Haloranch

All year my mind was greedily assimilating interesting tidbits and stashing them away in the golden archive for this Christmas letter. Unfortunately, I lost the key to the archive and they remain forever unattainable. However, one or two items stick out. First of all, I can’t believe another year has passed in the blink of an eye, along with what was left of Hans’ career. Yes, you read it right. Hans kicked up his heels at the end of August and finally retired. His Happy Days are here and the proof is in the photo. Hans is wearing the latest in retirement finery and hugging Favourite Dotter Alethea who came up to join the delightfully unscheduled party. Being retired made it easy for Hans to spend lots of time with his father and brother Frank (pictured with Alethea) who came to visit us for 2 weeks in September. The balmy weather inspired us to spend an idyllic weekend in Banff warming our toes by the fire and listening to the river sing as it rolled over and around the rocks. ...

Recently Favourite Dotter asked for the piano. She really misses it. Enough actually to pay for its transport to her place. For us, it's just a piece of furniture that holds photos and candles, so we shipped it down to her but it left a huge gap in the living room. And of course no place to put photos and candles. We asked her to pick up 3 black floating shelves at IKEA but the large shelf doesn't come in black, only brown/black. It's a nice colour, but definitely not black and didn't match the other two so hubby spray painted them all to match. Nice, eh?

Just like last year, the weather in Canmore was terrific. Blue sky and sunshine. Perfect!

FD's grandfather and uncle visited us recently from Germany and we spent a weekend in the mountains having a good time. We went for walks, had nice dinners and just enjoyed each other's company.

Hans got some unexpected great news this week. He is one of 12 people who will retire at the end of August! About 6 weeks ago his company said they want to restructure the management positions and if anyone wants to retire early, they have a nice compensation package set up. This has been Hans' dream for years - to retire with a package. Immediately he said, "Pick me! Pick me!" He didn't think they would since he has let it be known he is thinking about retirement and why wouldn't they just wait him out? However, to his great delight, he found out August 21 that he is one of 12 lucky people and his last day will be August 31! Life is grand.

I expect to hear this song tonight. We're off the the Petroeum Club in Calgary this evening to attend a high-falutin' stampede kick-off: Free bar, tantalizing appetizers served to the hungry throng by circulating waiters in white gloves, delicious dinner, followed by dancing to the mellow tones of none other than Ian Tyson I can't wait!

The cousins have gathered around us in Sarpsborg and this afternoon, we're off to a lake cottage where we're all going to party and have a great time. There should be 12 of us. We're all spending the night at the cottage and adjoining annex so we can drink with impunity. It is zero tolerance here and everyone takes that very seriously. Vigdis has been busy this morning concocting a fabulous Norwegian cake which looks way too complicated for me to ever do. My only job was to grind almonds at which, thankfully, I excelled. This will probably be our last post for awhile. No internet at the cottage, we're taking the cousins out for dinner Thursday night and we leave Friday morning for Hamburg where we will also be incommunicado. Then home on Sunday. It's been a fabulous trip. Can't wait for the next one!

Vigeland is a park in Oslo with incredible sculptures It is the life's work of one man and the pictures say it all.

Geiranger Fjord: Another spectacular road with a very, very steep climb and a breathtaking view of the 7 sisters waterfalls. Once again we zig zag across the mountain face. This time, an incredible 23 hairpins. In no time we're at the top and see a tiny cruise ship just coming into view. I love cruise ships, but I think this time I had the better view.

Heading for Trollstigen, literally Troll Climb (but they call it the Troll Ladder), we crawled up a webbing of roads that include 11 hairpin curves snaking across the face of two mountains. I couldn't believe my eyes. But we have pictures! The tops of the mountains along the Trollstigen have fraces. I see a jutting warty nose and bumpy brow pointing to the sky. Next is a Troll's profile with bulbous lips and misshapen nose. No doubt these craggy faces lent their name to this area. But if the Norwegians ever had trolls intheir ancestry they've been bred out. Today, Virtually every one we've seen could have stepped right out of a magazine. The Base of the Trollstigen is flanked left and right by huge pounding waterfalls. I stand and listen andhope their thunderous pounding isnæt secretly mining away the road on which we stand. It's a 10% grade going uphill where another waterfall disappears under a bridge. From here there's an amaing view down the curved valley th...

We drove over a bridge that from certain angles looks like a ski jump. It's true. We have pictures. It's part of the Atlantic Highway from Molde to Kristiansund. The bridge - and I have pictures - juts straight into the sky and then it swoops down to the sea in a delicate, graceful curve. The Atlantic Highway connects rocky chunks that thrust up through the ocean to make a road between Molde and Kristiansund. Sailing under the bridge into Kristiansund on the ferry all the buildings we passed were painted in cheerful colours. It just looked exactly like Curacao!

