Our 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Marriage: Allows you to annoy one special person for the rest of your life.

Happy anniversary Duncan!

Catching Up

My silence on this blog has spanned a period of time that includes all of my anniversary type dates - my 8th blogiversary, my 4th twitterversary, my year celebration on Empire Avenue and my not-yet-40th birthday. Let's just call it a blog hiatus.

Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy

To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past .... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.

The life of Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) changed mine before I was even born. Like most of us, I grew up watching Disney every Sunday evening, reading the stories over and over, loving everything from Bambi to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Then later in life I found myself sharing all of these (and more) with my own children. Everything about Disney echoes something about childhood we don't want to let go and, thanks to Walt Disney, we don't have too. 

I loved the trips we took with the kids to Disneyland and Walt Disney World. There were moments there where I was a kid again - like the first time I saw Mickey Mouse! 

Happy Birthday Walter Disney. Thanks for all the memories!

 

"The Effect was Instantaneous..."

Ninety four years ago today, on a bleak battlefield known as the Somme, along a forsaken line known as the Regina Trench, a young boy of only 20 years old would spend ten precious minutes of his life displaying such courage that - unbeknown to him - it would reach years into the future to make such an impression on me that my heart would burst when I first learned of it.

I was a young Canadian Scottish Regimental cadet (2422 RCACC) learning regimental history when I first heard the name Piper James Richardson. In my tender youth, for me, his Victoria Cross was a matter of legend and pride and I wanted to be as brave as I imagined him to be. It wasn't until my basic training that I would learn the harrowing details of the amazing story that earned him that honour and it wasn't until I was much older that I came to realize just how spectacularly terrifying that whole time must have been for him.

The setting of the story of those ten minutes is the battle for the Ancre Heights. Piper Richardson (who had joined the 16th Infantry Battalion Canadian Scottish as a private and piper) was part of an advancing company that had been pinned down in a storm of enemy fire - machine guns, rifle fire and artillery. Heavy casualties, the death of the company commander and the mounting gravity of the situation had taken the momentum out of the attack. Just when it all hope seemed lost Piper Richardson asked his sergeant-major if he could pipe them over the top. Yes, he volunteered.

For what must have been the most amazing ten minutes in Somme, Piper Richardson, fully exposed, marched back and forth just outside the enemy wire playing his bagpipes for his troops. Not a single enemy bullet struck him. The citation to his VC decoration would later read "The effect was instantaneous. Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the position captured.”

Instantaneous indeed - and all these years later my heart still fills with wonder, inspiration, pride, amazement, thankfulness and a tiny bit of sheer terror when I think of Piper Richardson's courage in those ten minutes.

John Wayne once said "Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway." I don't know of a finer example of "saddling up anyway."

NOTE: In honour of this anniversary the new Pipes of War website launches today.

Don't Let The Terrorists Win

Each year I wonder what to write about on this day and in recent years I have just skipped it. Then an email arrived in my inbox from Michael Moore and I found inspiration:

I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built ON Ground Zero.

Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.

Words can not describe the turmoil that exists inside of me on this subject. PASSIONATE feelings compete convincingly - some fueled by hurt, anger and a sense of duty and others originating from the caring, accepting and protective parts of me. I don't think there is an issue for these modern times that equals how the world has changed since September 11th 2001. It has, and continues to, define us.

Michaels words hit me like a hammer to the forehead. Eloquent as always, he is right. Just because the people who enacted 9/11 considered themselves Muslims does not mean that Islam attacked "us" that day. Just because some terribly bad people are intent on using terrorism in the name of Islam does not make all Muslims terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists regardless of race or creed. I hate the terrorists with every fiber of my being and I want to do everything within my power to stop them. To end them even.

Many of "us" are Muslims - it is not a crime to be a Muslim - and more than anything I want to live in a world where it is both safe and ok for you to be Muslim if that's what you choose. This means we have to stand up for them, just as we would for any other religious belief, because allowing injustice to spread and divide us only hurts all of us further.

Some days it seems as if these two sets of feelings are such opposing values that they don't belong together, but in reality I feel both of them equally and know I desperately need both to produce a rational and tempered response. I have to make a clear choice as to which one wins and I choose FREEDOM.

