Our New Hampshire Vacation - Day 3 - Sunday Sept 17 2006

Installment #3

A Stinky Puppy, Tame Birds and Plans for Kilimanjaro.

The next morning we woke to the smell of cooking breakfast, making us feel that the $80 per night to stay in the hut might have been a good idea. We ate a quick breakfast of granola bars and carrot cake (left over - from the night before) and headed down the trail. Our objective was to get as far as we could before we had to turn around. I figured that leaving at 8:00AM we had until 6:30PM (sunset) and thus we would have to turn around at about 1:00 or 1:30 PM.

The trail was gentle at first but rose quickly as we came up to Mt Pierce. We passed the couple from the camp that had the two Malamute dogs. The male had a saddle pack loaded with about 20 pounds and the female had a nasty flatulence problem so it was either race to keep ahead of them or let them get farther ahead. As Michelle and I like to take our time we let the stinky puppy get far far ahead. The summit of Mt Pierce was relatively easy to get to and at the top I purposely searched out the Geological society benchmark to take a picture of it. I eventually found it but the mark had been so abused it was almost impossible to make out the elevation. It was nice to be above the tree line as we could now take off our caps for a while. Michelle was talking to the folks that run the AMC Hut and apparently the area has a tick and Limes disease problem, so we had to keep our hats on anytime we were in the woods. Also the breeze made the humidity somewhat more bearable.

As we passed to the next part of the ridge of mountains we caught a glimpse of the next summit Mount Eisenhower. When we hiked down to the saddle between the mountains clouds started to fill the Notch below us. Before the entire valley filled with clouds we had a great view of the Mount washington hotel in Bretton Woods, then within seconds the clouds covered the valley and began to spill over onto the Eastern slopes of the range. We literally walked thrrough the clouds as they spilled between the summits and onto the other slope of Eisenhower. The peaks of the mountains were visible through the clouds and the clouds looked like lakes of snow. As fast as the clouds came they tumbled over the Mountains and disappeared in the warm weather on the other side. There was one brief scramble as we approached the summit for about three metres we were on our hands and knees climbing a crevice like slope. When we got to the summit there was a crowd of hikers lazing in the sun. We met a couple of hikers coming the other direction that were locals but avid hikers. They talked about the best hikes in the area and we talked about hiking in general. One hike they described was one they took in the 90's to mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.. It seems that unlike everything that is said about it the hike is not that difficult but requires some acclimatisation due to thin atmosphere from the height of the climb, and doing it slow is a requirement by the guides. They gave us a good contact address to hire guides and such.. They also had a beautiful husky which licked our camera as Michelle tried to take a picture. Interesting picture ! After a brief stay at the summit and a few rolls of film later, we headed down the other side. The trail branched in several directions and we decided to take the trail around the other side of Mount Eisenhower on the way back. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake. There was no wind and the sun beat down on us as if it was mid summer. We hiked as quick as we could to get back to the saddle trail that headed back the way we came. When we came around the mountain the wid had picked up and we had some excellent views of the valley that we had missed due to the clouds on the way up. We hiked until we came to the summit of Peirce an stopped briefly for a snack, which we shared with a crowd of Grey Jays, which the Americans call Canadian Jays. Admittedly it is nice to have such a gregarious creature with the Canadian moniker but I have never heard them call this before. They swooped an landed near us one even took some crumbs directly from Michelle’s hand. As we headed back down the trail leaving our feathered friends to eat the remaining crumbs we left behind the sun started to get lower and the entire look of the trail changed. I was concerned that we might have taken the Crawford path trail instead of the trail to Mizpah hut but things became more familiar the farther we hiked. The trip down was far faster than we thought. With the exception of one slip we made it back in record time. Michelle seems to have developed a sizable bruise and I suspect it was from the trip down. When we go it back we were tired but not totally exhausted. I guess I was feeling my age as I voted to hang around the Hut and not try to tackle the Webster Cliff trail as Michelle suggested but given the length of time it took for the sun to set I suspect we could have easily made a quick trip to the cliff face and back before sun set but it was nice to relax and let my muscles heal before we headed back down the next morning. We ate a very disappointing dinner of dehydrated fettuccine and Black bean and corn chowder. The fettuccini was awful but the bean chowder wasn’t bad. That said when you are sleeping in a tent bean chowder is not a good idea. Enough said I hope. We stayed up late talking to some of the hikers and exchanging some Scouty stories and then called it a night. Luckily my sleeping bag had dried during the day and it was a much warmer nights sleep.

100 Reasons Why I love Michelle

Can you tell me 100 reasons you love your partner?
Here are 100 for mine but I could go on.

1. She listens to me even when I’m boring
2. She has the most amazing hazel eyes I have ever seen.
3. She encourages me when I need it
4. And knows when I am just being lazy.
5. She will hike on even when she hurts worse than me
6. Chocolate is one of our favourite foods
7. She cares what I think about her clothes
8. She cares how I dress (which is cool no one else has)
9. She never quits
10. She loves all seasons
11. She hikes
12. She bikes
13. She Snowshoes
14. She eats my cooking
15. Even when it’s BAD
16. History does not bore her
17. She is rarely as grumpy as me when she is tired.
18. She likes little children and small animals
19.To her Cuddling is a hobby.
20. She lets me sleep in on Saturday
21. She loves to cook
22. She loves to travel
23. We do most things together
24. We share allergies
25. She’s practical
26. She does not suffer fools well
27. She likes hot dogs
28. She can draw.
29. She likes my dated folksy taste in music
30. She likes Disney movies
31. She looks good in an evening dress
32. She looks good in Jeans
33. She looks good in most things
34. She doesn’t like Stephen Harper, Tony Blair or George W Bush
35. She may even vote NDP
36. She loves Christmas
37. She loves Thanksgiving
38. She dresses up for Halloween
39. She loves hot tubs and spas
40. If it's cute she likes it
41. Freckles rock (need I say more)
42. She talks as much as I do (most time unless she is mad at me)
43. She can take a good photo of me
44. She gets excided about vacations
45. She has dreams
46. I’m in some of them
47. She trusts me
48. She has faith in me
49. She believes in herself
50.She keeps learning
51. She has dimples when she smiles
52. She loves roses
53. She sends me roses
54.We like the same TV shows
55. She reads a lot (but sometimes reads novels more than once - I don’t understand that)
56. She loves the stuff toys I buy her
57.She doesn’t like stinky perfume
58. She smells nice
59. She misses me when I’m away
60. She has a great voice
61. She recycles everything
62. She likes “Great Big Sea”
63. She loves Jazz
64. She loves walking in the rain
65. She loves to swim
66. And looks good in a swimsuit
67. Romance never bores her.
68. She loves to dance
69. She loves to camp
70. She loves nature
71. She has an amazing smile
72. She is loyal to her friends (even when they are being stupid)
73. Her favourite colour is yellow
74. She likes parties
75. She speaks French (that’s sexy)
76. She understands me If anyone does
77. She looks good in a T shirt (just a T shirt)
78. She is not afraid of much (except some heights)
79. She faces her fears
80. She is beautiful even when she is sad.
81. She loves Kites
82. She loves to play
83. She is young and refuses to act old.
84. Even when surrounded by old fuddy duddies like me
85. Her teeth are as white as new snow.
86. She will try most things once
87. She never loses her sense of wonder at natural beauty
88. She likes breakfast in bed
89. She will cook breakfast in bed for me
90. She’s spontaneous
91. She is whimsical
92. My arms fit nicely around her waist
93. She loves Hugs
94. She is a great kisser
95. Holding hands is not an option, it is an essential
96. Sharing comes naturally to her
97. She has a great laugh
98. She’s kind
99 She’s enthusiastic
100. She Loves me.

