Old Friends

Old Friends

Today I cried 

as I said goodbye

to my old friends 

No bells, no trumpets 

just the soft whisper 

of the morning breeze

a gentle hand to soothe the sorrow

The pastures are now silent 

no hoof beats, no neighs  

just rays of sun on waves of green

an empty nest is all that remains  

Memories abound 

the ups and the downs 

of full lives lived 

from youngster to oldster 

We all move on in our own journeys

connected and intertwined

in mysterious ways we share our time

and for that our lives are forever richer  

Live on you will

in the hearts of many

gone maybe, but still with me

forgotten you will never be

Today I cried 

as I said goodbye

to my old friends

The Journey, ( the long trip )

I have been absent for a while as I've been on a journey , it has take me far and wide, a road of discovery actually,  and like my last epic outing it was ( is ) a challenging trip, but unlike my last outing where the journey was the focus, the pleasure, the thrill,  this time the journey has been disturbing , unsettling and at times unpleasant, this time the destination is the goal and I am getting closer . 


Not of distances this journey, rather a life change, much of it will have to go untold, and I need to rest and catch my breath a bit before I start my tale. 


So today is just getting the fingers in typing shape, a short training ride, I will be back with more soon. 

Well done Ed !!!

I just wanted to send out a special congratulations to my fellow Tour du Canada Vet and friend Ed who this past Friday for the third year in a row arrived in St John's Newfoundland after crossing the country on his bicycle !!, in the process he set a new Tour du Canada record as no one had done three successive years so far, Well done Ed !!!!!!

Ed pictured at the top of Signal Hill 

A day of lasts and firsts

A day of lasts and firsts.

I got up this morning for the last time at the house on the Farm, drank my last cup of coffee there, and walked to work for the last time, twenty years of living on the farm have come to an end. I watched the girls bring the yearlings in for the last time as today, they shipped to the sale grounds this afternoon. Today was the last day I had staff at the farm, both Amanda and Natasha are laid off now that there is no more sale preparations and I go back to working by my self.  

Of course there are the first, our first mortgage payment was made today, ouchhhh !!!!, we brought our cat Stella over to the new house ( she is unhappy ), and tonight will be our first night sleeping here ! Tomorrow will be my first time driving to work in over thirty years !!! 

Sad to see the era of Farm living coming to an end, so much has happened in those twenty years,  but I am trying to live my life by the motto that change is good and therefore I will morn my leaving a little bit but I will embrace the future and the changes it brings, it's like the bends in the unridden road, one looks forward to seeing whats around the corner !!

This years Tour du Canada riders will be pulling into Saint Johns tomorrow like I did just a year ago, then I had no idea what the future held for me, I got bogged down in depression for a while, crawled out of that and now I am tackling a whole new adventure and we shall see were it takes me. The new house is wonderful, the neighbourhood nice and quiet I think I am going to like urban living !!

Now I just have to find a new job !, more first and last to come.

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

A very sad day today with the passing of Jack Layton.

Here I copy a letter from a truly great man:

 

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

August 20, 2011
Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

What is a Cat?

 What is a Cat?

Gentle eyes

that see so much, paws that have

the quiet touch.

Purrs to signal

"all is well" and show more love

than words can tell.

Graceful movements

touched with pride, a calming presence

by our side.

A friendship

that will last and grow - small wonder

why we love them so.

Author Unknown

 Simone

This past Thursday our cat Simone went missing, we put her out as usual in the morning and after last being seen in a paddock by the house she wondered off never to return. 

Simone had been with us for eight years arriving home from the race track one evening with my wife “ only going to be here tonight” she said, Evelyn knew I was not keen on another house cat “ I’ll find a home for her tomorrow, but tonight she need to be feed every hour ” she said holding the helpless motherless little kitten that was so small she fit on the palm of her hand.  What could I say, defeated I was by my wife’s big sad eyes and this cute needy little fur ball, so I said “ she stays, she will be my cat and I get to name her " 

Now I have to explain, it’s not that I’m an Oger but in order to avoid having a house full of furry critters I have to be very vigilant with my wife, she truly has a heart of gold and will rescue any creature in need and bring it home!!. So we have a rule, rescue yes, bring home no, but rules are meant to be broken, therefore I stand guard, Simone got past me, sly cat !!!

This cute tiny kitten somehow grew and grew and grew some more, and by two years of age was almost perfectly round, I am not sure if it was totally genetic or brought on by my wife’s generous feeding, after all I myself am starting to get quite round after indulging in her generous portions at dinner time  !!!! 

Simone was a marvelous kitten but a troublesome cat, and we had constant battles with her about numerous issues, cats can be that way, it’s there prerogative after all , we don't own them they own us !!. 

