The 2nd of the journal prompts I am trying to follow this year is to “write about the place you call home”. Rather than write about a particular city or area or even a dwelling, I am choosing to write about the place I always feel at home…out in nature. Since I have retired at the beginning of this year, I have been making it a priority to get out in nature just about every day because my body and soul needs it – to feel complete, to connect and to recharge.
Only animals have been on this gorgeous winter footpath, before I arrived. This photo and the following three were taken 2 days ago across the river from my abode.This path is well-used.My kind of heaven.Red berries at the edge of the pond.
Just 2 retired gals hanging out in the woods and up to no good, as usual.Toasting our good fortune to be out in nature on such a glorious winter day. Joanne always brings the best hiking…er…snacks. Pretty sure it is illegal to drink in conservation areas. See “up to no good”, above. Hehehehe!Gorgeous bark and mossesLog with fungusJoanne snapping a pic of the pot hole.Hilton Falls – in fine winter form due to the heavy rains we experienced lately.Later on another part of the trail: Joanne spotting another waterfall at the end of the reservoir. Snack break, again. So important, on the trail. 😉
I hope you enjoyed the place I call home. I know I did.
It’s been a little over a week now that I have been untethered from full-time work, and friends: I have to say that it is pretty sweet. I know it’s early days but I seem to have taken to retirement life like a duck to water. When my SIL texted me to ask how I was liking being a lady of leisure, I replied immediately that I was born for this role.
I keep waiting to feel guilty for not being “productive” and it hasn’t hit me yet. I don’t think it will. I feel more like a marathon runner who has finally crossed the finish line, upright and smiling. I did it, everyone saw me do it, and no one can ever take my medal away.
In other words: Yup, these are my laurels and I’m gonna happily rest on them.
I’ve had one work dream (that I can remember) so far. I was dealing with a scheduling issue in my dream and when I woke up and realized I didn’t work anymore, I burst out laughing.
I considered my very first day of retirement to be January 2 as that is the first day I would have been back at work, in my old life. Instead, I went with my BIL and SIL to the McMichael Gallery. We had no idea what was being exhibited in addition to their permanent collection and I was literally screaming with delight when I saw who was being featured.
Beloved Nova Scotian folk artist, Maud Lewis (1903-1970). Her paintings (done with house paint, someone said) evoke a happy, simple life – even though Maud’s life was not that happy.
Another gallery I really enjoyed was the exhibit of miniatures by Quebec artist, Clarence Gagnon. I felt we really lucked out with our spontaneous visit to this beautiful gallery of Canadian art. A great way to start off retired life!
So, what else have I been doing with all my new-found free time you may be wondering. Well, the decluttering has begun. I am starting with my home office (I guess it’s my only office now, duh!).
The desk, the iMac and the chest of drawers have already gone to new homes. In their places are boxes I have been collecting, to fill with items bound for my new home out west.
I’ve also updated my LinkedIn profile. I find that website difficult to deal with, and there was no option to change my status to “Retired” so I had to get a bit creative. I marked the end date of my last position and created a new “job” for myself: CEO of Everything at Widow Badass Retirement Industries. The comments from my colleagues upon my “new role” have been heart-warming. I still get random people wanting to join my network though, so I don’t think everyone got the joke.
I suppose I just could have taken my profile down, but there are some friends that I only communicate with through LinkedIn so up it stays. For now.
In other news: I went for a mid-week lunch with a couple of retired friends last week, at a lovely bistro in Elora. We supped on roasted apple and brie soup and enjoyed fresh salads while we watched the snow fall with increasing ferocity outside. By the time lunch was finished I couldn’t see the opposing bank of the river through the flakes, so it was a good time to head back home in case the highway got closed due to whiteouts. Despite the weather, a gal could used to this kinda life! And I fully intend to.
Other than these activities, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and relaxing (including enjoying more time to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Crave TV)…and getting out almost every day for a hearty walk.
There’s beauty to be found in all seasons and all kinds of weather.
Keeping up the time-honoured tradition of stealing borrowing from other bloggers.
Now that I am retired from work I have no more excuses for not blogging regularly (or more regularly) due to lack of time, right? Yet the problem remains of not always knowing what to blog about. So in order to “prime the pump” as the saying goes, writing prompts are an excellent resource. AJ Blythe – a delightful Aussie writer and blogger I follow – recently posted a list of 52 writing prompts that I promptly stole borrowed, after she graciously told me “the more’s the merrier!”
