Hiking Jack Point – In Search of the Salmon Petroglyph

Yesterday morning I went out early to discover for myself a hike I had heard/read good things about from others, like my friend and fellow blogger: Donna. This hike is also listed in a recent book purchase – Seaside Walks on Vancouver Island by Theo Dombrowski. I’ll let the pictures and the captions do the talking, from here:

A great place to dive in and start exploring the seaside walks. The author says there is a petroglyph of salmon to be seen on the walk! You know I am not leaving until I find it.
View of the harbour city of Nanaimo, from the start of the seaside walk.
It’s starting to get spectacular out here!
Sandstone “carvings” all along the shore. Caused by salt crystals “growing” in the rock, according to a sign posted along the trail.
On the hunt for the petroglyph, checking out some carved out sandstone. Wait, what’s that in the distance?!?!
Could this rock be it?
Success! Thank you, Theo Dombrowski. ๐Ÿ™‚
More weird and wonderful sandstone.
Yet another beautiful view from this trail.
At the very point of it all.
Watching the Tsawwassen ferry load, from my driftwood seat.
Last look back as I round the point.
And there she goes! Heading for the mainland.
There is plenty to eat on this trail should you forget to pack a snack. Sometimes I feel like Nanaimo-area is just one big blackberry bramble… ๐Ÿ˜‰
Looks like it was a good hike. Someone’s feet had a lot of fun ๐Ÿ˜‰
Back home, watching Jack Point leave my feet (and sandals!)
Very happy with this purchase so far! Hmmm…which walk should I do next? ๐Ÿ™‚

And how was your (Canadian) long weekend? Do tell!

Rock on,

The WB

A Move During a Pandemic, Part 2 of 2

Capturing how I feel about my move in one photo…@ Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island

Hoo boy! It’s hard to sit down to ye olde blogge when there is so much to do and see but here I am, finally. I could write at least 5 separate posts on what’s been going on but dammit, the weather is too beautiful! I am understanding how a lot of bloggers take July and August “off” from their regular posting and resume blogging once again in September. If I was back in Ontario I’d be hunkered down in my air-conditioned place and only venturing out in the wee hours of the morning or after dark due to the extreme heat, giving me plenty of time to blog. But here on Vancouver Island, the more temperate climate begs one to spend as much time outdoors as possible!

Anyhoo, here’s an update on what’s been going on:

It took me a few weeks, but I was able to unpack all my stuff and make some sense of my new space. I am LOVING it here. Sure there are minor inconveniences to apartment living, like the heavy-footed upstairs neighbours, but overall I am very happy with, and comfortable in, my new home.

Balcony facing east
Balcony facing west. One of my favourite places to read a book, relax, enjoy a glass of wine…
Coming in off the balcony, into the living/dining area
Kitchen, as seen from the dining area
My bedroom
Spare/guest/art room – I’ve cleaned it up a bit since this picture was taken, at the final stages of getting unpacked/organized.
The bath

As of now, my hands are almost completely healed (from the bashing they took in assembling all the furniture I purchased to replace the stuff I left behind in Ontario), I have recovered somewhat from the exhaustion induced by the whole moving ordeal, and I am starting to really settle into AND enjoy my new life and all its perks.

Some of which, can be seen below!

Ann (The Unretired Life) at Helliwell Provincial Park, Hornby

I got to meet Ann, a fellow blogger, in real life (finally) at her beloved island of Hornby. Which is amazingly beautiful, by the way (as is Ann!).

And I was able to have another IRL meeting (again, finally) with yet another beautiful Vancouver Island blogger just yesterday – Jude – (Dr. Sock Writes Here) for a delightful walk around the lake at Westwood Lake Park.

Meeting people during these pandemic times can be a little unsettling, but we are all respectful of the need to maintain social distancing. Which means hugs are off the table, for now! Feels weird not to hug these ladies who I’ve known (virtually) for a few years now, but we do as we must.

Jude and I, thankful for the shady path around the lake

Of course, I am able to hang out (and hug) with members of my little “bubble”, my daughter and her family.

Saturday’s crabbing (and kayaking) adventures off the Nanaimo pier, at Maffeo Sutton Park

Life is definitely good. And I get to wake up every morning to this:

Sun rising over the mainland mountains

Yes, life is definitely good. And summer life on Vancouver Island is absolutely the best.