If we don't rise up to protect freedom (for everyone) then the terrorists have already won.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Destiny brought us together - our choices formed the path

Today Duncan and I celebrate 2192 days of marriage - our sixth wedding anniversary.

Dr James Dobson said "Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without." I couldn't agree with this wisdom more. I can't imagine a world without Duncan in it and as long as he is there holding my hand through our many adventures I will be happy and content.

Back To The Future

Who needs roads? Apparently I do...

The modified DeLorean DMC-12, that appears at the end of Back to the Future, is now a hoover car. We're told wheels aren't needed where they're going (2010). It was a tantalizing look at the expected advance of technology over time.

But today we all woke up to greet July 5th 2010 and came to the stark realization that we don't yet have hover cars. Flying cars can't be that hard to develop can they? When, exactly then, is our future?

In the fifth season of West Wing there is a conversation between Josh and Leo I often think about. Josh is relating a meeting with NASA and Leo complains:

"My generation never got the future it was promised... Thirty-five years later, cars, air travel's exactly the same. We don't even have the Concorde anymore. Technology stopped... Where's my jet pack, my colonies on the Moon?"

Where IS my jet pack? I think it's safe to say I at least expected jet packs!

EDIT: It's actually 2015 where they start out in the second movie, not 2010. Seems the internet has fooled me. But I like the post so I will leave it up.

Anniversary Trip Part 2

We flew over the Columbia Icefields on the way home

I finally got the pictures from the second half of our anniversary trip in July finished and posted (Part one was our trip to Victoria). We took the train up island, from Victoria to Courtenay BC, to visit with friends and explore areas where I'd never been, like Mt Washington. It was a great choice, lovely and relaxing, like we got two trips in one. In a way I guess that's what we did! You can view the pictures here.

Anniversary Trip Part 1 - Victoria BC

We celebrated our wedding anniversary with an adventure to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It turned out to be both a perfect bookend to our anniversary trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia last year and a great way to be reminded of our Honeymoon trip five years ago.

The Fairmont Empress Hotel

The Empress Hotel is part of what makes Victoria's inner harbour and downtown area. I couldn't resist taking many pictures of the empress from all angles. The Edwardian château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury (the same man who designed the Parliament buildings) for Canadian Pacific Hotels and completed in 1908.

The BC Parliament Buildings at night

At night the BC Parliament buildings are lit up by over 3000 lightbulbs, making it the most spectacular part of the Victoria night skyline (it dominates the day time skyline as well). This is the iconic view that most people associate with Victoria.

Traditional Victorian carriage rides

We almost took a carriage ride around Victoria... It really was fun to be like a tourist in Victoria while on our vacation, doing as the tourists do. But since I grew up on Vancouver Island I just couldn't bring myself to pay the amount of money they were charging the tourists for those carriage rides (99.00 each for 15 minutes!) so every time we did go to get a ride I changed my mind!

Whales are a sight to behold

In sharp contrast to the carriage rides the money we paid to go on our whale watching tour was worth every penny - and I'd recommend anyone going to Victoria do it. For three hours we zipped around the waters off of Vancouver Island (and the San Jaun Islands in the USA) viewing spectacular scenery, jumping the wakes of bigger boats and, of course, enjoying the wildlife. We saw Killer Whales (two resident Orca pods that we stayed with for an hour), seals and porpoises (which were too shy for me to get a picture of). So much fun I wanted to do it again as soon as I got back.

The totems of Thunderbird Park

Thunderbird Park is an awesome greenspace (of which Victoria has a lot) beside the Royal BC Museum and across from the Empress Hotel. It's a lovely place and we enjoyed laying in the grass here together, absorbing the sunshine and watching the people go by.

