CaptainOrange

I've been completely beside myself with envy whenever I notice a new post on Dave's blog . There is a really great chance that he has been somewhere excruciatingly beautiful, learning some crazy new survival skill, or just enjoying the opportunity to appreciate skiing under the full moon . Despite living in Canmore, a city where people are always ready to leap into an extreme adventure, it seems as though there is a shortage of people who will just wander into the mountains (and I use the term wander  very loosely) if there isn't some obvious and lofty goal to pursue. That leaves a niche for someone like me and a couple of others who simply enjoy the journey -- that struggle of getting from one spot to another -- to go along for the ride. But, not this time :( Dave spent the spring equinox learning advanced glacier survival skills (his blog, again). With the crevasse of learning between us, I'm sure he would have never consider taking me on this kind of journe...

I had a great sit in session at Tim Horton's on 8th and Cumberland on March 17th. I sat, read and wrote for well over 2 hrs. on my own and then for another 2 hrs. with Vin and James.  In attendance: Mike, James, Vin Regrets: Dave Absent: Geof I hope all Questers managed to find the renewal that we all crave. I was suffering from serious lethargy, due to cold. I still managed to have a fine evening and stay up until 1:30am. We mostly reminisced and drank coffee (I broke a very long dry spell by winning a free coffee -- despite the stated 1:6 odds). I am still hopeful that we can get together for a more formal gathering if/when Dave makes it to Saskatoon. What follows is a peek into my brain while reflecting on the celebration that is Quest New Year. My thoughts aren't well edited. I've mostly included them as part of my need to archive my thinking. ******** I don’t know what the Quest Era is. Traditionally, we have kept track of Quest bi...

A long time ago, Wendy and I came up with an axiom of our relationship. I'm sure it's been "discovered" countless times throughout history. The thing you most hate the most is the thing you love the most. Ben would probably add, "from a certain point of view." We have seen this countless times during the course of our marriage. Wait! Don't go. This actually isn't another boring post about my relationships ;) No, really, it's not. I was just thinking that the same can be said for the weather. We had a minor ice storm last night. It made driving frustrating and dangerous, it made shovelling snow difficult and it made cleaning my windshield this morning near impossible. If I had remembered the relationship axiom (and remembered that it applied to weather as well), I would have brought my camera with me as I drove my kids to school. Serves me right :) I had been on the road for all of 2 minutes when I sensed my error and whined to Leora ...

James and I went to the Murray building yesterday to watch a frenzied feast for the brain -- a charity fundraiser for literacy. There is nothing more sexy than a bunch of 20-80 year olds spelling under the searing pressure of their uber competitive peers. The library entered a team. After watching from behind my camera for a few minutes I totally wished I had signed up. There is an explanation of how to play Speed Scrabble AND... if you are interested, you can find donation links through READ Saskatoon's website .  SPLs Team -- Happy before Pulverization :) Actually, they maintained a pleasant aspect all throughout the drubbing proceedings, which we kept telling ourselves, was in fact, for a good cause. Stylish costuming was in abundance. Dressed up as Saskatoon City Counsillors -- How Cute ;) The award for "Best Dressed" obviously went to this fabulous woman By the bitter end of several rounds, many words and many " not qui...

It's been awhile. As is my custom, I was beginning an update on what I've been doing lately, when I was inspired to do something else. Go figure. Since you have already, no doubt, noticed the use of an ironic tone and the past tense, I'll be repeating myself to say that the update will wait. What I did instead... We finally received a really good dump of snow. I shovelled 3 times during the day and certainly got my requirement for exercise. Some people obviously gave up under the pressure of even a mild winter some time ago. While I was out an about, I heard the hum of heavy machinery and was nearly run down by some snow removal equipment. I thought of Eric and Anthony right away. I was only 40 giant snowy steps from their house at that moment. Then I thought of Greta's comment about Max liking my demolition pictures 6 weeks ago. I also happen to know that Merlin is in a heavy 'car' phase. My feeling was, I could be the perfect uncle, if only I could c...