Rock on,

The WB

DO Go Chasing Waterfalls

I am fed up to the gills with all things moving. Packing for a move, unpacking from a move, organizing new space, buying things for the new place, building furniture and storage solutions for the new place etc., etc. I still have a lot to do, but they are mostly little jobs (curtains, art etc.). All the big stuff is done and I am down to the little tweaks that will make my place more liveable. Hoorah!

And coincidental to my fed-up mood, the weather is fabulous. So you know what that means, right?

Time to explore my new neighbourhood!!! Specifically, the out of doors.

Yesterday I took the afternoon off to stroll down to the Departure Bay Beach area (check out my Instagram for those photos), and today was spent in search of a trail I could walk to.

One of the residents in my apartment complex tantalized me last week with a tale of going for a walk through the neighbourhood and ending up on a trail which included a waterfall! And today, I made it my mission to find out what she was talking about.

I had looked up local trails on my AllTrails app, and the Beach Estates Trail seemed to fit the description she had given me. It said I could access it from Departure Bay Road but I wanted to walk through my neighbourhood, like my neighbour did.

A short walk later, passing by many lovely homes, and I was on a public access trail that took me down to the shore of Departure Bay.

Emerging onto the shore, close to the ferry docks.
One of the large weathered logs often found on the shorelines of BC

I walked along the rocky shore for a bit, looking for access to the trail. Which was easily found. Or so I thought. Immediately I entered a lush paradise.

Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!

Well-maintained cliffside steps and stairs
Cool tree trunk

It was a beautiful walk, but where was the waterfall? I decided to check AllTrails to see where I was on the trail.

I’m the blue dot. Not even on the trail yet!!! Could this be right?

I persevered. Onwards!

Continuing my climb up the cliffside. Not a difficult trail at all. Good thing ‘cos I only had Birkenstocks on my feet.

And then suddenly….

There it was! THE WATERFALL.

I had to be on the trail now, right?

Yup, on the trail now!
Not too shabby, for being right in town.

I continued on the trail and within moments I was out on the street, and at the beginning of it all.

Trail Head

And an hour and twenty minutes later, I was back home. I’m so thrilled to have such easy access to all this gorgeous nature, without even having to get in my car. Walking to a local trail on the regular was a big part of my former life in Ontario and I am so happy and grateful to have a similar experience here, at my new Vancouver Island home.

Do you have a local trail you can access easily for a quick dose of Vitamin Nature?

Rock on,

The WB

Barbados 2020 Recap

The snorkelling Widow Badass. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5 camera.

I’ve been back home now for 3 days and am totally undone by a horrific cold I picked up in Barbados, thanks to my room-mate, who got it thanks to her grand-niece (who is awfully cute but still deserves the nick-name of Plague Child, IMHO). Feel free to indulge any feelings of schadenfreude here, if you so desire. I’ll wait. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Since I am too ill to mix and mingle with anyone now that I am back home, I am putting together this contagion-free blog post instead.

Seriously, this is one hell of a virus. I was kinda worried they were going to quarantine me at the airport, with suspected coronavirus!

This trip marks 4 years now, of coming to Barbados with my friend CJ, and staying at the same hotel (Coconut Court Beach Hotel), and we are still discovering new things to see and do every trip. One of our discoveries this trip included a wonderful dinner at the hospitality and culinary school in the Pommarine Hotel just 15 minutes walk from our place. We would definitely go back, having enjoyed a delightful 3 course meal for only 38 Barbadian dollars (~19 USD).

Another discovery was the half-day Garrison tour we took with this guy:

Peter, tour guide extraordinaire! He makes history not only come alive, but hella fun too.

We visited two forts, an armoury, re-visited George Washington House (and still learned stuff), and saw the changing of the guard in front of the Barbados Legion.

Changing of the Guard
Cannon overlooking beautiful Carlisle Bay
New this year: We had a lovely friend join us every time we partook of the poolside BBQ dinner (yum!) at the hotel.

But for me, the absolute highlight was coming across some newly-hatched sea turtles making their way to the ocean, on one of my morning walks.