Name That Pond

I am now aware that I have a limited readership of this somewhat self centered little Blog. So to keep you entertained can any of you identify the body of water in the header for this blog?

Our New Hampshire Vacation - Day 2 - Saturday Sept 16 2006

Installment #2

Ash Trees, Kids in FlipFlops and the We Hate George W Bush Society

Saturday morning we learned a lesson in dehydrated food storage. Dehydrated food has a shelf life contrary to the one on the pack. We decided rather that our usual oatmeal breakfast we would try the last Blueberry cobbler pack we had. I started up the stove and put the water and fruit mix on to boil which was supposed to turn into a fruit syrup on which the biscuit mix bakes and hardens. So what you are supposed to get is a large, cookie like, biscuit with blueberry syrup running through it in veins. We have had it before, and it is quite good, BUT not this time. This time we got thin blueberry soup, no biscuit.

As we were going to be hiking 3 to 6 miles today (using miles as it was marked that way - why do American’s resist the metric system?) we went for a quick brunch at Willey house in the centre of the notch. Willey house is a snack bar and gift shop that sits on the site of a famous landslide. Looking at the cliff faces on either side of the notch, the idea of being in the valley during a landslide is terrifying. There are large bare patches on the rock and I was left wondering just how much rock fell in the slide. We stopped at the AMC centre and talked to an older gent who told us if we wanted a good view of the notch to climb Mount Williard at the entrance to the notch, but as we had limited time, we decide to hike into Mizpah Spring Hut starting around noon. Michelle wanted to do the Webster Cliff trail that goes along the side of the notch, but seeing as there is a lot of scrambling (hands and knees) involved we decided to take the Crawford path which is much shorter 3 to 4 miles rather than the 6 miles along the cliff.

We bought a weekly parking pass, parked at the trail head to the Crawford path, loaded our packs lighter than usual and headed off down the trail just into the trail we came across an elegant little waterfall that made a very interesting bubbling noise and left the air, cool and moist. The trail then followed the creek that fed the falls for about 1.5 miles through a rather open deciduous bush which had lots of Mountain Ashes growing that were dropping copious amounts of bright red berries. Having never seen Mountain Ash trees I had to ask one of the other passing hikers what they were. Along this section of trail there were many hikers. We were passed by the young employees of the AMC that service the huts. All the supplies are hiked in on the backs of these kids. Yes, they look like kids, no more than 15 or 16 yrs old. Being the end of the season they are in incredible shape not an once of fat on any of them. The first two that passed us were carrying supplies on a simple ladder pack that consisted of a ladder frame held together with canvas and tied to it by twine was stacks of boxes of food. This was no backpack, just a simple frame which the hiker holds by reaching downward and grasping the bottom of the ladder. The pack is not tied to the hikers back it is just held like you might hold a person piggy back. Along the trail we had to stop a couple times to take a breather but these kids just plowed on by, at top speed, some wearing nothing more than shorts, T Shirts and flipflops no hiking boots or quick dry clothes. If Michelle and I have kids, this is a summer job I hope they think about. I would have loved to have done this, for a summer.(had I not been such a lazy little bugger as a kid)

Having left a bit late (1PM) we reached the hut just about dinner time. The tenting area was entirely taken up but they had opened a couple over flow sites one being in a spruce grove behind the hut and another on a grassy meadow in front of the hut. We were put in the spruce grove but as it turns out this was the better site because the meadow site is over the waste reclamation system that dries human waste and turns it into soil. Interesting system which uses manual labour the AMC kids again, to aerate the waste. Only one problem is it STINKS.

The hut was full of children of various ages some from a school group and some from a scout group. Luckily the spruce grove sheltered us from the noise as the cubs and school kids were LOUD. They did however, quiet down about 9:30 PM. Several other tenters came out of the bush to set up their stoves on the rocks by the hut. One couple had a back pack stove much like ours (MSR product) they were cooking dehydrated stuff again much like ours, we agreed that the Alpine Aire Pineapple chicken was a good choice. We realised that George W Bush seems to be the common enemy of tree huggers in the US. I made the mistake of saying something positive about him and got an earful, from one of the hikers. In reality I am no great fan of him but I thought it impolite to say negative things about a countries president while a guest in the country.

The smell of the dinner at the hut made our simple meal seem inadequate but after the hike it was appreciated. Michelle and I have decided that one day wee are going to go back and hike the trail using the huts (a chain of them run along the range) as meals and lodging are proved and thus you have to carry less as you hike. Bunk beds with mattresses are provided and the water is drinkable at the huts so you don’t have to pack as much water. Water is one of the heaviest things you carry hiking.

We ate and talked about what we were going to do the next day as it was getting to late to hike without headlamps (ours seem to be missing). We decided that rather than moving our tent to a new site we would use this site as our base camp and hike away from the notch into the presidential range, as far as we could and return in a day. After making plans, we called it a night and headed off to bed in the spruce grove. I hung the bear bin with our food in it in the tree not far from the tent. As my sleeping bag was wet from our leaking camel back hydration pack, I slept in just the fleece liner. Thank God it was warm when I went to sleep but it got very cold during the night. I got up once during the night, to move the bear bin farther from the tent, because there were odd noises in the bush. However it was not bears but die hard through hikers doing the Appalachian trail AT NIGHT. I could say I was impressed but I kept thinking just what would you see doing that. Oh well whatever turns your crank. Thus ended our first day.

Our New Hampshire Vacation - Day 1 - Friday Sept 15 2006

Installment #1

Fingernails Dehydrated Muck and a Million Stars




This past weekend Michelle and I took a short vacation to the white mountains of New Hampshire. It is one of our favourite hiking spots. A number of years ago we climbed Mount Washington from the Great Gulf Wilderness trail and became totally captivated by the place. Unfortunately money and time have kept us from returning until this week.

We packed as much dehydrated food as we could find and warm clothes because it is after all September (our Mistake) and headed off to New Hampshire. Actually the adventure began the night before as we went off to Mountain Equipment Coop MEC and bought fresh (if you can use the term here) dehydrated food and a new backpack for Michelle.

We packed our gear Thursday night trying, without much luck to keep it light. We left about 7 AM in the morning and headed to the US by way of Montreal Sherbrooke Magog Vermont and I93 to Crawford Notch New Hampshire. That was the condensed version of the trip in actuality we headed out without really planning the route. Most of our planning was done while we ate a very disappointing Breakfast at Casselman Ontario. I say disappointing, because we stopped at McDonalds thinking it would be fast easy and relatively safe food. At least you know what your getting right? Wrong we ordered two sausage and egg Mcbagels (or whatever) and got one BLT bagel and one sausage and egg mc bagel. Oh and as a bonus I found a finger nail in my BLT bagel but by the time we noticed the error and extra human protein we were on the road. I was lucky I did not eat the fingernail I found it in the wrapper of the bagel after I had munched half the thing. I checked all my nails first and I knew it wasn’t Michelle’s as it wasn’t metallic burgundy. YUCK YUCK YUCK ETC....