41 tunnels on our way to Flam. Unbelievable. We drove through the Hall of the Mountain Kings today, the 25 km tunnel referred to in an earlier posting. This was followed by another 6.5 km tunnel. We even drove through a 360 degree spiral tunnel winding upwards through a mountain and spitting us out on the top near Roldal on E134. These mountains have been punctured like Swiss cheese. As a result of Wednesday's rain we're literally seeing hundreds of waterfalls pouring down the mountains. Some are long and slender, trailing down like delicate white ribbons. Others , swollen by yesterday's day-long rain, gush down in torrents. Spectacular.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand" said the Norwegian receptionist to the German man, in English. He was holding out E 50 to her and speaking in German, but she wouldnæt take it. "Can I help you?" I said to him in German, pleased to be of assistance. "Do you speak English?" the receptionist asked me. While we sorted out who spoke what, we got the story. Turns out the man owed 70 KR and his E 50 was the smallest bill he had, and he had no Norwegian KR at all. The desk was out of Euros but would get some around midnight so finally comforted that he could pay up in the morning, all ended well.

Posting by proxy! This post brought to you by Favourite Dotter: Omigod. This hotel is beautiful beyond words. Think of the sail hotel in Dubai. Then think of its baby . That's where we are. The hotel is shaped like a sail, all glass and mirrors and we could see it glinting at us from the ferry. We asked ourselves, "What's the most we're willing to spend?" We agreed on 1500 Kr, having spent between 1200-1400 in the last hotels and they've been okay. We had a tub last time, which was a bonus. However as we approached this gorgeousbuilding I nearly lost my nerve and thought, we can never afford to stay here. It looked so sumptuous. "How much for a double room?" "985 KR" "Each?" Hans asked, nearly speechless "No, together" she replied with a warm smile. We're staying 2 nights. Bonus: we'r on the 12th floor and our room overlooks the Molde Fjord. We see sailboats and ferries and across the narrow fjord we can see th m...

Look at this. It's the stuff of nightmares! We haven't been there and there is nothing in this world that could put me on that rock.

We and the car ahead of us were diverted into a layby where some police were waiting. We ween't speeding. Hadn't been drinking, so no worries. But just in case I let the map fall open on my lap and put on my best tourist face. "Snakke Norsk?" he asked as he was unwrapping a breathalyzer kit. "No" replied hans, eyes wide and questioning. "We're Canadian." Almost true. We are Canadian, but he does "snakke" a little Norsk. However, anything the police had to tell us was better heard in English. I decided I suddenly also didn't speak any other languages. "Ahh," replied the policeman, "but you rented the car in Germany, yes?" "Yes, we're on a driving tour of Norway." "In Norway it is the law to drive with lights on." "Same in Canada" Hans replied "and our vehicles light up when you turn on the ignition." "This is also the law in Norway but Germany doesn't ...

The trolls in Norway no longer live under the bridges. They have moved topside and dropped the "R". I can't believe how many tolls we have paid! We're keeping all our receipts to see what they tally up to when we're back home.

The highways are flanked by thousands of clumps of pink, purple and white lupines. Everywhere. Now and then a wisteria tree dangles its bright yellow grapelike flower clusters over the road adding a burst of colour. Bridges, some old and ornate and others sleek and modern straddle narrow canyons. Many roads, even major highways, are narrow and twisty as they have to curl around the fjords. Sometimes they can't. Then the road bores a hole through the mountain and at the other end it's often spit out as another bridge fording another canyon. Amazing. Today we pased through 22 tunnels, none longer than a kilometre. But until recently, Norway was home to the longest tunnel: a startling 25 kilometres long. We went through it 5 years ago and I remember that to prevent claustrophobia several large caverns were spaced through the tunnel, filled with blue light. Apparently that helps. It didn't bother us in the least and we would hum Peer Gynt's Hall of the Mount...

Copenhagen is full of bicycles. Beautiful women in office clothes and equally good looking men dressed for work pedal down the streets. It's very efficient as traffic is heavy and the cyclists have their own paths so they are fairly safe. We even saw a dad one morning with his 2 blond toddlers, one in front and one in back in their bike seats, being taken to daycare. Around the city you can pick up a bike for a small deposit, similar to taking a shopping cart at Safeway. You ride it around and when you return it you get your deposit back. Very slick.

I'm not writing in sequence, but so what? My notes are scrambled and sometimes it's easier to write about what we just saw than to go back a week. Thank God for notes! I would never remember half of what we did. Which reminds me... back at the Bella Center we saw a huge 30' Viking ship on display. it was apparntly built in 1042 in Dublin! Who knew the Irish built Viking ships? Then it was rebuilt between 2000-2004. That's 4 years. I wonder how long the guys in 1042 took? In 2007 a 70 man crew will sail it back to Dublin and then return with it to Copenhage in 2008.

It was a perfect climbing day. Cloudy, but even as I was making notes earlier the cloud was lifting and the lake below the hostel cafe was completely calm. Hans took off around 10:15 and I settled down to wait, having been told it is a 2 hour trip each way. I was pretty sure Hans would be faster and the waitress in the cafe told me it can be done in 1 - 1.5 hours up, and somewhat less coming back. Hans was back in just over 2.5 hours and that included a half hour at the top to eat his lunch and take photos. He told me later he passed 30 people on the way up and was damned if he was going to let some 80 year old Swede pass him! However, an 18 year old woman did... and near the top. The climb starts out deceptively gentle for 200 metres. Then it gets steep (35% incline) and just when you think you can't take it anymore, it gets worse - 40-45%. He felt his heart thundering in his chest a few times but couldn't clutch his chest as he needed his hands balance on the rocks. T...