A Hero's bagpipes return home

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Victoria on our next trip was to reconnect with the history of my unit, The Canadian Scottish Regiment, which has it's home and Battalion Headquarters here. In particular I really wanted to see Piper Richardson's bagpipes, which had recently been found. Richardson won the Victoria Cross for "most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when, prior to attack, he obtained permission from his Commanding Officer to play his company "over the top". As the Company approached the objective, it was held up by very strong wire and came under intense fire, which caused heavy casualties and demoralised the formation for the moment. Realising the situation, Piper Richardson strode up and down outside the wire, playing his pipes with the greatest coolness. The effect was instantaneous. Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the position captured. Later, after participating in bombing operations, he was detailed to take back a wounded comrade and prisoners. After proceeding about 200 yards, Piper Richardson remembered that he had left his pipes behind. Although strongly urged not to do so, he insisted on returning to recover his pipes." I've often thought to myself I would follow bagpipes anywhere and this piece of history has always been close to my heart.

As you can see we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Victoria (it's taken me this long to get the photos up online!), which was the first part of our trip. You can see the rest of our Victoria Trip here. Part 2 of the trip should be up soon.

Happy Anniversary to my Somebody

I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
Shell get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
Shell hear me out
And wont easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact shell often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and
With every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to steer clear of
Those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
Ill get away with it

Happy Birthday Mickey!

Eighty years looks good on you!

PS I miss you. We should reconnect soon!

Finally...

I have uploaded the pictures of our Halifax trip in August of this year. You can see them by clicking here: Nova Scotia 2008.

The Sea Bound Coast

How High are Your Tides?

Our first day in Nova Scotia we drove out to the Bay of Fundy, which was beautiful despite the rain and fog that day. We ended up at a place called Harbourville, with lovely colourful homes, dramatic cliffs and views. The Bay of Fundy is home to 50 foot tides and St. Croix Island, a small island in the bay that became the first European settlement in North America in 1604.

The Birthplace of Hockey!

How could we resist visiting Windsor - the cradle of hockey. Nova Scotia is full of important Canadian historical events, but can any be as important and world changing as the moment some people decided to drop the puck on Long Pond (c. 1800)?

Sunset at Peggy's Cove

We visited Peggy's Cove, a small fishing village founded in 1811, on our second day in Nova Scotia. The famous red and white lighthouse on St. Margaret's Bay was originally built in 1868 and then modernized in 1914 to the current lighthouse. We loved Peggy's Cove so much we went back a second time just to sit on the point and watch the sun go down! Romantic or what? As we sat their with the sky turning orange we also watched the full moon rise across the sky.

Bluenose II - Canadian Icon

The Town of Lunenburg (1753) is a lovely Atlantic village that is home to the tallships Bluenose (sunk in 1946) and Bluenose II. We had a lovely meal of Lobster and Haddock at the Grand Banker.

One of the most popular beaches in Nova Scotia

On the way to Lunenburg we enjoyed driving through Mahone Bay (which has more churches then anywhere I have ever seen) and we stopped for a short while to splash in the surf at Queensland Beach. The drive along the Atlantic Coast is beautiful and the stop at the beach was a perfect interlude.

On History's Doorstep

A visit to Pier 21 allowed us to do some family research and learn more about how integral Halifax is to the immigration and war history of Canada (immigrants, refugees, troops, wartime evacuees, displaced persons, war brides and their children all passed through Pier 21). I found the exhibits moving and the staff at the Research Centre to be very helpful. After Pier 21 we walked over to the Keith's Brewery and took the tour - likely one of the best tours in Halifax (highly recommend). We finished off that night with singing at the Lower Deck in Halifax's Historical Properties, and drinking more Keith's (of course).

Lighting the Way

The George's Island Lighthouse (1876) is easily observed from the the Halifax Harbour. I took many pictures of this lighthouse while walking up and down the harbour front but I chose the night time shot for the blog since I spent a lot of nights on the harbour. George's Island is part of the fortifications in the defense of Halifax, in conjunction with the Citadel, Prince of Wales Tower, and the Point Pleasant, York Redoubt and McNab Island gun emplacements.

A Clearer View

It wasn't until I neared the end of our trip in Halifax that I discovered the extent of the pollution in the Harbour (200 years of raw sewerage). A massive clean up effort resulted in the beaches re-opening for swimming in June of this year but they were already closed again when we were there (due to high bacteria levels). Luckily I had resisted the urge to paddle around in the water! After disembarking one of the harbour tours I took I noted some of the locals peering into the water exclaiming how clear the water had become. When I stopped to see what they were looking at, these sea stars were what I saw.