It was a bit cloudy and grey as we went through Quebec but began to clear and get surprisingly warm as we went south we crossed into Vermont at Darby Line. This was the first time I have ever been asked if I have been finger printed as I crossed the border and I think the guard was surprised when I said yes without even thinking about it. Then I quicky added it was when I was working for the RCMP as a student. As usual we passed through customs with little or no problem. The fall colours were beginning to show but most of them were yellow with a few hints of red. The weather in the east has been very mild I am not sure we even have had our first frost of the year. The countryside in Vermont is some of the loveliest in the east and the people are incredibly friendly. One thing I like is that every roadside info stop in Vermont has coffee available by donation (but I tend to donate as much as the cost because I feel guilty giving less.

We stopped in a small town were I93 enters New Hampshire for a late lunch. I am not sure if we were in Vermont or New Hampshire at this point, I will have to ask Michelle as her synapses being somewhat younger than mine work much better. As an American Blogger friend of mine (49erdweet) noted in New Hampshire "those sturdy Yankee's [have a] practice of eschewing public eateries - or else hiding them in obscure locations, far from tourists' eyes." So finding lunch was not as easy as we thought, and Unfortunately the easy going nature of residents of New England extends to customer service, they are very friendly but none too fast. As we finished our somewhat late lunch a train passed just behind the balcony. It was a small freight train and the sound of the whistle echoing through the mountain air seemed to fit well into the ambience of the warm autumn afternoon. I don't know why but trains seem to remind me of late summer or fall, possibly because as a kid I tried to make summer last as long as I could by taking long walks along the train tracks to the Mad river to fish or just throw rocks off the trestle bridge.

We arrived in Crawford Notch in the afternoon and decided to spend our first night at Zealand campsite before we hiked into the back-country areas. Our eventual destination was Mizpah Hut run by the Appalachian Mountain Club. We planned to tent on the tent platforms available but as it was three miles in and would be dark when we arrived, so we pitched our tent at Zealand campground and took a short hike into the bush and saw the silhouette of Sugar loaf against the night sky. A deer wandered into the brush as we walked up the trail, but we only got a brief look at it before it disappeared. We went back to the campsite and had our first dehydrated meal (I am having serious second thoughts on this dehydrated camping food - most of it tastes like stall mash potatoes) The night was warm and there were millions of stars to count the perfect end to a nice day.

My Accidental Life

49erdweet started me thinking about how our jobs define us, as he outlined his career path or phases of life in a blog article. I thought it might be interesting to followup his article with one that outlined my career path, if you can call it that.

The unfortunate thing about my life is there have been so many small jobs and times when I have done more than one thing at a time it is hard to define what really defines me at any time in my life. I was not even sure that my jobs related to the definition of me, and I am still not sure. Then I came up with the best way to describe my life / career path that did not portray me as self serving, although I admit to a large degree in choosing my life path I was being self serving.

My life up to a point could be best described as the accidental life.

The semi goal oriented phase

In my early years I wanted to go into youth ministries (a surprise to some I am sure) To that end I worked as a camp counsellor for 3 summers as a teen. I worked part time at a daycare run by the Methodist church in Barrie Then in my last year of highschool I did a short placement at the Barrie Banner newspaper as I entered the “I want to be a journalist phase” In this journalist phase I even went to Loyalist Community College for just over a year and dropped out for several reasons the main one being I was getting so bored that I wasn’t bothering to do the work. (And I had one of my first serious failed relationships) I have always been interested in photography so I went on to try Advertising at Georgian College again that did not interest me. I became so disillusioned with education that I decided screw this I will just take things as they come.

The no goal or floating years phase

So I got into cleaning (buildings) which sounds boring but enabled me to earn money so that I could travel one month out of every year . Basically started to float between vacations saving every nickel so I could take that all important trip to Europe or Egypt or Israel.(14 years - 10 or more trips overseas)

The epiphany !

I woke up ! I noticed I was travelling but really going no where. I didn’t have a life, life had me. I had been telling everyone that one day I was going to go back to school and finish a program maybe even university. However I was almost 34 and the likelihood of going to university was getting slimmer and slimmer. So with the money I saved for my next big trip and having developed a loathing for my life I decided just for the hell of it to apply to university. I chose something I thought would be interesting and that was to work toward a career as a history teacher starting with a history BA. I sent out applications to four universities and was accepted at all of them I chose the one farthest from home and applied for student loans,

I spent 4.5 years studying history in the coop program at the university of Ottawa and graduated Cum Laude with an honours degree and some how acquired a wife along the rout.

I was out of work for two months and then was picked up by a the Canadian government full time as a policy analyst and have been here ever since. (4 years)

Conclusion

Did any of these Jobs define me, does my current job do so, not really, and I have left out all the part time stuff I have done on rout. (Cadet instructor, construction worker, carpet layer, carpet cleaner, printing press operator, part time photography instructor, Fridge delivery person, mover etc.... and a million volunteer things) What defines me is me. If I have any real goals It is to be the best I can be in any situation I find myself and since I headed back to school in the nineties I think I have done that.

Welcome to my accidental life.

Our Vacation to the East Coast: A Piper, Forts, a Phony Indian and why I hate the Sûreté du Québec.

(Final Installment #7 - Saturday - Sunday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

Our next stop now on the way home was at the info centre on the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick where we stopped and watched a piper play sending eerie wails of Celtic history over the Bay of Fundy. After a brief stop to fly a kite in the ever present Fundy winds we headed off to Fort Beausejour.

Fort Beauséjour National Historic Site of Canada commemorates the role of the Fort in the struggle between France and Britain, and between Britain and the American colonies, for North America, 1751-1783. At Fort Beauséjour England and France were caught up in a tug-of-war for supremacy in Acadia.

Today the Fort’s ruins sit atop a hill overlooking the Isthmus of Chignecto, the land bridge between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Watching only the occasional passing train which traverses the low land below the Fort. As we wandered around the fort a VIA Rail passenger train passed below the fort making a wide arch around the low lands it was an incredible site to see the contrast of history and modernity. The powder magazines have been recreated realistically with some of the original stones, thus there are inscriptions (graffiti) on the walls dating back to the 1700's.

In an effort to find a campsite during the daylight hours we headed off stopping only once in Edmondston New Brunswick to look at Fortin du P'tit Sault Blockhouse

Constructed in 1841 at the height of the hostilities between the United States and England, The P'tit Sault Blockhouse was one element in a long line of defence installations stretching all the way to the province of Québec. It was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1855 and reconstructed, thanks to the generosity of the community, in 2000. Unfortunately we were only able to take a look from the outside as the Blockhouse was closed when we got there.

Our final campsite of the vacation was at Camping Cabano out side the village of Cabano this area is another historic one with echos of the War of 1812 all around there is an interesting but underfunded fort named fort Ingle just across the road from the Camp ground. This area was also made famous by Archibald Belaney AKA Grey Owl. Belaney adopted an Indian identity and the name Grey Owl, married an Anishinaabe woman, Angele Egwuna, worked as a fur trapper, wilderness guide and forest ranger. He told everyone he was a child of a Scottish father and Apache mother and had emigrated from the US to join the Ojibwa. Even though he was a total fraud his writings had an impact on environmental conservation in Canada. If you can find a copy of his writings read them they are inspiring. The Fort was interesting but small and so underfunded the uniforms used by the animators looked like Children’s Halloween costumes.