And then this summer she got sick, and slowly changed, she got quiet and careful, her eyesight failing her, her kidneys too. I don’t think she was in pain, rather just not well. She insisted in going out every morning, would sit on the Muskoka chair contemplating life as cats do, and then usually disappear into the greenery until evening. 

We have searched and searched , called and called but no Simone, I’d like to think she knew her time was up and that she wondered off to one of her favorite spots to curl up and leave us. I know, I’m a dreamer but the thought comforts me when I look for answers that are just not there.

Ed

Today I took the day off work to ride out to Tottenham and meet my buddy Ed who is doing the " Tour du Canada " ride for the third year in a row !!!!

It was a perfect riding day with a little breeze and the temperature around 27 degrees , the road was mostly lightly traveled so we had lots of opportunities to chat and catch up on our goings on and to reminisce about last years ride also.  

I rode east with him as far as Mount Albert were we stopped for our traditional mid day lunch with a couple of Stella's of course to celebrate the special occasion !!

At the Tim Horton's parking lot in Tottenham

The 5th Line eastbound, nice and quiet at that hour of the morning

We ate in this same restaurant last year, good food !!!!

Last year I would have woofed down this sandwich and had desert and more, today I barely was able to finish just the sandwich !

Top of the hill at Mount Albert , a nasty climb on a full belly !!

And so way to quickly my outing with Ed came to an end , I headed back west towards home and he kept pedalling east to Newfoundland , I felt sad to leave him , part of me wanting to just keep going east with him , but I has happy to have been able to at least share a little bit of his great adventure .

116 km today.

First big ride of the year

Self portrait with Lake Simcoe in the background 

Went on a adventure today, all the way to Egypt and beyond !! ( well thats Egypt , Ontario ) The plan was to head out early while it was still cool, but that got scraped as the bike needed a bit of tender love and care , so after some cleaning and adjustments and a shower as I was already sweating buckets I headed out just after 8 AM . 

Once on the road it was rather pleasant as there was a breeze, so as long as I didn't stop all was good. I headed east through Aurora to Musselman Lake for the first stop of the day to replenish provisions, there I ran into my fellow cyclist Darryl who was out with his group ride. 

After downing a bottle of Gatorade I was off again heading north through Mt Albert, Zepher ( another water stop ) and Egypt all the way up to Lake Simcoe were I stopped at Willow Beach for lunch, the beaches were packed with vacationers out relishing the fantastic hot summer weather , I don't think I have ever seen so many people out in the water enjoying themselves .

With a full belly I headed home through Queensville and the Marsh , the last 30 Km were very hot as the wind had stopped and I had to stop myself a couple of times in the shade of some friendly trees to cool down a bit, finally after 124 hot km I arrived back home at 2.30 pooped !!!, but feeling good to finally have gotten out for a long ride !!

Narrow bridge on Lake Drive East

Lake Simcoe's inviting waters

 On an interesting note just last Wednesday I  finally top the 1,000 km mark on the bike , today was my 21st outing of the year for a total of 1,145 km, compare that to 73 outings and 5,728 km from last last year by this date and you can see I am way behind last years totals! 

Our visit to Sandbanks Provincial Park

The Dunes

This past weekend Evelyn and I managed to get away and visit one of my favorite parks in Ontario, Sandbanks Provincial Park, it was a short visit just an overnighter but it was full of adventures with  swimming , hiking dunes, canoeing , sunset walk on the beach , and a evening sitting around the fire pit roasting marshmallows !!.

The weather was sunny and HOT just perfect for spending the day by the water . The dunes spectacular as usual once again defeated our attempt of walking to the end of them , not because of the usual child that didn't want to walk anymore and thus had to be carried or dragged up and down the dunes , no this time Evelyn , Josh and I set out to give it a try but the HOT sand turned us back , I had never experienced it that hot that it actually was burning your feet sandals and all . We ended up heading for water and walked in it all the way back to the car . 

Sandbanks is a smallish park on the south east coast of Prince Edward County a good three hour car ride from home, it’s beaches are probably the best in Ontario and the whole area is very picturesque and quaint , one can easily spend a week relaxing and exploring the region. 

I have been visiting the park off and on for about twenty years now , my good friend Gill always books a campsite and takes the kids and whenever I can I’ll pop in for a visit , this year was special as all the kids where there and it was the first time I was able to introduce Evelyn to the wonders of this beautiful place, we had a great time and I mush extend a special thanks to Gill for her hospitality !!!

The turn back point in our hike

Sunset on the beach

We rented two canoes and a kayak and had a lot of fun on the river !

The rocky shore line by the ruins of Lakeshore Lodge

The gang : Evelyn, Gill, Megan, Tiffany, Josh, Wiggy and me.