We're off to the Pulpit Rock , a huge flatt bluff over one of the fjords, a shocking 4000' straight down. Luckily, I suffer from vertigo and will be waiting in the car or down in the information center while Hans climbs it. It's a 2 hour hike each way. He can probably do it faster but if I drag along, it's easily going to take 3 hours each way. We're off, so more on this later!

We arrived in Stathelle and the home of our interin hostess, Edrund Olaisen, late Friday afternoon. It gave us just enough time to have a glass of wine before she introduced us to our 'bedroom' hosts, Per and Ingrid who live just down the road. Per and Ingrid live on Rotary Hill - ther are 3 Rotarians in a row and apparently up the hill are a few more. Rotary is very active in this area and Ingrid is currently an Assistant Governor. Edrund was Governor in 2000-2001 same year as Monty and knows him. It's such a small world! Jan went to pick up his and Edrundæs house guests from Australia, Barbara and Peter and we all had supper together to get to know one another. Then off to our hosts for the evening for coffee and cake. The night was so deliciously warm we sat on the deck overlooking the sound and watching container ships steam out to sea. Per tells us that in a 24 hour period they normally see up to 70 large ships. Despite the heavy sea traffic Ingrid goes out sw...

We spent Sunday in the company of Edrund and Jan Olaison and Peter and Barbara. All are members of ITHF and Edrund and Jan already had the other two (from Australia) as houseguests and so they arranged for us to stay with another Rotarian couple just down the road from them: Ingrid and Per. What great people they all are! Edrund has a large passenger van so the 6 of us headed up towards some fjords and mountains. 15 minutes south of the summit we stopped for lunch at another couple's house where they served us traditional Norwegian pancakes with cream and jam followed by cake and chocolates. All this while we watched the river flowing next to their house and listened to songbirds serenade us. They live in a paradise here. The river has cut a charming pond into a section of their property where it pools and where they catch fish. The local beavers have been discouraged from feeding on the silver birches by chicken wire wound around the trunks. Birhouses abound and we were to...

Just checked into our hotel in Sandness, slightly south of Stavanger. Holy cow it's expensive here! We got the last room in the hotel and in town as we had already checked out 2 other hotels. Our room is next to the elevator, no tub only shower... and it's a whopping $280 per night. I don't even want to think about it. At least the internet is free. So is breakfast, and boy, am I going to eat!

As we were wandering through the Houseof Friendship at the convention, lo and behold the words Wine Fellowship beckoned to us from one of the booths. Naturally, we stopped. Turns out this particular fellowship had a wine cruise arranged for that very evening and this sounded delightfully promising so we joined up. Dinner was $75 each and we figured this was a terrific deal. Too terrific, in fact. While it was a cruise through Copenhagen waters arranged by the Wine Fellowship, it in fact included.... no wine!

Bill Boyd is a humble and genuine man, very gentle and not pretentious in any way. Wilf Wilkinson appears cut from the same cloth. We are very lucky to have two such wonderful men leading Rotary in the next two years. Wilf said, "Rotary is about friendship. Rotary is about helping others. Rotary is about ordinary people doing our best in our own way. Through Rotary the ordinary becomes extraordinary." Bill Boyd was asked one time why he is a Rotarian. "I am a Rotarian because it changes lives. I know this to be true because it changed mine."

There was indeed a major issue smacking RI between the eyes going back to last November. There was a quorum of voting delegates present at the Convention and we were asked to vote on it Tuesday morning. It's too long to get into here but I have details and I will be happy to share them with any club members who wish to know about it. Suffice it to say that the RI Board's decision was resoundingly sustained by the membership. Bill Boyd then finished by asking all Rotarians to put this issue behind them and look forward.

What a great evening! It was too short and we didn't even get back to our hotel before 12:30 am. A thick line of people 2 deep and endlessly long was gathering as the buses got ready to drive us over the famous Malmo-Copenhagen bridge into Sweden. Despite the huge crowds, which we later estimated at nearly 3,000, boarding went smoothly and quickly and off we went to the other side. The bridge is quite long, 4 km, and is preceded and ended by a fairly long tunnel. I had to wonder at the occasional car occupants thought that were caught between the line of 50 buses. We were taken to the outskirts of a huge shopping centre parking lot. Strangely, there was no IKEA though we were in its birthplace. The logistics of moving 3000 people from one country to another, changing buses in Sweden and then getting all of us to the proper host home is something that's hard to imagine. It didn't go perfectly and as luck would have it, Hans and I were the last dropped off and therefore...

On Monday the Plenary Session (now called General Session) began with an introduction by Carl Wilhelm Stenhammar about the new road Rotary needs to take, mainly by inviting younger members to join our agining clubs. I nearly tuned out since this is of course not at all the case with our own club! Okay, I'm just kidding, but his point was well made, comparing us to the recent winter Olympics where the 'old guard' was involved in cross country skiing. This is a difficult and labour intensive activity, not unlike projects in which Rotary Clubs become involved. However, virtually no one was watching. Maybe just a few at the finish line. On the other hand, there were the snowboarders. Their events were sold out. He challenged us to become more like snowboarders and less like cross country skiiers. The next hour would grab my heart and squeeze it dry. Sister Ethel Normoyle spoke to us about Missionvale in Africa, where she is the current director and where she has worked ...