Party on, Wayne! And this is how these things spread. So now I’ve told you about 52 Journal Prompts. Who’s gonna steal from me? 😉
My first prompt – What are you thankful for? – is very apropos and wasn’t even needed as I had planned for a first post-work life post on this very topic.
What am I thankful for? A better wording for me might be “what am I not thankful for?” For I am truly thankful for everything in my life that has brought me to this very day. Even the mistakes, missteps and sorrows have helped make me into the person I am today, and for that I am truly grateful and thankful.
I am fortunate that due to the privilege I was born into (white straight cis-gendered), hard work, and a little bit of luck, I am one of the lucky group of people that even GET to retire, let alone retire at age 60 and in good health.
I wake up every morning (as I did long before I retired) and express gratitude for my life and the people in it, before my feet hit the bedroom floor. That sets the perfect tone for me to start the day, no matter what else is going on or expected to go on that day.
I don’t know if I will continue to use one of these prompts per week for the whole of 2020, but I’d like to. Let’s not call this a resolution though, OK? 😉
Days left in this year and my career, that is! Holy cats, how did I get here so fast? It seemed like only yesterday I was starting out, working (at minimum wage) even before officially graduating with my sparkly Bachelor of Science degree, at my first full-time job.
As the sun sets on the year and my working life…Late December Sunset on the river that is a few steps from my home.
I was one of the lucky ones – actually working in my field, thanks to a part-time job in a lab I picked up while working on my undergrad…that morphed into a full-time position once my studies were ended. But enough reminiscing on that for now. Maybe I’ll do a retrospective (or two) on my working life at some point on ye olde blogge, but that’s not the focus for today.
Some of you may have noticed it’s been a while since my last post – 28 days, to be exact. Although I am not the most prolific of bloggers, I’ve been doing pretty well for the past couple of years, so this was a long hiatus for moi.
For 2 reasons, mainly.
Reason #1 – this last month of work has been waaaay more draining than I had anticipated. My successor took over officially on December 16th, and I’ve been very focused on giving her a smooth start (by performing some unpleasant tasks that needed doing, so she didn’t have to deal with them); and trying to organize/categorize/put into words all of the things that are the Lab Manager’s responsibility and that I have to deal with on any given day. Her comment on the first day of the job: “Wow, here I am dealing with at least 7 time-critical things at the same time.” Only 7? You’ll get used to it…hehehe!
I’ve been so involved with a successful handover that it’s infiltrating my dreams. A few days ago I woke up terribly tired because it seemed like all night I was going through my computer files in my sleep – finding an apparently vital statistics spreadsheet that I’d been keeping and needed to remember to share with the new Lab Manager. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember what this damned important file was all about so I figured my anxious brain just made it up for my dream.
The point is: I’ve been coming home exhausted and needing my free time to decompress, unwind and recover/restore myself for the next day/week.
Reason #2 – not feeling the Christmas at all this year. Could be related to Reason #1, but I don’t think so. I’ve fallen out of love with Christmas for many years and many reasons. But this season it was especially severe.
For the first year ever, I didn’t put up a tree. Even though I probably should have if only because it would have given me an opportunity to sort through my Christmas decor bin, prior to my mid-year move to the West Coast. No tree or other decor, no Christmas cards or letter to friends – no nothing.
So this kept me off the blog because who needs to listen to me rant about how I was am feeling like Christianity is the one of the biggest hammers in the Patriarchy toolbox and other such angelic thoughts as I have been having this month…HAH! Especially at one of the most celebratory times of the year, for most people, regardless of religious leaning. Consider it a public service that I’ve kept quiet. 😉
However, I have enjoyed living vicariously through other bloggers I follow as they posted about their Decembers, and their celebrations with family and friends, and tried to keep my bitter thoughts to myself. As one should.
I did take some time out to celebrate the winter solstice, despite everything else going on in my life and my mind. A reflective and solitary celebration of my gratitude for my life and for the natural world that hosts me – welcoming the longest night, and then the rising sun the next morning.
Welcoming back the light on December 22, from my kitchen window. The beginning of actual winter – the time of dreaming – and of beginning a new year and new life.
In closing this last post of mine for 2019, I’m going to take a moment to also thank YOU – all of the readers of ye olde blogge for being “here” for me. For taking the time to read and comment; for your encouragement and humour; for your insights and oh-so kind words. I do love this community so, and can’t wait to keep interacting with you all in the coming year when I will have much more time to do so!