The rest of the trip home was not so pleasant. I have to admit that I am a bit lead footed when on the highway so I go on average 120 kph (which 7 out of 10 people do) but I neglected to remember that the Quebec police are not so forgiving of speeders as the Ontario police and especially unforgiving of speeders with Ontario plates. While I KNOW I was driving 120 kph I passed a Quebec provincial police car and quickly slowed and moved into the right lane, which was my mistake because it was then he followed me and pulled me over. He addressed me in French and when I said I did not speak French he grunted and said “I clocked you at 132 KPH” this he repeated 5 times as he handed me the ticket. I kept my cool and explained that I must have been watching the speed of traffic not the speedometer (but wisely I did not argue). I could have pointed out that every other freaking car on the road which was bumper to bumper was going the same damn speed but what the heck it was not worth it. I could have argued the speed on his radar was wrong but this guy seemed to be waiting for me to disagree, I suspect so because he kept repeating the speed to me.

So from now on in the province of Quebec I drive at the speed limit, no more no less.

Knowing we now had a sizable fine and a small bank account I headed Due west Arriving in Ottawa around 9:00 PM I would have made better time if I drove the speed of traffic but that as you have read was not an option.

Our Vacation to the East Coast: Cannons Muskets and Funny French Food

(Installment #6 - Friday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

After leaving Broad Cove (AKA noisy and crowded Cove) we headed off in search of the recreated town of Louisbourg. Last time we were in Nova Scotia the historical site of Louisbourg was closed so this time we made specific plans to be there in plenty of time to see the site.

Louisbourg is a recreation of the French fortified town which thrived on Cape Breton or Isle Royale as they called it from 1713 to 1758 The French came to Louisbourg , after forfeiting Acadia and Newfoundland to the British by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, leaving them with only Isle Royale (Cape Breton) and Isle Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). The history of the town was violent as they had barely finished building it before the first siege in 1745. Eventually it was to fall in a siege in 1758 at which time the British laid total waste to the town leaving only the foundations to prevent reoccupation.

In 1961 the Government of Canada at a cost of $25 million dollar rebuilt approximately one-quarter of the original town and fortifications recreated as they were during the 1740s, immediately preceding Louisbourg's first siege.

You enter the site via the visitor centre and a transit style bus takes you the few Kilometres to the town. The size and scope of the project is amazing. It is, by all accounts, a small town with streets and walls and many buildings all functioning with a staff of actors dressed in period costumes. Michelle and I enjoyed it immensely being both history majors (Hers an MA and me a BA in history). We walked in and around all the buildings we were greeted by several actors that all stuck to their roles well. We met soldiers and merchants and cooks. We watched as they fired muskets and cannons heard the sounds of drums as they marched down the broad streets of the town. We even ate an authentic 1745 meal in a low class establishment. We where given only the utensils you would have in 1745, which amounted to a simple metal plate a chipped ceramic cup and a heavy metal spoon. Eating an open-face sandwich and vegetables with only a spoon proved challenging. I cut through the very heavy bread with some difficulty cleaving the thing into two pieces then gave up and used my hands (I am told this was the norm)

The day was warm but cloudy and some what foggy but it only added to the ambiance of the place. The firing of the cannons left an interesting but slightly acrid smell in the air. Mixed with the smell of wood smoke that was endemic to the place, it left a lasting impression on our memories of the place. Every time I smell a slightly sulfury smell now I think of Louisbourg.

We stayed as long as we could watching the actors go about their business and following wandering sheep and goats in the street. The enclosures held goats, sheep, pigs but there seemed to be many that preferred the narrows streets to the pens.

As we left the town on one of the last busses we watched the final cannon firing for the day accompanied by drums yelling and marching all in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Our Vacation to the East Coast:: No Seagulls or Good Food in Neils Harbour

(Installment #5 - Thurssday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

After leaving Meat Cove we headed back to the Cabot trail stopping at a very interesting Catholic Church called Saint Margarets in the village of Saint Margarets. What was interesting was that the church was open 24/7 and there were two young girls hired to watch the building. It is nice that the Catholic Church gives its members this place to pray any time they want to. It is however unfortunate that if the doors to the church were left open here in Ottawa 24/7 someone would abuse it. Across from the church was a large cemetery that had the words Pray for us written with stone on a hill side facing the road. I have never understood the idea of praying for the dead but I guess that is why I am not Catholic.

We headed westward and as we were tired of highway like roads (the trail is a well paved highway) we pulled off onto a more rural rout towards Neils Harbour. As we entered town we noticed why the trail bypasses the town, as there is a large smelly fish plant just near the shore. Why the town is lovely the smell is not. We stopped by a road side craft store as Michelle saw another Bald Eagle on the rocks in the harbour. When we went into the store the shop girl mentioned she had seen the eagle swoop down and eat a seagull that morning. She also mentioned to Michelle that when the eagle is in the harbour there are usually no seagulls around. As it was getting later in the day we decided to eat at the Chowder house just off the end of the harbour. Unfortunately the food was mostly fried and I suspect McCain frozen fish from the packing plant, as both Michelle and I found it too greasy and we did not feel all that well afterwards.

As we headed down the coast we noticed it was getting dark and thought we had better find a place to camp for the night it was a short driving day as we stayed most of the day in Meat Cove.

We stopped for the night at a campsite just inside the park at Broad Cove, a wooded campground near ocean, north of Ingonish near east entrance of park. There was really not much to see at the campsite. Broad Cove is just that a large open cove with a sand and rock beach. The campsite was too tightly packed in and the residents were noisy. It reminded me of Place Rouge in Quebec (also crowded and noisy). We walked down and sat on the beach for a while watching the lighthouses flickering in the distance and counting the millions of stars visible in the night sky, until we both started to feel unwell because of the greasy food we ate in Neils Harbour, and then called it a night.

Our Vacation to the East Coast: Whales, Wild Horses, Ocean swimming and Coastguard boats.

(Installment #4 - Thurssday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

After we left the moose to her own devices (eating leaves and snorting) we jumped back in the car to avoid the rain, and headed off down the trail again. Our next stop was meat Cove the Northern most point on Cape Breton Island and the most remote community in all of Nova Scotia. The Cove was named thus, because apparently in the past passing mariners could smell rotting meat from moose slaughtered in the cove. As we headed into the cove the road became narrower and more rugged. Finally the road became little more than a dirt track. Just as we entered the cove the road turned to the right to follow the coastline and gave way to some amazing views. The campsite was on a rocky cliff that sloped down to the sea. The hiking guide book we have described this as, resembling the end of the world. which was a fair description as there are two sets of sheer rock face that plunge into the sea. Nestled between the cliffs is a pebble beach created by a slow trickling stream, that brings pebbles and sand down between the rocks. We pulled into the very basic campground, and the young guy in charge of renting campsites told us to go pick a site and come up and pay. There were two very interesting sites one was on the grass by the edge of the cliff and one was out on a spit of land surrounded by cliff edges. As the site was perched on top of this sea stack of sorts with a rocky causeway leading to it we decided not to camp there. Mainly because going to the washroom at night might be dangerous. The site we chose however had an equally amazing view. The entire cove was visible from the tent. After an unsuccessful attempt to light a fire we called it a night. The wood I chose was wet I didn’t have any kerosine (for my infamous woof lighting method) and my cub scout leader pride wouldn’t let me give up trying and join the neighbours at their fire, something I think Michelle won’t forgive me for. The next morning I woke up early and headed out to the empty campsite on the point. I guess no one else thought it safe enough to camp on either. There were two young girls standing there pointing out to sea. As I followed their line of sight I noticed two large moving humps in the water, there were two whales not more than 20 metres off the point and clearly visible.. I hurried back to the tent to wake Michelle unfortunately by the time we got back the whales were farther down the shoreline, but we did see the occasional tail flip out of the water. We decided to head out for a hike along the cliff tops toward the point where the whales had swam off to, we looked at Meat Cove mountain and decided as the trails were not very well marked we would do them another day when we had a better map. The cliff trail headed off into the woods just north of the campground the first bit of the trail was well beaten but gradually the brush started to overgrow the trail. Part way up the trail we came across an abandoned log cabin in an overgrown meadow. The hill in the woods got steep as we headed toward the cliff top. Just as the land levelled out the trees made way for open pastures. In the woods we saw horse tracks apparently there is a wild horse in the area. The path followed a saddle like hill that formed an outcropping into the ocean. The trail began to head downward steeply toward the water passing a burned out patch of trees and finishing at the cliff face. We sat on the cliff for about half an hour or more watching cormorants on the rocks below. Boats would pass in an out of the harbour around this point. We met a couple from Ottawa on the trail, a military man that worked at NDHQ and his wife and two kids. We headed back along the trail with the woman and her daughter while the husband headed to the end of the point with the son. We got a bit turned around in the woods as we followed the woman, but finally made it back to the main trail past the cabin and back to camp. The husband however was a bit better navigator and had made it back before us. I think he was less than impressed with his wife but given the trail was not well marked it was hard to blame anyone.