We were in line behind Milt and Alice Jones from Florida, both very charming people and we sat together during a delicious dinner. Milt is an incoming Director and throughout the dinner several other Directors stopped by and said hello so we got to meet several, including one from Japan and another from Istanbul, Turkey. A place we long to visit but not for a few years. Dinner was sit-down service and went off without a hitch. The wine flowed freely, which is always a pleasure for me as you all know. Tiny parsley potatoes and rarely cooked veal with snow peas followed a salmon terrine with mesculun salad. Lovely! No dessert, so I made up for it with 2 cups of coffee. Following dinner we strolled outside and managed to see the Tivoli Boys Band march through the grounds for their evening performance. Perfect timing! Then we chatted with a German couple and glancing off to the side I spotted a tall head in the crowd. There was DG Steve Rickard and Marie, so I excused myself and ...

We are so lucky. Our hotel's in the heart of the city, maybe a 10 minute walk to Tivoli. We are on Studiestraede which mjeans exatly what you might think - study street. The university is here and we walked past the stately and elegant university library. It's such an old and dignified building that it looks slightly forbidding, though I want to explore it before I leave here. Between our hotel and City Hall is a huge square, the Radhus Pladsen, which is lively with activity all day long and probably mucyh of the night. We stopped to enjoy the sun (and a glass of wine) and to people-watch for awhile and it confirmed what we had already noticed. The Danes are exceptionally attractive people. Don't move here unless you think you're hot stuff!! Most of the downtown featurese old but well maintained red brick buildings, many with white lattice windows. No screens anywhere but they arenøt needed. We havenøt seen one mosquito since we got here. The trade-off for havi...

Our hotel has free internet access, which is great. But to ensure you don't hog the computer, it's situated at a stand up shelf in the lobby, so I have to either type fast or write short. We spent the afternoon at Tivoli. It's world famous and I believe that is because it's over 150 years old and located in the heart of a huge city. That alone would make it noteworthy. We walked around and discovered that it's the place to be if you are a grandparent and want to take the youngsters out for a day. There are lots of amusement rides from the traditional merry-to-round to a loop-de-loop roller coaster. We also walked by one restaurant after another. 37 in fact. We stopped to have a beverage but the S 10 price tag scared me off. We ended up paying the same when we had a glass of wine in the town square later. It's expensive here. Tonight at 6:00 weøll be dining at a beautiful castle-like restaurant in Tivoli as part of our Rotary tour. Speaking of Rotary, i...

For the first time in the history of Rotary, they had a grand opening for the House of Friendship where everyone meets and mingles, and where you can find all kinds of information on Rotary projects, products, and people. Quite by chance we ran into Raju and Asha along with 2 friends of theirs from Spruce Grove, so the 6 of us went to the opening together. Not wanting to miss anything (and also because we got there early enough) we managed to get 6 eats in the third row center. In fact, if I wasn's busy looking at the stage, I was looking at the back of Carl-Wilhelm's head. He turned around periodically and I choose to think he was looking at me... though Raju was probably in his line of sight. The ceremony was excellent! The Tivoli Boys' Band marched in and played "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen" to which we were encouraged to sing, having been given the lyrics as we entered. They were rounded out by a wonderfully harmonic young girls' choir which lent ...

Here we are! After an uneventful check-in, we headed for the Bella Center to register, eager to beat the anticipated crowds. That's when we had the first bit of trouble. Nothing serious. We got instructions from our hotel on how to take the subway which turned out to be a fair walk from the hotel but the day was glorious and there was lots to see along the way. We walked near a university library and through a pedestrial mall, though that sounds way too modern. It was, however, strictly for pedestrians and cyclists and had lots of little shops. We got to the underground and as instructed, bought our tickets. No problem here. We were told to look for a train that said *woieurope* or something like it - we had it written down and looked for it. Didn't see it. Asked a nice looking fellow if this was the train to Bella. He indicated we should take the next one, which we did even though it didn's say *woeiure*. Hans watched his map and the readout inside the train, whic...

If you've ever visited a war memorial you'll know the atmosphere is heavy with the echo of long dead voices. The 'Denkmal' (literally 'think about it') for the fallen U-boat seamen of the First and Second World Wars was such a place. On the sea side, the memorial grounds are shaped like the curve of an anchor. You walk up the centre of the anchor, turn right and follow path that takes you down 10' into a remembrance room where there is a small collection of wreaths honouring the dead. As you step outside, you follow a semi-circular path. The wall on your left is lined in bronze and list the U-boats and names of those lost on them during WWI. On the right is the same for WWII. We followed the path to U-boat 307, Hans's dad's submarine. He should have been on it when it went down but through one of those quirky twists of fate, he was sent to finish some schooling on that fateful trip. On such tenuous threads lives are forged for without it, Han...

Willkommen zum Fussball! These signs are all over Hamburg as they gear up for the World Cup. Everywhere you look up on tall buildings or cranes, there are neon blue goal posts lit up. Apparentlz when the games begin, all these blue goal will be connected by lazer. Should look great! We'll miss it as we'll be on our way to Copenhagen. The other really cool thing are the 'dba' planes: Deutsche-British Airway. They have the nose of their planes painted like a soccer ball! In other news, well, there is no other news just yet. Stay tuned.