Happy December everyone! I hope you have plenty of celebrations and family/friend time to look forward to, in this month of festivities.
For me the countdown to retirement is in its final push – work is busy as you can imagine, as I not only keep working away at my job, but also have to think and plan about handing it over to another. In 2 weeks my successor assumes my role, and I will spend my last 2 weeks educating her and making for a smooth handover. I feel just fantastic about all of this; my days are just flying by; people are saying nice things to me about me; I have absolutely no regrets or second thoughts about what I am doing.
From the countdown app on my phone, as I finish off this blog post…
I have been hearing about a couple of people I know, who will also be retiring shortly, that they seem to be struggling a bit with their decisions; backtracking and saying they want to continue to stay on and work part-time; seeming to be having trouble “letting go”. I don’t understand this, as they chose to retire – it was not asked of them, nor forced upon them in any way. These people are also men, and that may be part of the difference?
For me, work has always been something I do and never something I am. I would love to hear how others retirees felt as their work life ended – was it something you embraced wholeheartedly? Or did you have mixed emotions? Did you choose, or was it chosen for you?
The other thing I am most excited about (besides anticipating my new, retired life) is an online art journalling course I signed up for. A couple of years ago, I signed up for and wholeheartedly enjoyed a year-long course by the same artist, called Mandala Days. Julie Gibbons is an artist residing in Scotland who works primarily with mandalas. Please check out her website (linked, in her name) if interested!
In a few weeks (on December 21, the winter solstice), I will be beginning a new course of hers, called Mandala Magic: Alignment. This course again focuses on mandalas and art journalling, and tying the lessons into the 8 “seasons” – the solar cycle – of the ancient pagan wheel of the year. This is so up my alley, it isn’t even funny!
I love the word Alignment so much that it will be THE WORD for my life going forward into 2020. Yes, my word of the year! My big intention for 2020 (and beyond) is to bring my life better into Alignment with my values and my intentions for how I want to live, going forward. During the next few days, I am planning on drawing up a mind map using the word Alignment to further suss out what it means to me and how that will impact/guide/inform this next important phase of my life.
So that’s what I’ve been up to, lately. If you care to share your thoughts on retirement, goals and intentions for 2020, art, whatever – I’d love to hear from you!
Six years ago today – at a few minutes after midnight on November 14, 2013 – I became a widow, hence it is the 6th “birthday” of my alter-ego, The Widow Badass. To say my feelings on this are complicated would be correct, and also a complete simplification of my emotions. I don’t know if there are enough words in the language or enough time and space in anyone’s attention span to describe how I feel about…well…everything that happened during my relationship/marriage and JD’s demise and everything that I found out afterwards, and all that has happened since then. But I will try because it’s undoubtedly better than keeping it all rolling around inside my brain. If you want to skip this post and wait for something more entertaining/funny/silly, I can’t won’t blame you.
I feel guilty today because I don’t miss him at all and I love my new life so much I feel sometimes like my joie de vivre is equivalent to revelling in his death. Which I still feel awful about – nobody deserves to die from cancer, and at the age of 54 to boot. I’m not at all happy that he had to get cancer, suffer and die (blog posts about that start here) yet as a direct result of that I am living a happier, much more peaceful and contented life, with greatly reduced levels of stress.
I feel hurt and angry today because of all that I have found out about JD since he died. I was manipulated and lied to – by a master of the “craft”. The sheer magnitude of his hypocrisy regarding infidelity continues to stagger me to this day.
I feel cheated today because any happy memories I had of good times we shared together are now sullied by finding out his true nature after he passed. When I recall a happy or tender memory, my mind immediately goes to the many betrayals of my trust I uncovered after his death and any good feelings vanish like fog pierced by sunlight.
And every once in a while, I get a blast from his past that raises more questions than answers and drives home the point that I really was bamboozled by this man.
Like when I went to Birks a couple of years ago to follow up on some stuff regarding the diamonds he gave me and the helpful clerk told me the diamond and pearl necklace JD gave me was not covered under the trade-up plan. Except he never gave me that necklace (ummm…awkward) so now I know what the woman he cheated on me with got for Christmas that year – the year he decided we should forgo presents to each other, to save money.