We got back to the camp at noon and decided to have lunch as we where eating lunch at the small camp seafood hut we saw a coastguard boat pull into the cove. The locals seemed to show great interest in the reason it would be here. I guess it is not a common occurrence. The speculation was that they had been called because the sea-kayakers that had come to the cove last night and camped on the beach were having problems. However it seemed the Coastguard boat was simply following a drifting old lobster trap that had been left out beyond the end of the season. Apparently they are strict on fishing season rules since the death of the cod fisheries. The woman that served us also mentioned that the wild horse ( which may have once belonged to a meat Cove resident) had frightened a few hikers on the trail this morning, unfortunately we only saw hoof prints. We watched as the coastguard hauled the old trap out of the water, and then we went for a very brief swim in a very cold ocean. For some reason I was not in a brave mood and decided to forgo the idea of swimming and just dunked myself into the fidget water, that was enough for me. Michelle loved the water and floated in the waves with her toes out of the water. It is interesting how you float higher in salt water that fresh water.

After we went for a swim we decided to head off back to the Cabot trail but that is another installment......

Our Vacation to the East Coast : Oat Cakes, The Green Party, and a Moose

(Installment #3 - Wednesday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

Not far down the Cabot Trail we found a campground. I believe it was called Macleod’s or something like that. While it was mainly a trailer park like all the campgrounds on the trail it had an excellent ocean view. The problem was that the ground was not level enough to have a good night sleep the tent sites were on a steep hillside. In the morning I let Michelle sleep in a bit as because the hill made sleep so unpleasant I’m sure neither she nor I got a good night sleep. I wondered down to the washroom and on my way back I ran into a guy selling traditional Scottish breakfast food out of the back of a PT Cruiser. He had oat cakes, tea, coffee, scones and a number of other things. As I was low on cash, I bought coffee tea and an oat cake to share with Michelle. After Michelle woke and sleepily munched the oat cake (which was really good) we went back down to the PT Cruiser Guy and bough another for the road. As we were buying the oat cake the sister of the guy that runs it, was talking (basically campaigning) to a bunch that had gathered at the Cruiser. This was Elizabeth May, from Ottawa, one of the candidates in the race for the leadership of the Green Party. She seems to have some good political opinions unfortunately I tend to think the green party has a few too many idealistic dreamers in it but I could be convinced to vote for them if they found some way to strengthen their party.

After a short yack on politics we headed off down the trail once again. As the trail passes Pleasant bay it cuts inland and passes a really interesting highland Bog. Michelle and I stopped and even though her cold/flu was still being a pain, we decided to hike the bog trail, which was mostly a boardwalk but very pleasant. As we were entering the trail, we saw a moose on the far edge of the bog just by the trees that hid the bog from the highway. There was a growing crowd of motorists that had pulled over to watch her through the trees. I think the moose (a cow - female moose are called cows) was getting a bit annoyed because she was gradually making her way away from the highway. We walked the rest of the bog trail and noticed a number of very interesting bog plants some that were even carnivorous bug eaters. The signs on the trail warned us to look out for moose especially around the late afternoon (which was when we arrived). As we came back to the beginning of the loop we found the moose had moved even closer to the trail we stood and watched her from no more than 20 feet away. I took a lot of really good photos (that I will blog after I scan them).

The crowd on the trail was getting larger as people from the highway pulled over and hiked up the trail to see her. Then this obnoxious fat preteen brat decided to yell and push his way off the trail to get closer and spooked her, and she headed toward the highway ditch. Luckily there was no traffic as she scooted across the road, and disappeared.

Our next stop was to be Meat Cove but that will be another installment.......

Our Vacation to the East Coast : Moose and eagles on the trail

(Installment #2 - Tuesday)
Photos and many edits to follow.

We drove from Cavendish beach across the Island leaving the land of Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery behind. Although it is a pretty place the tourist stuff is taking over, I never want to see another red headed doll again. As we passed Charlottetown we saw signs for a lighthouse at Prim point, driving down some seriously rough roads within twenty minutes we were at Prim point. The light house was the last brick lighthouse on the island. However the brick while visable inside the lighthouse was covered with asbestus siding. Michelle sat and watched the ocean as I climbed my way to the top. The stairs were very steep and there were no hand rails but the veiw from the tiop was awesome. I took a picture of the veiw and kept the glass of the light in the picture to show where it was taken from the photo turned out incredable. As we made our way over to the ferry I thought about the project concept I had considered some time ago, to investigate the reconstruction of the Nellie J Banks. A project I am seriously thinking of dumping due to the constraints and the risks involved. The banks being one of the most famous rum runners to sail the shores of Nova Scotia and PEI. However with it still on my mind, and as we had an extra hour till the ferry crossed to Nova Scotia I mentioned that it may be interesting to head up to Murray Harbour to Michelle. Michelle said that if we didn’t I might regret having been so close and not going, and so we made a detour to Murray Harbour the last resting place of the Nellie J Banks. In Murray Harbour I realised that there was not enough people to really support such a project as the whole town consisted of 500 souls. We stopped at Ellie’s a gift shop, and I phoned Sue Burns the owner of the property were the Banks was burned, and she said come right over. Sue was very surprised to see us but with the usual Maritime friendliness she showed us down to the spot on her property where the banks was burned. Sue told us her neighbour a 95 year old woman was the widow of the man that lit the Banks on fire in 1953. Unfortunately the woman was not available when Sue called. Sue said if she had known we were coming we could have camped in her yard. When we walked down to the beach I picked up a peace of metal strapping that Sue believes came off the Banks and Sue told me to keep it. As for the project I am not sure that it will go much farther unless I can find an enthusiastic Murray Harbour person to take it on.

Having only about 20 minutes to make it to the ferry we bid farewell to Sue and headed off to the ferry. We made it just in time, and were not the last in line. The trip across was great Michelle spotted herons in the harbour so I took several photos of the herons feasting on shell fish on the shore and some of the lighthouses that flank the entrance into the port. Arriving in Nova Scotia Michelle and I decided that as the last time we were there we went up the south and east shore first and did not have enough time for the North west shore, we would start by going up that shore.