Hans and I are gearing up for our first ever Rotary International Convention , this year in lovely Copenhagen. We fly out June 4th to first spend a few days with Hans' dad in Hamburg, then hop into our rental car and drive to Copenhagen only a few hours away. Amazing how close everything is. We hope to actually see Monty and Liz there, though with 35,000-40,000 delegates... Already we've been invited to stay with new Rotary friends in Norway following the convention. They call us their "dear unknown friends in Canada" and are anxious to show us a bit of their country. I love it! Bob and Judy Baird, New Zealand friends we met through Rotary's International Travel and Hosting Fellowship last year, will be at the RI Convention and since we exchanged hotel information, we're hoping to get together. It's going to be a great trip, great convention and great fun. If you watch this space, I hope to be able to tell you all about it.

Last night I went and saw Stuart McLean do some readings from the Vinyl Cafe. He mentioned that he also solicits stories from listeners as long as they're short and true, and then he relayed the following story. A couple were holidaying in the Grand Bahamas and decided to go parasailing. They were taken by boat to a barge anchored far from shore. After a brief introduction the first person was fitten into the parasail harness. "When the speedboat passes the barge it will be at full speed. Simply step off the barge and you will be whisked up into the air." It was immediately obvious to everyone that the speedboat driver was a novice. The first parasailer, a woman, was dragged underwater for a few yards before the boat got up enough speed to be pulled out and up. "I was next," said the man, "and I wasn't at all worried when I too was dragged underwater for a few yards. In fact, I was quite enjoying the rush of water. What I failed to take into ac...

The remaining snow on our deck is grainy and heavy with moisture. It's an incredible 31 degrees in the sun and the eavestrough occasionally drips on me, giving me a quick splash of relief. My skin is so hot that when I put snow on my arms to cool down it instantly melts. In a blink it evaporates. It's not long before I notice my arms burning and I wonder how this can be. I'm surrounded by snow. But sheltered in the lee of the house and on a south facing deck, it's hot enough to imagine I'm in the Caribbean. If I close my eyes. Hans brings me a chair for my feet, a glass of cool wine and a thermometer to gauge how hot it's getting. I'm trying to read but I keep glancing across the ravine at the great horned owls' nest. It's just so nice to bask outside and let the hours slip away...

I discovered a new way to distract myself on the treadmill. This morning I slipped my sudoku book into the book holder in front of me and amazingly, I treaded on oblivious to the passing of time! Initially when I had to write in a number, it was barely legible as I was trying to write while I walked. Luckily I didn't have many numbers to fill in! Evenutally I just stepped aside, quickly inserted the digit, then resumed walking. It actually worked quite well. I wish I had the book with me now.

I see you! Hans was enjoying a soak in the hot tub this evening when he looked out into the twilight. He came eye-to-eye with huge doe eyes. A heavily pregnant mule deer, big ears alert for any danger, was peeking into the spa window. Three of her companions were strolling around the greenhouse nibbling at dead grasses tall enough to poke through our recent snowfall. Across the ravine, two great horned owls were inspecting the 15 year old nest that still sits high up in the poplars. Maybe this year we'll have little owlets!

This morning, as usual, I got on the treadmill. It's my habit to start off slowly at 3.0 mph (4.8 kph) while I use the remote to flip through the channels and find something to watch on TV. This done, I quickly settled into my routine which is to bump up to 3.8 (6.08 kph) for 2-3 minutes at a time, then settle back to 3.4 for a bit, and repeat. I aim for a total of 10 minutes at 3.8 during my 20 minute workout. This morning I was delighted to find that finally, I wasn't breathing hard after 3 minutes at 3.8. Nevertheless I dropped back but quickly found that it was too easy at that pace so I resumed speed at 3.8. I double checked. Yup, I was definitely at the right speed. Encouraged, I decided to just maintain that speed. Then I realized I had forgotten to set the elevation. Phooey. Our treadmill goes from 0 - 12 in elevation and I usually work at 8. Today it was 0.

It's a wintry day. Unahppily,I'm home sick with a cold. Happily, I'm basking by a blazing fire which wards off not only the chill, but also perfumes the air with a light touch of woodsmoke. I love it. I'm watching the snow continue to fall. Last night with the temperature just around zero huge flakes floated from the sky, clumping together at times to look like bits of Kleenex torn and drifing on the wind. Today they're tiny but relentless and little snowy peaks have capped each fence post. Across the ravine I can just make out the shape of a coyote gliding across the landscape, his mate trailing close behind. It's a good day to be inside.

Beautiful horses painted by Favourite Dotter for our spare bedroom. Beautiful Favourite Dotter

I asked Hans to take a head shot of me for Rotary and I prepared him for the fact that it wasn't going to be just snap one shot and that's it. But even I wasn't prepared for how many it took to make me look reasonable (four!) I'm not thrilled with it but evidently my mirror lies. I seem to look better there than on photos. Or are those just the rose coloured glasses I wear?

I love the colourful parrot fish that were so abundant in the waters of Bonaire and I was busy watching one of them when something shiny flashed at me from the bottom. There was one of my earrings winking back at me! I couldn't reach it, but Clark and Rocco were snorkeling close to me so I waved them over for some help. They both dived for it after examining my other earring so they'd know what they were looking for. When you looked at it just right, the sun caught its reflection and it glittered merrily. Otherwise, it was just another lump on the bottom. Clark reached it first and brought it to me, tighty clutched in his fist. I had meant to take them off before swimming but completely forgot. Not very good, since glittery earrings could attract other fish... They do make lures out of shiny metal, don't they?