Or like when I went to the cemetery to pay respects to JD’s dad and found someone had left a necklace with JD’s astrological symbol on his dad’s headstone, on the backside of the stone beneath JD’s initials. His sister (with me at the time) asked if I had placed it there. When I said no, she quickly (and weirdly, I thought) told me that one of JD’s male cousins must have left it there, then. Sure. Whatever.Probably another girlfriend…
So I also feel like a fool today.
I know it’ll be good for me to leave this building he bought, that I emptied out, restored and poured my heart, soul and dollars into (once I had paid off the massive debt JD left me with, and no life insurance policy either). I go into certain rooms and closets and am reminded of the terrible stuff I found in there, stuff that painted a very different picture of the man I thought I knew, the man I thought was deserving of my heart and soul. I’ll be relieved to leave those triggers behind.
And yet I feel so much joy today because so many wonderful things have happened to me since he died. I’ve met some wonderful people and made some friendships for life – friendships that could not have happened if he were still alive. I’ve grown so much as a person. I’ve been tested and I think I have passed. I’m looking happily forward to a future I could never have imagined if JD was still alive.
He didn’t want me to retire…not even at 65 – he thought we both should keep working until 70, at least. JD also harangued me weekly to join him in a doctoral program, once we completed our MBAs. It exhausts me to think back to that time.
This day will pass. It always does. And my feelings will be left once again on the back burner – on simmer – instead of coming to their annual boil. As I continue to move forward in the Badass life that I love.
Captured from the countdown app on my phone this morning.
My last day of work fast approacheth…and I have been busy both at work and outside of it, getting ready for this change. My successor has been chosen by my work and it’s the person I’ve been mentoring and grooming for this role for a few years now (Yay!). She officially takes over my position on December 16th, and I overlap with her for 2 weeks to make sure she settles in nicely (of which I have no doubt!). So that’s finalized and I feel great about it, and am already busy showing her what life as a lab manager is all about.
Also on the work front, I have been approached to consider working part-time – next door to my old lab – to assist for a few months in a project evaluating and validating a new technology. Like the proverbial old-timey fire horse that leaps from the stall when the fire bell rings, my mind immediately jumped to the positive possibilities (close to my successor should she have any questions; start-ups are fun; building labs are fun, etc.) and for 5 hot minutes I could see me doing this thing. Then I calmed down and realized that this will negatively impact the plans and goals for 2020 that I am looking so forward to diving into. Ye olde fire horse trotted calmly and thankfully back into the barn as I decided not to consider this offer any further.
Thus I passed this test! The test that says for me: do you really want to be retired? Answer: Hell, yes! Still yes!
On other retirement planning news, I settled on an extended health and benefit insurance plan to carry on into 2020 with me. An explanation for American friends that may not know our system: Canadians get free healthcare but still have to pay for drugs, dental care, and certain therapies (e.g. physiotherapy) out of pocket. Unless one’s employer offers a benefits package that takes care of this, as a job perk. Well, I have such a package that even includes travel insurance, accidental death etc., but obviously that is terminating along with my employment. So now, if I want to continue with these benefits, I have to seek out and pay for a plan on my own.
After several months of researching private plans and determining if it even makes sense for me to have such a plan (and in my opinion it does), I decided to purchase the plan offered by my company’s current provider of extended health and dental benefits. Manulife’s FollowMe plan ticked the most boxes for me.
But wait, it got better! When I called Manulife to set up my new plan effective January 1, I was informed of an additional health and wellness program called Vitality and did I wish to join? It would cost $5/month but save me 5% on my monthly premium and I would get an activity tracker – Garmin or Apple Watch. Since I am of a mind to get and stay healthy especially in retirement (and can do math, and am a lover of all things Apple) the only acceptable response from me was “shut up and take my money!”
Yes, yes, I know. “Big Brother” Manulife is wanting my data. And I am OK with that. Because Big Brother needs to know if anything happens to my health, or else Big Brother will have a reason to cancel my policy. Besides, people with nothing to hide hide nothing. Plus anybody living in today’s society who thinks they have any kind of privacy anymore is kidding themselves, anyway.
Then I had to wait to get my welcome package (snail mail…ugh) and sign on to the website once I got my new ID number (enclosed within paper package).