The drive to the Canso Causeway seemed long as there was little scenery to see but it was good to see the moose fences once again as last time we were up that way we saw several moose running along the fence line so we kept our eye on the fence but saw no moose, unfortunately. We made our way to the causeway and like last time as we headed over Michelle saw another Bald Eagle. I think this is nature's way of trying to entice us to move to the east coast. However money still holds us back as there is little or no work for us out there at the moment. After we crossed the causeway we took the Ceilidh route along the shore through Inverness and Margoree harbour. We entereed the Cape Breton highlands park at Cheticamp. The area around Cheticamp is mostly Acadian so we stopped at a craft shop and watched Acadian needle work being done. Unfortunately the tourist trade has raised the cost of needle work to a point where it cost thirty dollars for a 6 inch square of it, so we passed on that souvenir. We stopped at the info centre as we entered the park and got some info briefly and then were back on the road. Michelle was concerned, and rightly so, that we were spending way too much time driving and not enough hiking, so we drove only as far as Cheticamp and parked to go on our first sizable hike of the vacation. We stopped below Grand Falaise a steep rock face and took a few pictures then moved the car to the parking area across the road to take Le Chemin du Buttereau trail. As the full trail would take us back to Cheticamp we decided to do the loop trail (I forgot the name) that takes us around the hill and cliffs overlooking the ocean. As we went down the trail we came to a point were the trail ended as the ground had eroded away and fell into the ocean. As we came up to the cliff, a bald eagle flew across the end of the trail, following the shore looking for food. We turned back to follow the trail around the drop off and headed along the cliff face where there were some amazing views of the ocean and the sand bar that used to be the road to Cheticamp.. The trail itself was a settlers cart track to Cheticamp so we found several sites of ruined homes. As we came past a very pretty meadow we met a few hikers going the other way and they told us that by the ruins of the le Blanc house there was a moose cow and calf, so we hurried on and looked through the trees to see the calf grazing on meadow flowers. We hiked back around the loop to the look out again, meeting a few more hikers and telling them to watch for the moose. We met the first group of hikers again as we came back around the loop to look at the cliff where we saw the eagle again and they told us that when they first saw the moose they were actually walking on the trail ahead of them. We followed the trail back to the car and headed up shore to see how far we would get before it got too late to camp.

But that will be another installment.....

Our Vacation to the East Coast

(Installment #1 - Saturday Sunday Monday)
Photos and many edits to follow.



The first few days of our vacation where spent on the road and in hotels, rather than camping as we had planned. Our first night after a feverish pace of travel, landed us in the mid size town of Riviere du Loup (pronounced Rivee-Air duh Loo) roughly translated as wolf river.

We arrived rather late about nine o’clock in the evening and as Michelle was very sick, her cold/flu having got very bad during the travel, we decided to search for an hotel. We stopped at a riverside motel that wanted almost eighty dollars for a room. It smelled bad and had an extremely rude owner who smelled like stale liquor, so we moved on. In Riviere du Loup we stopped at three different hotels, all were booked solid and we were told that there were no rooms available anywhere in town. At the last stop Michelle was feeling so miserable and tired, that she stayed in the car, as I fought with my very limited french to find out if the motel had a room, which of course it didn’t. However the owner did know a place down the road in a small suburb, if you can call it that, of Riviere du Loup. Michelle braved the rain to come take directions and we drove through the rain for a few minutes to a B&B motel called Hotel De La Plage (I think) It was an incredible place, very old and had a bathroom down the hall, but was creaking literally with charm. When we pulled in we hadn’t eaten so the owner had a meal made up for us less than 30 dollars. As I recall it was seafood pasta and Ham in maple sauce. We made our way up the creaking stairs and collapsed into a rather oversoft and small bed, but comfortable nonetheless.

In the morning Michelle was still feeling bad but it was evident that her cold was not as intense as the night before. We had breakfast looking out over the water, as the hotel was as it claimed, right on the beach. The food was great we helped ourselves to the buffet and ordered fruit wrapped in a crepe to go with it. We looked out at the water and thought about a hike on the beach, but had to get moving as we wanted to hit the Maritimes relatively quickly. As the rain was bad and we did not get off as quick as we hoped, we made our way to Moncton by evening and again we hunted for a hotel as Michelle’s flu/cold was being nasty. She cried on my shoulder wondering when this stupid cold/flu would pass. But we found a Comfort Inn easily as the weekend had passed. But when we were watching the TV we noticed that the weather was to be bad for two more days but the weather on Prince Edward Island (PEI) looked good so we headed for the island by way of the Confederation bridge. The clouds and rain remained, but got thinner. As Michelle was feeling better and did not want to spend her entire vacation in the car or a hotel, we stopped for a short hike in Kensington PEI along the Confederation trail which follows an old railway bed. There were also couple of museums in Kensington, a very cute little veterans museum and a rail museum which we walked through. By the time we reached Malpeque bay , the weather had improved we stopped for lunch at a great lobster hut on the harbour and had some delicious mussels. We hiked at Cabot Beach park where the cubs had the national jamboree last year. We saw some great views of the harbour and walked the dunes. The boats pass into the harbour there through a narrow channel and that made for great photos. We also collected a number of shells from the beach and Michelle warned me about what had happened last time as the shell’s owners had rotted in the car leaving the car with a bad odour for weeks so we checked out our shells with care to avoid bringing the remains of shellfish back with us. In amongst the dunes we found a dump were the locals had obviously illegally dumped mussel shells It seems not everyone walks the full length of the beach or turns back before they reach the shell dumping area. The camp area at Cabot Beach was full so we drove on to Cavendish beach and camped right on the grassy knoll before the beach. The surf was loud at night but the view was amazing. The evening we arrived we met a couple from Orleans as we walked on the beach flying our pocket kite. Our neighbours were students just graduated from high school in Germany who were hitch hiking from Montreal to the Maritimes and back. Although the wind was high and the salt spray coated the tent at night there were no leaks, our pre-trip water proofing seemed to have worked Michelle hinted at staying in cavendish beach, but being the not so good listener I am at times I missed the hint, I was also suffering from a lack of quality sleep and tended to be some what cranky to Michelle’s annoyance. It took me some time to live down my bad humour. However it passed and we did stop and do some shopping in Cavendish and then stayed for a while and Sandspit amusement park. Michelle loves Ferris wheels she finds them very romantic so that was our first stop. The wheel stopped a couple times at the top and the view from the top was breathtaking of the beach and dunes and ocean. PEI has this amazing contrast of grass green red mud and ocean Blue with highlights of white in the surf. If there was work there it would be an amazing place to live. We also went on the bumper boats which helped to cool us down as the sun was now shining regularly and leaving burn traces across Michelle’s shoulders. After that Michelle wanted to go on the roller coaster, which is not my favourite thing to do as I am a consummate coward about the things as I am sure the car is going to leave the track at any minute I haven’t got the trust in engineering that Michelle has I guess that is because her dad is an engineer.

Expanding My Musical Library
My 20 Top
Modern Artists with Folk Influences
Acoustic Sonority
(Resembling Great Big Sea)

Delete delete delete ....

There is a post sitting in my drafts on one of my least liked historical figures.

A famous figure that has said some really odd things, and I was so looking forward to posting it, then I noticed that a person that I really respect uses a quotation from this person in defining his/her blog.

Oh well.... Delete delete delete ....