In the wee hours of the morning Hans fell in our cabin and badly hurt his back. See my earlier post about the hospital . Luckily, we had a full day at sea during which he could rest and he never left the cabin. That evening I went alone to dinner and our 4 friends came back with me, Clark poised at my back with his camera ready as I opened the door. "If you read this posting Clark, email me the photo and I'll put it up". __________________ These are the hours of lead. Waiting in the cabin until 8:00 a.m. when we had to vacate. Then waiting to disembark. However, the line actually moved very, very quickly. The hardest part was for Hans to have to stand while we waited for our colour to be called. As soon as we were in the warehouse we saw all the luggage stacked according to colour . I flagged a porter to give us a hand, identified our bags and then we lined up for the bus. The only downside is that we had 4 hours to kill at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and we couldn...

Walked around town after our earlier snorkel and on one street we counted 16 jewellery shops one beside the other. And that was just on one side of the street. The other side looked the same. Despite this, there were deals to be had. Rocco bought Pat, his wife of 30+ years, a new wedding ring set with a gorgeous oval stone nearly 1.4 carats. It sparkled brilliantly at dinner that evening under the halogen lights.

There were taxis everywhere listing the various beaches and fares to get you there. "Which one has snorkeling?" we asked, and she points to one on her sign. $5 each. "Fine, take us there." She has a minivan full of customers and we're the first to get off. "Here you are," she says as we exit and hand her the money. "Just swim out about 100 yards to the reef." Oops. It's a public beach and there is nothing here but sand and a few trees for shade. Specifically, there are no lounge chairs. We've become used to them but hey, it's no problem to spread one towel on the sand and use the other to dry off. We decide we should take turns swimming since there's no one else around that we know who can keep an eye on our things, so off I go. I can see the darker area in the water where I'll find the reef and well, it looks a little further out than 100 yards. Oh. And because in some of the other areas where we snorkeled we foun...

Couldn't resist this sign in Aruba "No parking on any street during snow emergency."

"Our last 2 passengers have just boarded. Lucky for them." The Captain's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Everyone was supposed to be on board at 4:30 with the ship due to leave at 5:00. At 4:40 the Captain's first announcement came over the intercom: "Would Mr. and Mrs. Jones of cabin Caribe 406 please call the purser's office immediately." This was repeated twice at 5 minute intervals. We all knew Mr. and Mrs. Jones hadn't come back yet. Finally, about 1 minute to 5:00, a pickup truck pulls up in front of the gangplank and a middle aged couple gets out. Hundreds of passengers are lined up on deck 7 and applaud loudly as a ship's officer approaches them and obviously speaks a few sharp words. Mr. Jones doesn't even wait for his wife but stalks off in a huff onto the gangplank. What a gentleman.

On the first day of the cruise, Hans woke up early and got to the gym shortly after 8:00 a.m. when they opened. It was already full of people and all the treadmills were taken so he worked for a bit on an elliptical machine. Next day he got there earlier and got a treadmill. Thereafter, he slept in in the mornings and instead walked and jogged around the deck in the afternoon or early evening before dinner. The laps worked well for him - he started out doing 3 miles and by the end of the cruise, just before he got injured, he was doing 5 miles and mostly jogging. I went to the gym only once and did a bit on the exercise bike and the elliptical. I didn't want to do the treadmills as they faced the windows which meant you had your butt to all the other people in the gym. Not nice. Mainly, my exercise consisted of taking the stairs everywhere, as did Hans. The ship has elevators but, on the first cruise we ever took (13 years ago now) I decided if I wanted to indulge in the delic...

Sometimes I'm mean. Even Grinchlike. Hans and I are sunbathing by the pools in the adult section and I can hear two very young voices coming from the hot tub. They were getting noisy and annoying so I went down, told them you have to be 16 to be here, and pointed to the sign that said so to emphasize my point. They didn't say anything and left the hot tub. Since I was down there anyway, I decided to dip into the cool pool and joined 3 other ladies already there. "Thank you." they said, virtually in unison. I shrugged and said that I found them to be annoying, and the reason we come to this area of the ship is that we don't want to be around kids. Emphatic nods and agreement all around. Then I see the boys come back down and prepare to step into the cool pool. With us! "This pool is also for adults only," I said, pointing to a second sign. They smirked shrugged their shoulders and prepared to ignore me. Then I see dad coming down the stairs. ...

Bon Bini, as the locals say. Welcome to Bonaire! Lo and Pat on the beach at Bonaire. I had to wear a t-shirt to snorkel since I already had a sunburn on my back from the previous day's snorkeling. This stop was a surprise to us as the ship was schedled to go to La Guaira, Venezuela. However, the road between La Guaira and Caracas is in a very bad state and so the captain substituted Bonaire, one of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao. To our great delight we learned that not only does Bonaire have world class snorkeling, it also has more flamingos than humans. We even saw a flock of flamingoes flying over our beach, their vivid pink colour a brilliant jewel against the sky. Quite by chance once of the crew was with us earlier when we swam with the turtles, and she told us that we could walk to the beach at Plaza Resort . They evidently have a reef just off the beach so the snorkelig's good there. Perfect! We met up with our 4 table-mates on the beach who kindly sh...