So, here is the deal with the activity tracker(s): I could (and did) get the Garmin Vivofit tracker sent to me for free. I could also decide to get either an Apple Watch Series 3 or 5, and pay a portion plus the tax towards the watch. Here’s the bribe part: if you earn points per month on the Vitality website by living a healthy life, your monthly payment towards the remainder of the watch cost is either discounted or brought entirely down to zero dollars, depending on your total points. Points are earned for daily physical activities (and a half-price membership to GoodLife Fitness is another perk offered by Vitality) and other healthy habits such as getting a flu shot, mammogram, colon cancer check, and going for a dental checkup. STUFF I DO ALREADY WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE BRIBED.
What do you think I did, gentle reader? Hint below:
Photo taken while waiting at Shoppers Drug Mart for my flu shot…I plan to pay not a penny more towards this beauty by doing all the healthy things I should be doing regardless.
I think this plan is just fantastic. After all, everyone (including Manulife, obvs!) knows an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to health.
What I can’t understand is why I only learned of it after I contacted Manulife to purchase my post-work life benefits package. Why was it not mentioned in any of the FollowMe health plan information I was sent by email initially? It would have made my decision to go with FollowMe even easier. Perhaps it is very new?
So now I am even more pleased with my selection of this provider. And I am loving my new Apple watch and busy learning all that it can do. Including unlocking my laptop for me! And guessing that I am working out and what type of workout it is. Crazy, I know…I love living in today’s world (most of the time)!
Anyone who knew me as a young teenager knew that one of the artists whose music I was obsessed with was Elton John (not yet a Sir). (Aerosmith and Queen were among the others, in case anyone was interested.)
1975. 16 year-old me at Camp Wabanaki sporting my Elton John t-shirt. Wish I still had it but I wore it to death, like most of my clothes from that time period. Also still wish I was at that weight. I remember wishing I could lose about 10 pounds, back then. HAH. Young, dumb and broke, indeed!
I first saw Elton John live in Orchard Park (just outside of Buffalo) in 1976 (or maybe it was 1975? Doesn’t matter. I think EJ likely didn’t know what year it was either 😉 ). I took a bus down to the US, with a high school friend. Elton was headlining, and Boz Scaggs and J.J. Cale opened for him. I don’t remember much more from that show except I got rained on, and Elton John DID NOT play Crocodile Rock, much to my absolute fury crushing disappointment dismay. Even though the whole stadium was screaming for it. Instead he told us he was gonna play “Your Song” – apparently a real fucking treat for us poor slobs as he hadn’t played it live in a long time. I was not impressed. I LOVED Crocodile Rock and had no idea at the time that he did not actually like this song, thinking of it as “disposable pop”. Really, Queen Elton? I still shudder at some of the crap you put out when you were a drug-addled mess,in years to come.Makes Crocodile Rock sound kinda alright now, don’t it? But you know me – I do don’t hold a grudge.
Anywho! Ahem. Back to the NOW, sorta.
Two years ago I heard Sir Elton was doing a farewell tour. So I joined his RocketClub fan club in order to have a better chance at decent tickets. Well, my name wasn’t drawn for the those shows so I thought it wasn’t to be. BUT then he announced he was coming back to Toronto the following year and whaddayaknow this time I got an email saying I was being offered the chance to purchase tickets more than a year in advance. Yup – October 9, 2018 I purchased 4 tickets (maximum allowed) to the October 23rd, 2019 show. My sister was staying with me at the time and immediately she snatched up one of the extra tickets (and my good friends Kenn and Jonathan seized the other two). In order to get these decent seats, I had to buy something called a VIP package, which came with a bunch of stuff that I promptly forgot about until I came home from Vancouver Island to find a big box of goodies delivered in my absence.
Inside the box was this “lithograph” accompanied by a certificate of authenticity – what anyone else would call a poster, I guess. But we have to be ultra because ELTON JOHN. You can see I framed it and hung it on the wall already. Because OBVIOUSLY. DUH!More of what was in the box – 1 of each for each ticketholder, along with the poster lithograph. Tote bag, journal, pen and pencil set, passport holder and luggage tag, key chain, and VIP lanyard and “pass” which got you exactly NOTHING at the show. Except maybe, I dunno: bragging rights?!?
Finally the long-awaited day arrived and we made it to Toronto, to the ScotiaBank Arena, for THE SHOW!