To the Lighthouse...

The McNab Island Lighthouse as seen on my journey to the Atlantic Ocean (aboard the Sea Tiger) in search of whales. In the end there were whales that refused to surface to give us a show and then the weather changed suddenly making the calm ocean breeze bitter and cold. But before we headed back to Halifax I was able to also photograph the Devils Island Lighthouse, which made me happy. Maybe even the happiest person on the boat.

Lost in the Titanic Disaster

The history of Halifax held my imagination this whole trip and I couldn't resist the lure of the Titanic graves. I visited the Fairview Cemetery on my last day in Halifax, as well as the churches that held the Titanic Memorial Services. I think that the graves at Fairview, which hold the largest number of Titanic dead to be found in Halifax, is a fitting tribute to the victims and I enjoyed visiting them. I took many pictures that can be seen on Flickr with much more detail (about the people themselves).

Here's the usual Hooters pic (Dartmouth).

Our Fourth Wedding Anniversary!

2004 - Wedding in Edmonton, Alberta

2005 - Niagara Falls, Ontario

2006 - Washington DC, USA

2007 - Hoover Dam, USA

2008 - Florida, USA

It's been four years full of fun, adventures, laughter, love and friendship!

Happy Wedding Anniversary Duncan! I'm so glad that you are a part of my life!

Like I'd Never Seen the Sky Before

Today is a special anniversary for Duncan and I, especially given our shared proclivity to the magic of the number seven...

This day marks 7 years since the day our destinies merged together and we found new meaning in life, together. It wasn't the easiest of beginnings - for anyone who has ever fallen in love with their best friend can attest to the confusion and problems this might create - but after a while it became apparent that neither of us could imagine a life or a world where we would not be together, come what may.

Since then the time has flown by, even too quickly perhaps (7 years already!!!). My days start snuggled into the man who doesn't want to let me go even though the day beckons him. When we are together we are hand in hand and full of smiles, debating some political issue or just enjoying what is going on around us. When we are apart my heart longs just enough for him to know I am missing him, and to rejoice when we are reunited again. We are always wanting to share something about our day with each other (which is what msn, text messages, faceboook, and email are for!), and we end our days much the same way we start them - falling asleep in each others arms. Life with Duncan is a gift I get to live every day, and in return I want to give him everything.

Happy 7 Years Duncan; I will love you until my dying day - and forever more.

Lucky in Love - 07 07 07!

Poolside at Las Vegas in celebration
of our third wedding anniversary

If there were nothing else but our love for each other
we would still have everything we need!

Duncan, these past seven years with you at my side have changed my world - thank you for being such a gift to me. I love being married to you - Happy Anniversary!

Blog Catch Up - Would you like Fries with that?

The White House
See all the Washington Pictures here

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
See all the Arlington Pictures here

Happy Second Wedding Anniversary!

"...to love and be loved in return..."

Duncan, my Sweetheart, thank you for coming on this adventure to Washington DC with me, and on all my adventures. It truly is wonderful to have my best friend beside me wherever I go, exploring and learning new things about the world and each other. No place in the world is truly home without you there with me - and when you are holding my hand I know that I am home no matter where we find ourselves.

One year ago today...

Duncan, with all my heart I take you to be my husband. I will love you through all times, through the good and the bad, the joy and the sorrow. I will try to be understanding, and to trust in you completely. I will make you a part of me, and in turn, become a part of you. Together we will face all of life's experiences and share one another's dreams and goals.


Our Wedding Vows

I wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you


Outside of the Legislature

I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you


Kissing on William Aberharts desk...

I'll miss you, I'll Kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold


Removing the garter

I'll Need you, I'll Feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control


Hold my hand... forever

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed if you've had too much to drink
I could be the man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you

Lyrics: I wanna grow old with you

Visit our Wedding Blog

Four Years of sensually erotic sexual lovemaking, foreplay and romance

Today is an anniversary of sorts for us, a day we lovingly refer to as "Boinking Day," for reasons that should be apparent to all of my adult readers... The day where we truly "found" each other, the day when it all began, the day we discovered how good life could be, the day that changed the world.

I Love You Duncan! I can't wait until you come home... we have some celebrating to do!