No blog about a cruise would be complete without mention of the exquisitely presented food. On some days the choices were so tempting that it was too hard to choose just one. So some people at our table - I won't mention any names, but it wasn't me - ate 3 appetizers. This was sometimes followed by two entrees. Yes, self denial was not practiced here. Actually, all the men at our table were at one time or another guilty of multiple selections and on one memorable occassion, all six of us did it. That was lobster night. The menu said something like "lobster tail", not "tails". We all ordered it and we asked our waitress if we could each get an extra lobster tail. "No problem," she said and when our plates were delivered, there were in fact 2 lobster tails on each plate. "Excellent," said someone, "she already put them on the plate instead of bringing an additional one on the side." Two minutes later she showed up with, you g...

Two fabulous days in a row! First, a 45-minute drive from the capital city of St. George through the scenic hilly interior of the Grand Etang Rainforest Reserve to the Balthazar River. The river is nestled in the exotic and magnificent tropical rainforest. Quite a trip in itself. I couldn't help wondering just how steep this river was when our bus crested at 1900'. The roads are very twisty and heart-stoppingly steep. I don't remember ever having seen such steep grades. At the top of one hill, we were greeted by the unlikely sight of a Dickie Dee ice cream truck playing calliope music. Many houses are built on stilts due to the very steep terrain, and their clotheslines are under the house. Clever. It makes use of otherwise lost space and also protects the laundry from the frequent light showers. Oddly, no building in Grenada may be built higher than a coconut palm. Grenada is also knows as the Isle of Spice because it's the largest spice producing island in the ...

Today we swim with the turtles! I had forgotten that the busses here, just oversized vans really, have additional seats that fold into the aisles to maximize seating. A short ride later we arrived at our boat which would take us to the turtle site and we were instructed not to wear fins while snorkeling with the turtles so as not to hurt them. Our guides brought turtle food and in no time at all, there wre 3 giant turtles swimming around us. We were able to touch them though we were asked to keep our hands away from their faces. No problem. The fish food the turtles dropped quickly attracted a school of silvery white fish who fed on the remains, so we got a double visual treat. A half hour or so of this and we boarded the boat again to head for a sunken ship where we would snorkel with a variety of fish. In fact, there turned out to be thousands! Again, the guide fed them and fish of every colour swarmed him: black and yellow striped Sergeant Majors, lrge trumpet fish, slende...

Always pose next to something large like a cruise ship. Next to something that size, you're bound to look small. Fort-de-France is the capital of Martinique, an island of approximately 360,000. French is the official language and you could hardly miss that as all signs were posted in French. The first notable difference on this island is that the women are very stylish. They are also noticably distant, bordering on being unfriendly. The second is that it is very expensive here. Currently the island enjoys one of the highet standards of living in the Caribbean. Among its notable former residents was the future empress of France, Naoleon's wife Josephine who was born on Mortinique in 1763. Pau. Gauguin also lived and painted here in the late 1800's. St. Pierre used to be the island capital until it ws wiped out by the eruption of Mount Pelee in 1902. Killed all 30,000 residents except one, who was in jail. The city itself isn't particulary attractive so we walked...

Hans, playing with his food. I am a voyeur. From the deck of the ship I sit and look at a bright array of umbrellas spread out below me. There's a constant flow of people accompanied by throbbing drums. It's overcast. The leaden clouds were excreting a lazy drizzle, more of a mist than a rain. There was an intermittent parade of clouds scudding across the sky interrupted by brilliant sun and spectacular double rainbows. Three rainbows framed the shore over the course of the day. In town, the sidewalks are chopped up blocks of cement filled with weeds and broken glass. Music blares from every doorway and like in Korea, if you have something to sell, park yourself on the sidewalk under a sunshade and peddle your wares. We walked to the Botanical Gardens where colourful birds twittered their welcome from the tops of every tree. The Gardens have huge spans of lawn which are cut with... weed whackers. Honest. We saw two men working the entire area with these inefficient lit...

So we're idly browsing around Antigua and talking about our upcoming river tubing tour. "I'm almost positive we booked for Dominica," I said to Hans, "so it will be fun to join Rocco, Pat, Clark and Deb." "I don't think it was Dominica," said Hans. "Could it be Antigua?" We stopped short and started at each other. We had been lulled into such a lazy state that when we first entered our cabin and saw the ticket for our upcoming tour, we never even checked it, just put it away. Out of our heads. Now, suddenly the thought that our tubing tour might be taking place even as we were sauntering through Antigua, we virtually sprinted back to the ship in breathless anxiety. "Thank God it's not Antigua!" I said as I looked at the ticket. "It's in Grenada. But I can't believe I would have booked us on an 8:00 a.m. tour. They obviously made a mistake," I insisted, disappointed we wouldn't be joining our fr...