How excited are me and Sister Badass for the show to begin? PLENTY. PLENTY EXCITED. Jonathan, Kenn, and I. Also plenty excited for the show to start! I really must get better at this selfie thing. Sheesh.The Stage. Pretty damn ornate, if you ask me. You can barely see it in the next photo – how the edges of the stage are “carved” with symbols representing Sir Elton’s interests and career, e.g. the GUCCI logo was one of them.One of the cool graphics playing on the huge screen. The many faces of Sir Elton John.The man himself. First outfit of the night. EJ wheeled out this demure number after he got changed during the spooky intro to Funeral for a Friend. I love his brooch. Must be a favourite piece as I have seen pictures of it numerous times, pinned to His Person.Good ol’ Captain Fantastic! I think this cartoon ran during Someone Saved My Life Tonight. (from the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album)Psychedelic graphics – forget to which song. Too busy rockin’ out. Sorry. Not sorry.
The show was incredible, and Elton’s voice was still strong. I had low expectations because I knew he had had throat surgery and couldn’t reach the high notes anymore. I was blown away by how good his voice still was. He really belted out those lyrics.
And…HE PLAYED CROCODILE ROCK! I also had no very low expectations of that happening and just about passed out with joy when the song started. No matter that he could no longer sing the falsetto “lah lalalalalahs” – WE sang them for him. “For the fans” flashed across the screen during the number – his not-so-subtle way of letting everyone know he still hates this song, I guess.
It only took 43 years, but I finally got my wish and heard Elton John play Crocodile Rock live. So,
SirElton Hercules John, if you’re reading:
All is forgiven.
Love,
The Widow Badass
As if all the wonderful music wasn’t enough (none of the his “coked-out MOR crap” dreck made it to the set list, thankfully), it was also heart-warming to hear him speak of his life and his struggles, and to see his emotional response to us – wiping away tears caused by the love the crowd was showing him.
I probably won’t ever see Sir Elton John in concert again, if he makes good on his promise of no more world tours. But I saw him on Wednesday October 23rd, and once before when I was very young (probably not a Wednesday though), and that will have to do.
Rock on,
The WB
P.S.
Elton’s Memoir – I was going to wait and get it from the library. Then I read all the great reviews on GoodReads so decided I couldn’t wait. And then I was going to get a digital copy. Because of: Moving to BC. Until I realized the photos would be much easier to see in hardcover. I should have this book done by the time this post is published. Yet one more thing to pack. So worth it. It’s all good. Hehehe!
After a spring and summer filled with shenanigans (hehehe!), I had 4 vacation days left to use before my end of year retirement and it only seemed right to use them for a quick trip back to Vancouver Island to see my daughter and her boyfriend, in their new abode in Ladysmith.
I’ve been back home for over a week already, and only getting around to this post now – apologies, especially to Donna and Erica (two lovely bloggers I went hiking with during my recent visit) who were able to post already on the fun time we shared here and here.
Sleep deprivation, staff vacations, Elton John (more about this later!), and my sister coming for a visit all contributed to lack of blogging, and after catching up on rest this past weekend I feel mostly human again, and capable of stringing a few words together.
However, I think I’ll let my photos (and captions) do most of the talking. Behold:
Spotted this rascal on a walk along the Nanaimo waterfront on my first day back on the Island. I still can’t believe how close he/she let us get. Herons in Ontario are less bold.Sunday found us doing some exploring via island hopping, since our planned whale-watching excursion got cancelled last minute due to “rough seas”. Uh huh. This photo was taken on Hornby Island – looking out towards Denman Island (with Vancouver Island in the distance). Note rough seas.Waiting for the ferry to Denman Island. I still can’t believe we dared to take all those ferries in these rough seas. View from the ferry, approaching Vancouver Island. Wait, are those actual waves?Went to do some forest-bathing with these two rascals. The wonderful Donna and Erica. It’s always a great day for a hike when you have such lovely ladies for company. We talked about all the important things like we’d known each other for years. Even blogging!Donna in her cute yellow rain jacket – being used here for scale!Beautiful Holland Creek TrailOn my last full day, we went to Victoria to do some exploring in the capitol of BC. Chinatown was fun (and delicious!), as always.This fine fellow greeted us as we entered Chinatown.Of course we had to shoot a selfie in Fan Tan Alley. After Chinatown, we walked through the city with the goal of getting to Fishermans’s Wharf. This is a statue of the artist, Emily Carr. That is a monkey on her back, that she is turning her attention to. I assume it was a pet – like her little dog, and not a statement about any struggles she may have been going through! The Empress Hotel is in the background. I enjoyed the high tea experience there, back in 2003. Fancy!Mizz J (and K) looking towards Fisherman’s Wharf – our objective – which was eventually reached – although everything was closed when we got there.We still had fun walking around and admiring the unique homes on Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf warning sign. Point (get it? 😉 ) taken.