We Have Met Anton Lavey and He is Us

Just to clarify for those that know me and have heard of Anton Levay, No I have not converted, just noticed the average Christian is drifting.

Anton Lavey in his Satanic Bible (an pseudo literate text devoted to excuses to be selfish) and the back bone of the Satanic church (a hedonistic self loving satirical faith) outlines the "Nine Satanic Statements."

There are two that seem to have been adopted by the Christian church in North America.

4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!

Christ commands us to love our enemies “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you “(Matthew 5:43-44).

Is what happened in Abu Ghraib Prison an example of how a so called Christian country treats enemies?

5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!

But Christ said "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." Matthew 5:39:

If Al Qaeda hadn't slapped the West in the face when it attacked the World Trade Centre would we be in Iraq today. How much of this war is vengeance driven?

When did we become our enemy?

Walt Kelly used the quote "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us" on a poster for Earth Day in 1970.

Are we becoming mirrors of those we loath?

The Approaching Storm

The other day I stood on my balcony watching an approaching thunderstorm and thinking about the way my views on life have changed. The storm built and crackles of lightening ran across the bottom of the clouds striking the Gatineau Hills. I have friends up in Chelsea and I hoped that the hot weather and this lightening wouldn’t produce forest fires over there. I thought about another approaching storm the one in the Middle East, and the friends I have there that might get caught in that fire of violence and hate. If I had not changed my views on religion I would likely be thinking that the end of the world is coming that the end times prophesies were almost here, but somewhere I grew up and reality caught up with me in the form of rationality. Is it rational to think that God would let it end like this in war fire and fury or is it human fear of the future that created the dispensationalist idea of the end times?

The problem is even with my matured views watching the thunder storm approach gave me a very uneasy feeling.

59 To Go (with a few exceptions)

Life Experiences Meme

Bold the ones you've done..
91 (5 are judgement calls)


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink (all three of them)
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (three)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid (awesome)
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant itThat's why I am still married)
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (do you have to be at sea yourself or can you watch it from shore?)
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game(Monaco Grand Prix)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg (cool idea must try it)
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper (unfortunately)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne.(never never again)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity (it helps to be poor to get this one)
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (while the highschool custodians were on strike too)
28. Bet on a winning horse (never)
29. Asked out a stranger (married her eventually)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can (while drunk)
32. Held a lamb (in grade 2 - thankyou Mrs Patton))
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (in a Church ball game)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (I always dance like a fool)
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (why)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (huh)
39. Had two hard drives for your computer(huh 2)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced (finished shaving his head for him or he would have left more scars)
42. Had amazing friends (thay all are)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (more than once)
44. Watched wild whales (only once about three weeks ago)
45. Stolen a sign (almost forgot this one - does a Bathroom sign count)
46. Backpacked in Europe (more than once)
47. Taken a road-trip (again and again)
48. Gone rock climbing (without ropes - I know real dumb)
49. Midnight walk on the beach (bus got in late we couldn’t sleep)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (almost slept in a truck trailer ended up at a B&B run by Molly Mulone believe it or not)
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love (yup)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them (by invitation)
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds (huh)
57. Pretended to be a superhero (does super pickle count - I was 5)
58. Sung karaoke (drunk with a guy that had sung professionally - hey Gary want to do it again I’m Game)
59. Lounged around in bed all day (so)
60. Posed nude in front of strangers (not going to happen)
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain (several times)
63. Played in the mud (fun fun fun)
64. Played in the rain (see above)
65. Gone to a drive-in theater(once legally)
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (jsut to get a job)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (still in love)
69. Toured ancient sites (several)
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married (once)
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (acidentally)
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days (just to see if I could do it)
77. Made cookies from scratch (so)
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice (more than once)
80. Gotten a tattoo (does henna count)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" (sort of)
83. Got flowers for no reason (I love Michelle)
84. Performed on stage (as a cowboy singing “thank God I’m a country boy in public school)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark (gross tastes like gritty fish - don’t do it)
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone (Gaza -but not while the fight was on)
92. Buried one/both of your parents (I could say this but I think it implies that I had some hand in the arangement of the funeral or even knew the parent I was 2 my sisters were 3 and 4, poor mom)
93. Been on a cruise ship (on the Nile)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country (sort of in Holland)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking (all the time)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication(do letters to the editor count - oh yeah and one to a kids magazine)
106. Lost over 100 pounds (I wish)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (just one - sorry JO)
111. Helped an animal give birth (I vaguely remember the birth of Charlie’s pups - and several guinie pig births don’t know if I really helped much)
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone (does a finger count)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol (with Michael Mansfield and his dad at the gravel pit)
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (with the church group)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours to make up for lost sleep)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (does this mean more than 52 countries or more countries than you have visited states?)
124. Visited all 7 continents (sorry only 4)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (playing a xylophone at the science centre - I think I was 9))
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about (I Think)
130. Gone back to school (at 36 and got a degree)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach(why)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish)
137. Skipped all your school reunions (and will keep doing so - class reunions must be an American adiction - no one I know here in Canada really likes or goes to them just the superficial weird people)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (had to a several times))
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (a couple times then realised the dream had changed)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts (sort of it was half built)
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you (doe photos count)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ (for about 15 mins while he DJ went to Hurl)
148: Shaved your head (but I did shave some one else’s head)
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life (never had the opportunity and not sure I want to)

Plymouth Brethren

My religious background was in a Plymouth Brethren Chapel, when I mention this to people they look at me like I just claimed to be a follower of Jimmy Jones.

In reality the Brethren aren't children of the Corn or a any kind of creepy cult they are just nonconformists of a sort. While I am now firmly planted in the United Church of Canada here is some background material on the Brethren who still have a large degree of my respect, dispite the fundamentalism that I question strongly now, which was part of the church. What I respect is the fact they stress biblical scholarship rather than church dogma but this has a tendancy to make the adherants question their faith and often leave the church as I did.



Founders and Notable Persons
in Brethren Church History

1. Anthony N. Groves
2. Edward Cronin
3. Francis Hutchinson Original Seven
4. William Stokes So Called
5. John G. Bellett
6. J.N. Darby
7. E. Wilson

Edward Irving
B.W. Newton

Concepts of the Brethren

Ground of Gathering
Corporate worship
Priesthood of all believers
Apostasy of the established church
Milleniumism, Post and Pre-Milleniumism
Individual anti-Christ (virtually unknown
amongst Protestants till Darby’s
writings)
Substitutionary atonement.
Practical Godliness
Infallibility of scripture
No creeds and no name.





Notable Events

1825 Dr. Edward Cronin and Edward Wilson begin meeting Sundays for Breaking of Bread (based on Matthew 18:20)

1830 Darby leaves the priesthood

1832 B..W. Newton invites Darby to speak at Ebrington St. Plymouth assembly

Darby Bible

1845 Clericalism at Ebrington St. Plymouth
Newton espouses Post-
-milleniumism.
Darby effectively excommunicates Newton and Ebrington assembly.

1845 Beginnings of the exclusive brethren
Darby vs Muller.

Further divisions: Darbyites, Newtonites,
Mullerites, Granitites, Kellyites,
Stuartites, Ravenites, and Taylorites
Key Verses
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Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.

1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body.

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.

1 Corinthians 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made righteousness of God in him.

Colossians 1:20
And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.