This island is the reason we chose this particular itinerary. About 5 years ago we stopped here on another cruise and in addition to spending the day snorkeling at fabulous Brewer's Bay, our driver also took us to an old rum distillery which has been a family operation for over 200 years. It had the best rum Hans ever tasted. We only had enough money with us to buy one bottle and that bottle haunted Hans. This time, we were here to buy a case. With fins and snorkels in hand, we asked a cab driver to take us to Brewer's Bay first. "I will take you, but the water's so choppy you won't be able to snorkel," he says, eyeing our gear. Disappointed, we asked if there were any other areas where we could snorkel. "Not today," he replied. "The surf is too high but I'll take you to a beach and you can at least play in the water. And the rum distillery you're looking for is just up the road." He was certainly right about the surf. It po...

On our second day at sea, I was just sitting down to another Trivia Game when the captain's voice came over the loudspeaker. "You may have noticed that the ship has been speeding. We have a very sick passenger on board and we are hurrying to Tortola. We were expecting to have her helicoptered off the ship but she has been stabilized. However, she needs a blood transfusion. If you are O or A negative, please come down to the ship's hospital." I am lucky in that I am a universal donor, so off I went to give blood. In the end they didn't need mine, but later the captain thanked everyone and announced that the response from passengers was absolutely overwhelming. ___________ The day before our cruise ended, we had occasion to check out the ship's hospital ourselves. On a few occasions, Hans mentioned that he felt lightheaded and dizzy. That evening as we walked to our cabin after dinner he said, "I'm feeling a bit faint. I also briefly felt dizzy at ...

The Sea Princess was fabulous. The moment we boarded we could feel it in the air, a ship alive with the texture of possibilities. We brought back great memories. Oh, and six pounds. Where to start? This cruise was meant to be a relaxing holiday so we focused and relaxed. Extreme Relaxation: do nothing all day, then have a nap. That was us. It was so easy to get lulled into the easy pace of life on a cruise ship. A favourite passtime the first week was reclining on a lounge chair on the side deck watching the waves go by, book in hand. Ten minutes later the eyes grew heavy and we'd drift off to the Land of Nod. Our first night in the dining room we were seated in a section of 3 tables. Ours was a table for 8, at which we were the sole occupants. There was also a table for 6 with one couple and a table for 4 with another couple. Soon it became evident that no one was coming to fill the empty seats at any of our tables. "I feel like taking my glass of wine and going ov...

Very early this morning - 0730 - Hans and I picked up our neoprene booties and flippers to bring on the cruise. We have our own snorkels and masks so we're all set. I have a story about the neoprene booties. A few years ago we first rented snorkelling equipment to take along on our cruise. We're on St. Thomas and Hans had arranged to spend the day golfing. Favourite Dotter and I took a shuttle taxi to Coki Beach. Before we left the ship, we did as instructed and wore our neoprene booties in lieu of sandals. This was, after all, one of their advantages. You can walk with them on asphalt and beach sand and then when it's time to snorkel, you slip your bootie clad food into the flipper and voila, you're set to go. A cursory glance in the awkward mirror in our cabin showed that my blue cotton dress was long enough to just barely cover the tops of my booties which came about 4" up my leg. They're not very attractive and I muttered about it. But Favourite Dot...

I have a new car!! A brand spanking new white Prius. And it's made for directionally impaired people like me. It has a navigation system! Simply type in the address and voila - a display maps the way. How cool is that? I have been warned, though, that it's not always that up-to-date for Canada but if I were driving in the US, I wouldn't get lost. On the other hand, how often have I been lost with no navvy system to help out? Shame forbids me to be honest here. I have been known to pull over and phone Favourite Dotter and asking, "Where am I?" This too will now be easier since there's a built in phone! Of course I don't know how it works yet, but there's a cute little phone pad on the display panel. Somewhere thee's sure to be a mike that's picking up my voice. So the car not only has all the bells and whistles, it also has a phone! And a camera! See below for details... This really is an uber-cool feature... a teensy weensy camera i...

Next week at this time we'll be skimming the skies on our way to Ft. Lauderdale. But that's not all. Princess (no, not me. The cruise line) is putting us up in a 5 star hotel overnight and then we board the Sea Princess for 14 pampered days. Isn't life grand? The dining room food and service aboard a cruise line can only be compared to 5 star dining in the finest restaurants. It is mouth wateringly eye-appealing. And tasty to boot. Not for me the buffets on ship. No! No! I can eat from pretty looking buffets in my own town. On a cruise ship I allow myself to enjoy the exemplary service available in the dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can't wait. But, there is a price to pay. I'm paying some of it now as I hoof it up the stairs at the library. This is my training. If I start at the basement, there are 51 steps to the top floor and let me just say that when I get there my thighs are screaming in pain and I'm sucking air hard enough to ...

The holidays are over. Gone with them are the last of the decorations and the last of the company. Most of the pine needles have been vacuumed up, but a few always remain to serve as a reminder of good times gone by. And to pierce your foot. I love bringing out the decorations year after year. The earlier the better. But after Christmas, I am just as eager to get rid of them. Today, the house looks normal again. The fridge is nearly empty. All the whipping cream and nuts have been eaten, as evidenced by the tug of our clothes, and the remaining chocolates have been packed away to be enjoyed another day. The treadmill has been dusted off and waits for us. This first day of 2006 is pretty, with hoar frost glittering beneath a feeble sun. I see the cats play in the tree outside. They don't know there was a holiday season which has come and gone. They just know they have a delightful new toy.