The week just flew by and was over far too soon. The beauty and charm of Vancouver Island continues to astound me. I wonder if I will ever get used to it. I hope not!
How’s that for an click-baity enticing title, eh? Last weekend was planned several months ago, after coordination with another blogging buddy and IRL friend, Karen Hume. Joanne (aka trail name: Blaze) and I visited Karen last in the summer of 2018 and another visit was definitely overdue!
Joanne asked me if there was anything in particular I wanted to see on our little road trip (besides Karen, of course) and without much hesitation I said “Tweed, in Smiths Falls!” This was more than cool with our intrepid Joanne as well, so off we went on Friday morning to see what this facility that grows cannabis was all about. Joanne wrote about her observations on our tour here and she has some great pictures of pot production at “Ganga University” as I call it, because our tour guide kept referring to the facility as a “campus”.
So, without replicating Joanne’s photos…we were both snapping away so a lot are the same…here are some of mine, from our tour:
There was a bit of a museum at the beginning of the tour, along with a video presentation on the history of cannabis. Worth watching!These overhead lights are depicting the chemical structure of THC – the stuff in weed that gets you high.These vials were filled with cotton balls doused in the different terpenes found in weed (also found in other organic items such as lemons and pine) – the chemicals that contribute to the taste and scent of cannabis. So we sniffed away, and cleansed our nasal palates in between with coffee beans. Apparently there are people who smoke weed for the flavour so descriptions of cannabis products talk about this. Sorry highly informative and cute little tour guide: I have yet to talk to someone whose first concern is the flavour of the weed they are smoking despite you assuring me of the existence of such unicorns connoisseurs.Here is the source of one of Joanne’s disappointments : a chocolate room not making chocolate, even though it was supposed to be Day One of production. So clean! So shiny! So devoid of activity and chocolate! Sorry, Joanne! 🙁Smiling despite the lack of chocolate and free (or otherwise) cannabis to try.
After a couple of hours spent gaining an education about ye olde electric lettuce, bhang, mary jane, dank, green goddess etc., we were off to meet up with Karen for some pub grub and plans for our Saturday together. Which included visiting:
The Brockville Farmer’s Market! Bursting with fall produce.
Joanne and Karen admiring the mineral deposits forming in the tunnel interior.Our tunnel experience included quite the light and music show! But you know what was missing though? Some Tweed product samples would have put the cherry on the icing on the cake of our railway tunnel visit, doncha think? 😉
While visiting with Karen, we stayed at a lovely little complex on the banks of the St. Lawrence River:
St. Lawrence sunrise, from the deck surrounding our rooms.Signs of a beautiful fall all around us.
And it really was lovely, except for the paper thin walls between the rooms. On Saturday night Joanne and I turned in early, in our respective but far apart rooms – we’d had a full day of catching up and touring the area with Karen, and had filled up on some delicious Chinese food for supper as well. We were both looking forward to relaxing with a good book and catching up on our (a-hem) beauty sleep.
Joanne was treated to a loudly battling father and son in the room next to hers while I was treated to something else entirely.
There I was, safely tucked into bed and enjoying a good book, when I heard the unmistakeable sounds of…er…knockin’ boots, from the other side of the wall behind my headboard. Which was not at all unusual I suppose, except that I was also treated to some loud and (I sincerely hope) playful slapping going on, besides! Talk about your “slap and tickle” – it was a veritable slap and tickle festival happening next door to me. Hah! Thankfully it was at a decent hour in the evening and the festivities um climaxed died down before they cut into my ability to sleep.
The next morning we shared our experiences at breakfast while I scanned the couples in the complex’s dining room to try and figure out who was the slapper and who was the slappee of the previous evening. I think I figured it out. Not only that, we ran into those same people at a highway rest stop on the way back to our respective homes later that morning! The woman seemed in quite a jolly mood so I inferred from this that apparently all that slapping was done in a loving and consensual manner.
Joanne asked me how long I had to listen to this symphony of slap-happy sex. I said long enough that I didn’t have to feel sorry for the female partner. 😉
Have you ever had your rest interrupted by a loud couple next door? Do tell, and…