Squee!!! I’ve walked the beach every morning of my annual vacation for 4 years, hoping to see just this very thing.
I stayed to watch every last one of these babies get swept away in the surf.

Most days were spent doing a whole lot of glorious nothing. If you call walking the board walk and the beach, relaxing in the shade, swimming and snorkelling in the warm sea, and reading e-books doing nothing. Ahhh…the life.

Does this woman look stressed to you?
Short video of the amazing fish I see everyday. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5.
Loving my water socks (new to this trip). No more rock-shredded feet! Photo taken with GoPro hero 5 set to wide -angle.

Of course it was of the utmost importance to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible.

Sunrise
Sunset
Sunset and sangria (a perfect combo, no?) at Champers Restaurant
Colourful sea and sunset, taken at Champers
Dramatic Sunrise
Picture perfect sunset. Low tide.
And let’s not forget switching out sunrise boardwalk forays with observing the race horses getting their morning sea bath. At Pebble Beach.

There’s always something to learn while in Barbados. Here are some tidbits:

Island wisdom
More island wisdom
The last of my footsteps in Barbadian sand for this year.
Cheers to another successful visit to Barbados! Photo taken by CJ

Rock on,

The WB

The View From My Window…

…is pretty bleak, or should I say pretty YET bleak today.

Pardon the weirdness caused by my window screen but the journal prompt did say view from the window, which I didn’t feel like opening and removing said screen. Anywho, you get the general idea…

If I was still working, I’d be very unhappy with January in Southern Ontario, thus far in 2020. For the past 3 weekends, every Saturday has been some kind of weather event – ice storm, snow storm, rain/freezing rain, more snow – it’s like someone has a hate on for Saturdays!

However, I am not working (and still giddy about this!) – which means every day is Saturday and I can get out for a walk or hike just about any time I want. Except for actual Saturday, according to the January weather gods.

My blogging and IRL friend Joanne and I have come up with a schedule of Wednesday hikes and so far the weather has cooperated. Two hump day hikes under our belts so far, and hopefully 2 more before we fly off to our separate adventures in February. Here’s some views I wish I had from my window, taken from this past Hump Day Hike:

Winter sun peeking through the bare trees at Limehouse Conservation Area.
Stream at Limehouse Conservation Area

See more pretty views at Joanne’s blog – Following a Bold Plan.

When not gazing out my window or getting outside for a walk or hike, I find myself doing a lot of puttering around the house. Which is lovely. I am a huge fan of puttering. However it can seem like I am not getting much done because I flit from task to task, leaving most things in a state of progress rather than working any particular task to completion (like I was more inclined to do when I was still working). I think this is because I am revelling in all of my newfound time. And truth be told, it’s kinda bugging me. So I came up with a game plan for today, to see if I can account for my time a bit better. Behold the task list:

To Do list in my journal for today: to keep me on track: focused on certain tasks, and with less flitting about. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but you know…in moderation!

So far I have shredded some papers in what used to be my office, worked on ye olde blogge, yoga-ed, and did 3 loads of laundry. My slow-cooked chicken carcass broth will be done soon and it will become the base for both a soup and a curry later on today. I also flitted departed from my task list to make my own less toxic household cleaner and used it to clean up my toilet and sink (more about this on another post!).

What’s left? I plan on playing with my GoPro, to relearn how to use it before I leave for Barbados in a couple of weeks. And since the January weather gods have relented and it seems not too terrible today, I am going to venture out for a walk to stretch my legs.

Bleak or not, the view from my window is calling to me.

Hope your Saturday is going well! How productive are you inclined to be today?

Rock on,

The WB

The Place I Call Home

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.

Today I met with my partner-in-crime for a lot of adventures, Joanne of My Life Lived Full and Following a Bold Plan. I think it’s safe to say that we both feel the same way about feeling at home in nature and today we made Hilton Falls Conservation Area our home.

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 mosses
Log with fungus
Joanne 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. ๐Ÿ˜‰

I hope you enjoyed the place I call home. I know I did.

Rock on,

The WB

Retirement Thus Far…

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.

How’s your 2020 starting out? Do tell!

Rock on,

The WB

And Then There Were Two…

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. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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!

Rock on,

The WB