need this money.”…
Show Jumper (Aug. 10th, 2011)
Coming up fast to the fence, feeling the muscles gather beneath you, crouching low over the horse’s neck, then springboarding into the air. Sailing over the rail, touching down on the other side, horse and you regaining balance and cantering on. The exhilaration of flying. I did this one time…
Fiat Bambina (July 27, 2011)
If I could possibly justify another teeny-weeny cute car, I’d get the new Fiat 500… I was so much hoping they’d do a good job – keep the look and spirit of the original, as BMW did with the MINI. And Fiat, bless their hearts, did. In the 1970s, in New Zealand, I had a 1965 Fiat 500…
The MINI Wave (June 15th, 2011)
I’ve noticed something this year, or rather the lack of something. MINI drivers in the London area are not waving at each other. Forest City MINI Club, get the word out – we wave at each other. We are MINI…
Car Music (June 1/11)
I once had an old Chevy Monza hatchback, a ’75. It came with a banged-in fender that didn’t seem worth fixing. The rest of the body was so rusted that, well, what would be the point?…
‘Look at Bingy’: Alzheimer’s and Distraction (June 8th, 2011)
Frustration is part of Alzheimer’s and other age-related memory loss and dementias. Often, an Alzheimer’s person will believe something totally contrary to “reality” – it may be a big thing or a little thing. But explaining, usually, will get you (the non-Alzheimer’s person) nowhere…
Friday the 13th, Port Dover (May 13th, 2011)
Bucket list item checked off. The bikes at Port Dover. Beautiful weather and the only Friday the 13th in all of 2011. I was a little nervous about it, I get panicky in crowds. I figured this was going to be a crowd…
Royalty (Apr. 26th, 2011)
In June 1983 Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales, came to St. John’s on the Royal Yacht Britannia… I didn’t want to go see them alone – it felt like an event that should be shared with friends. Turned out the only people I knew who were going were Irish Republican supporters going to protest…
Mabee’s Corners (Apr. 21st, 2011)
My cousin Lynda Sykes wrote this about her visit to Mabee’s Corners… “Ever since I can remember anything, I remember Grandma telling me many times with great pride how her family came to found Mabee’s Corners, which I vaguely knew was somewhere down around near Tillsonburg…
El Perro de la Playa (Apr. 9th, 2011)
(A story) In the morning, when Helen opened her cabaña door, the dog was standing beside it. She was surprised. She’d seen him on the beach but never around the cabaña. He moved away when she came out, but not far, and he didn’t back off when she said “hello doggie”…
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica (Apr. 7th, 2011)
It started with an email I received. You may have also got it, it’s making the rounds. A woman turned a jet into a house for only $30,000. It’s astounding, as is where it’s situated. I thought, well, you might luck out on beautiful wood and fixtures at the scrap yard…
Snow Day (Mar. 23, 2011)
Our backyard late last night. All the snow had gone, even the mud had started to dry up. Then bang, last night, a snowstorm. A mixture of rain, freezing rain and snow making big heavy piles of snow on wires, trees and fences. Beautiful…
Lake Erie, North Shore (Mar. 18, 2011)
A few years ago we went east along Lake Erie, as far as Port Dover. We started in St. Thomas. It took us four days…
Detailing (Mar. 9, 2011)
Several years ago, I bought a two-year old car from a newspaper ad. When I took it for a test drive, I couldn’t believe how clean and nice the inside was. It was like a brand-new car…
Skating on the Canal (Feb. 22nd, 2011)
Low-flying on glass, long swooping strides pushing you along. Wind at your back propelling you. It’s you and the power and glory of winter. From the National Arts Centre to Carleton University. It’s skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa…
Resort Towns (Feb. 2, 2011)
Brighton, in December, although still a fairly bustling city, bore little relation to Brighton in June or August. Jury often felt there were few things bleaker than a seaside town in winter – Martha Grimes 2002, A Richard Jury Novel, The Blue Last.
I usually agree with Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury on everything, but not this one…
Seeing the world the Alzheimer’s way (Jan. 25, 2011)
With Alzheimer’s, how is space and time perceived within your head? Take walking 20 yards down a hallway, from your room to the dining room. Halfway through, you can’t remember where you’re going. How can you not remember what takes maybe a minute to do?..