From Unity to disunity is probably the best way to describe the history of the brethren church.
First it has to be pointed out that there is no real Plymouth brethren church in an of itself as the brethren hold no creed and no name. They strive to be as close to what they believe to be the New testament church as they can.
A Movement is the best possible description of the Brethren.. The origins of the movement can be traced back to the dissatisfaction that had arisen in the Church of England during the late 18 century, that same dissatisfaction that had produced the Campbellites and the Glasites. Like the Campbelites the Brethren were antisesordotal and stressed a degree of libertarianism. The movements origins can be seen in it’s founders. The founders predominantly came from inside the Anglican church itself. While there are seven recognized founders of the movement there are four that have made a major impact on the movement by their teachings. The Plymouth Brethren are noted for the scholastic nature of their assemblies and that is the reason why teachers played such a major role. The movement also can be said to have been influenced by the social disparity between rich and poor ..

The movement began as a group of scholastic clerics that meet to study pray and break bread on Sunday as they believed the first Christians did in the new testament church. This Four member group consisted of Anthony N Groves, John Darby, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson. Each of these men had considerable influence on the development of the movement and arguably the devolution of the movement.


One of the earliest sources of what could be called Plymouth brethren thought was Anthony N. Groves. Groves his convictions lead him to the conclusion that there was something wrong with society an he set out to make a difference in a personal way giving most of what he owned to the poor and volunteering for foreign missions. He studied at Trinity college in Dublin in order to prepare himself for a mission to the east notably to Bagdad. In his frequent trips to Dublin he came in contact with a select group of men with somewhat the same thoughts on biblical doctrine. During this period he experienced several major set backs that lead to his in ability to finance his schooling ( a burglary stool his tuition) From this Groves determined to continue his mission decide to go as a laymen . This development arguably changed his mind set on ordination and he began studying scriptures independently . He became convinced from his readings that believers baptism was a necessity and accepted baptism prior to his departure for missionary work . After the ceremony a friend came to him and said “of course, you must be a Baptist now you are baptized” to which groves replied with what is now seen as a general Plymouth brethren attitude toward denominations, and the unity of the brethren..
No I desire to follow all in those things in which they follow Christ; but I would not, by joining one party, cut myself off from the others. Then taking up the ring on which his keys were hung, he said, “if these keys were to hold by one another, all would go if one fell; but as each of them is attached to this strong ring, so should we each take hold of Christ, not of any of the systems of men and then we shall be safe and united: we should keep together, not because of any human system, but because Jesus is one.
It would seem that with this new tenant Groves break with the church was complete but that of the other members of their study and fellowship group weren’t. Darby in particular had not come to




Darby
The most notable member of the Brethren was John Nelson Darby . Darby was born into a upper class English family whose family home was Leap Castle Offally.. An expression of this upper class position is seen in John Nelson Darby’s middle name which came from his uncles long time friend Lord Nelson. Fitting to his position Darby attended Trinity College in Dublin to study law, graduating at age 19. In 1825 he was ordained as an Anglican deacon and quickly made his way up to the rank of parish priest in Wicklow Ireland. After 2 years Darby became dissatisfied with the Church of England he in association with Anthony N Groves, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson, began to preach the apostasy of the church. The apostasy they saw was the distance the church had come from the new testament church model Darby question the tenants the church treated as truths. He believed that the passion of Christ (the Crucifixion and resurrection) was not a simple act of sacrifice but an act of Substitutionary Atonement as he said the sacrificial death of Christ “is the sole ground of remission .... and there is none without shedding of blood ... and that by which Christ has made peace; Col 1:20 By this Darby saw that without this substitution man must bear the guilt of his sin and the punishment as well. This is something that brought Darby and the brethren much criticism. Writing in 1897 Rev. Edward Hartley Dewart described the beliefs of the Brethren as “heresies ... {and} contrary to Scripture and reason.” he directly attacks the brethren’s subsititutionary atonement saying “I object to this theory of atonement because Gods claims on us were not of the nature of a debt; and Christ’s work of atonement was not a commercial transaction.” He goes on to say that “this view results from forcing a coarsely literal interpretation on figurative statements.” The accusation of over literal interpretation may have some weight as the Brethren strongly adhere to the concept of the Infallibility of the scriptures and would rather err on the side of literal then exclude any part of scripture.

Thank You

Some time ago after a friend confided in me about his depression I sent out a rather blunt email to far to many people but included in the email was the people I wanted to reach without pointing a finger, those people that had a hand in my friends depression. Since then he has recovered and seems to be progressing well. If anyone treated him with greater respect because of my rather indiscreet email Thank you.

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I know most of you getting this message will think that I am being overly
particular that what I am about to object to is a normal part of life, the
truth is it shouldn't be, and that is my complaint.
Normally I don't quote the bible. I don't quote it because I am no real
expert on it and I find those that frequently do are generally pompous.
However, this incidence requires it.
In my view the following words of Jesus Christ are very important (Mat 7:1)
"Do not judge lest you be judged." .
I recently had a friend that talked to me about how sad he was (even
suicidal) because the world at large found him too fat, not bright enough,
kind of misshaped ( he has a very visible deformity ).
Of course I told him that all of this didn't matter, that being fat was no
crime, that he was by no means unintelligent, and that his deformity did not
need to be covered up or reduced.
To myself however I knew that a large number of even my closest friends
would not agree.
How often have I heard idiots say hurtful things like "how can a person let
themselves get that fat" and "he's a nice guy, but he isn't very bright?"
and "he should at least do something to minimize that [deformity] of his"
Okay this entire nonsense gets me more than irate.
1. He eats to much because he is depressed. Why is he depressed because he
has to deal with the morons that criticize him, so the more hurtful things
you say to him the more he eats . So what if he dies earlier because he has
heart troubles at least the food gave him some enjoyment he didn't get from
his so-called friends.
Whose fault is it now.
2. He's not unintelligent he is just depressed and that will effect how
bright you appear.
Again who is responsible for his depression (oh yes the self righteous of
you will say that he controls his own emotions, to that I say, bull. If you
say something hurtful and don't expect someone to react negatively then you
are pretty damn stupid)
3. Just because he has a deformity does not mean he has to hide it, just who
has the right to say that his deformity is ugly.
Personally the ugly people to me are those that would criticize his
deformity.
I have had enough. If I hear one more person say something hurtful about him
I am going to say exactly what I think and friendship be damned. I don't
need friends like that.
People you have to be accountable for your words.
If he does commit suicide I am going to remind each person that said
something mean, and I am going to call you up on it. If you think you can
speak without thinking or pass judgement without true self examination,
forget it. Personally I will not let any of my friends get away with judging
others without their own faults being also raised up to scrutiny.
And this applies to anyone else you may pass judgement on to. I want real
friends, not those that are friends because it entertains them.

I love my friends I will not judge them and I will not let them be judged or
ridiculed or bullied or in any way be made to feel of less value than the
rest of you, even in a so-called kind way. If however someone passes
judgement on another of my friends then "lest you be judged" comes into
play.



And I expect no less of myself. If I speak without thinking and say
something critical or mean of some one please for God sake tell me I am
being hurtful, yell at me if you must.

Now so that people do not feel that I am targeting them, I am sending this
to everyone on my mailing list. Even those that do not know my beautiful
intelligent uniquely shaped friend. Pardon my grammar. As you can tell from
my tone, I was not in a rational frame of mind when I typed this.

Unfortunately I have had to leave some people out of this mailing that might
desperately needed to read this, in order to protect my friend from further
ridicule.

Please take this seriously.
Bill Arends