A Charity of Your Choice (Jan. 14th, 2011)
When making funeral arrangements, it’s common to think of a charity to which the deceased person would like memorial donations to go. It’s a nice way of remembering somebody and lasts longer than flowers. Unfortunately, what also lasts longer are the solicitations in the mail…
New Year’s Eve at the Harbourfront (Dec. 31st, 2010)
The most wonderful place I ever spent New Year’s Eve was the waterfront in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The tradition started, according to CBC, in the 1960s with one family going to the harbour front…
The Boat House, Laugharne (Dec. 17th, 2010)
When I was in high school, I discovered the beauty of Dylan Thomas’ writings. I first read Under Milk Wood and then moved on to his poetry. So much later, when I was in Wales for a few days, I wanted to find the places of Dylan Thomas…
Portugal and Eco: The Knights Templar Castle, Tomar (Oct. 29th, 2010)
When vacationing in the Azores, my reading was Humberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum. It was my introduction to the Knights Templar and I fell in love. I was going on to Portugal, and Tomar with its Templar Castle was on my itinerary, come hell or high water…
Seeing the World: Introduction
The Taj Mahal, glorious in front of you, and you alone. Freedom to stand and stare at its beauty. No crowds disturbing your contemplation. This must be a major hit on the bucket list. And it happened to Kim, a friend of mine. That’s her and the Taj Mahal in this picture.
Her picture is what started me thinking about the imagined and the real, the sought-out and the accidental in tourism. It illustrates the convergence of all those in a perfect moment, perfectly captured. We all have places we want to see, things we hope to do in our lifetime. Some are a shared cultural consciousness; the wonders of the world, places significant for their beauty or history. Others are particular to ourselves; ancestral homelands, places related to our interests.
Bucket List
With luck, we each will see and do some of what is on our ‘bucket list’ – those on the cultural Greatest Hits list and those meaningful to ourselves. But sometimes the ‘big ticket’ site is not the one that stands out in memory in a good way. I’d love to see the Mona Lisa, but standing in the middle of a crowd peering over shoulders and getting jostled by busloads of tourists isn’t the way I want to do it. But it quite likely would be the reality. That’s why my friend’s picture of the Taj Mahal struck me as so wonderful. I never thought such solitude would be possible.
What often are as, or more, memorable are the misses and the unsought hits. An unplanned stop or side road taken might give you a big ticket memory by accident. And, if somehow you miss the big item site when you’re on your way to see it, that in itself will be an indelible memory. Things you do are also significant. Maybe you only do it once, but it’s enough. Maybe you miss an opportunity – that might be ok, might not.
Time changes what you want or feel able to do. Nothing wrong with that, as long I suppose as you understand why you didn’t and come to terms with it. I can imagine the rush bungee-jumping gives you. I also can’t imagine it, it’s impossible unless you’ve felt it. Older and maybe wiser, I can imagine too clearly all the things that could go wrong. Hitting head-first into rock is just as vivid an image as is the ‘whee’ of flying through the air. So bungee-jumping will remain in the unchecked column of ‘things to do in my lifetime’. I wish I’d done it when I wasn’t ‘wiser’.
Staycations
And a good concept with a horrible sounding name – staycations. Practical reasons are touted by local tourism agencies – save gas, keep your money in your own economy. Probably the best reason is simply that many of us really don’t know our own area. I’ve had visitors tell me about neat places and bits of history about a town I’ve lived in for years. But you never have time, or you think ‘oh, one day I’ll go in there’, or you just plain don’t think about it.
The artist Clark McDougall created a body of work from urban and rural scenes within easy bicycling distance of his St. Thomas home. His work as a travelling artist consists of a trip to Buffalo, New York. That’s ‘staycationing’ at a whole new level.
Time and Space
In this section also is the geography, maybe archeology, of the mind. At different ages and stages, we see the same thing differently. Time and space depends on the season of the year and of our life.
Kim
26 May 2011Hey! I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to find this. Jim had a connection to your blog on his FBook page and I rediscovered you! I love this. But…my favourite travel moment was driving through Beijing in early November. It was dusk and the snow was coming lightly down. We passed the Forbidden City and, in the early evening light, with the big snow flakes falling lightly…and the soft light coming out from inside the Forbidden City…it just is a moment forever etched in my mind. But…the Taj moment is big.
I hope all is well. I’ve had a very crazy year so far… I have a little package of various dog notecards for you but have been waiting to send with a letter. Promise to do that soon.
love Kim
Dorothy
26 May 2011Hi Kim, glad you like it. I’m sorry! I thought I’d told you I’d put your picture up. Yeah, that moment you talk about with the Forbidden City sounds pretty impressive too. I had a driving moment like that coming into Louisville on a big highway at dusk in fog. And all of a sudden, there were the lights of Churchill Downs!! I cried. Not the same history and drama as the Forbidden City and China, I know, but still – it’s etched in my mind. Anyway, glad you found this, and nice to hear from you.