Tradition! Tradition! "That old black rum's got a hold on me!"

We made our yearly pilgrimage to the PNE on Wednesday.  People sneer at the PNE, but I think it's an extremely good value.  We paid $118 for us to get in and for the boys to ride whatever at will, and they have included all the rides in the ride pass this year, so they could go on the Hellevator or play mini-golf or whatever all for that price.  We had some food and drink and all told spent less than $200 for a family of four for a day's worth of fun and food and drink.  There is so much to do, we always run out of time.  There is something for everyone -- there was this great drum troupe playing in the street -- what energy and colour and skill they demonstrated!  There are the barns, of course, and the Superdogs and the Peking Acrobats, and this year there was a museum show about Genghis Khan (which we didn't see) and there is a concert every night included in your ticket.  That was the highlight for us -- we saw Great Big Sea and they were spectacular.  They are a great band -- very tight and talented.  It is amazing how many instruments they can all play.  They performed lots of the songs that we knew and we sang along and clapped.  My favourite was when they just sang -- no instruments.  The harmony was so beautiful.  It was a great venue -- outside and yet the sound was great.  So if you're looking for something to do -- the PNE is a great option.

(When William was little, he learned that Great Big Sea song "that old black rum. . ." and sang it heartily without knowing what it was saying.  He even sang it to his kindergarten teacher!)

Some Assembly Required

Yesterday we went to see the filming of a new tv show called "Some Assembly Required".  The premise is that a bunch of kids find themselves managing a toy company.  (I won't go into details, because the guy who warmed up the audience swore us all to secrecy.)  I have never seen a sitcom being taped so this was a fascinating experience for me.  Anthony and William found it interesting as well, but Mike was pretty much focused on how many times they had to do a take and trying to laugh with the same enthusiasm after he'd heard the same joke six times.

I am always excited and interested to see the set and this one was very colourful and attractive -- I think there were about six locations on the soundstage.  I was most impressed with the young actors and their patience and work ethic.  They listened attentively to the director and tried to do what he was asking and kept a positive attitude even though it is a very long day for them.  I don't know how old they were but they seemed mature beyond their years.

I always think this stuff is so glamourous but of course, it isn't, really.  When you see behind the scenes, all the sets are just wood and nails and Styrofoam and the people working there, crew and cast, are just regular people like you and me.  Except that maybe they've found a passion for something.  After I see this sort of thing, I always think how much more exciting it is to do a play.  You get to do the whole story at once and get a sense of your character in situ and feel like you're creating something whole and not little bits of something for which you can't really get a full sense.

I'll be really interested to see the show on tv.  We'll be listening for our laughs in episode two!

On a sad note, the great Canadian actor August Schellenberg died yesterday.  I always remember him in "North of 60", a show about a remote aboriginal community that was on the CBC in the 90's, I think.  He played King Lear at the National Arts Centre a couple of years ago -- now that would have been an amazing show to see.

Living Light

Have you ever heard of the phenomenon called "bioluminescence"?  Certain animals, particularly marine animals, produce their own light!  (Most of us have seen fireflies - they do it, too.)  The boys and I just returned from a few wonderful days on Hardy Island with some friends and we were able to witness this first hand.  As night fell, our host told us we should go down to the dock to see something amazing and he was absolutely right.  The shiny black sea was very still most of the time we were there, and the air was warm and it is far enough away from the hustle and bustle that it is beautifully quiet.  We dipped our hands in the water . . . and the water and our hands glowed.  Doug and Sam jumped in and swam and they literally shone with a green otherworldly light!  When you swept your hand through the water, you left a trail of sparkles.  Even the little black mussels who cling to the edge of the dock seemed to be sparkling.  It was like the stars weren't just in the sky -- they were in the water as well.  It's impossible for someone who isn't a poet to give you any idea how magical and amazing this is.  You have to experience it.  I can't explain exactly what is happening, but my understanding is that it is a chemical reaction produced by some small creatures (plankton) when they are excited or stimulated by movement (like our hands moving the water around).  It doesn't happen in fresh water - only in the sea.

I guess all the beautiful moon jellies we saw in Monterey are experts on bioluminescence -- because they were glowing with blue light, but the amazing thing about what we saw at Hardy was that we felt like we were part of the magic.

Nature always has a surprise for you -- just when you think you've seen it all.   You can't be cynical if you spend time in the natural world.  Even the smallest creature is a marvel.  One of the most memorable sights from our trip to the San Diego Zoo wasn't the big animals but a terrarium of dung beetles.  There they were working diligently with their choice material, all of them busily crawling about with what appeared to be purpose.  William and I noticed two especially determined beetles with what was to them a huge ball of dung.  They were trying to lift it from one level to another.  They would just get it to the edge of the shelf and it would roll off and defeat them.  After several abortive tries, they stopped and seemed to be giving up.  They just stood there motionless with the ball of dung between them.  But after a short rest, back they went to their task.  Finally their determined effort paid off and they achieved success.  Neither William nor I could see why it was important for them to get the dung onto that shelf, but who are we to question the motive of such resolute souls?

Back in business!

We have running water and a cooker, so we feel very rich and privileged tonight!  The floor will be a while yet and the counter tops and cabinets are delayed, but once you've gone without running water and gas in the kitchen anything else feels very luxurious!  Mike has created a makeshift counter and we will cook our own food tomorrow and not have to go to IHOP or order pizza.  Life is good.

Let's try to remember this when we're whining about how the cheese on the casserole is too salty or whatever it is we whine about.  (Or the meat pies are too hot, right, Rickie?)  Whiners gotta whine, I guess.

Home? Home forever and ever!

We arrived back in Canada at about 2:30 and picked up our girl.  She was very happy to see us and we were very happy to see her.  She was well taken care of but nothing is like home, is it?  She was so happy to see us, she didn't even throw up on the way home.  That's a stellar achievement for Daisy.

When we got back to the Fortress of Solitude, the floor man was still here and we were appalled to see how little had been done while we were away.  The floors are still bare and the sink, cooktop, dishwasher and fridge are not hooked up and everything is still planted in the middle of the floor.  We used the barbecue tonight to cook dinner, and Anne next door has offered to let us use her kitchen (so kind -- we are so lucky to have such good neighbours) but I don't see how this is going to work at all.  At any other time, I'd be happy to say "let's stay in a hotel!" but really, we all just want to sleep in our own beds and look in our own fridge and cook our own meals.  We are all rather bummed out about it, but there  isn't anything we can do, so we will make the best of it.

Welcome home, Taylor-Kosars!

Ringside in Portland

We went to the Ringside Steakhouse tonight for dinner recommended by my Insight Guide (very pricey, but delicious).  Valet parking and a wine list pages long (not recommended in any of the restaurant shows I watch -- how can you navigate a menu like that?  way too many choices!) and big slabs of meat for all the menfolk (not for me -- I can't imagine eating that much meat, if any . . .)  We had a great meal and great conversation where we recapped all the adventures we've had over the trip.  It has been a great experience.  Kudos to Mike for having organized all of it and picked out hotels and events for us to experience -- it's all gone really well.  And he's done most of the driving as well.  Jill (the GPS voice) has also done well, now that Mike has figured out the "avoidance" problem.

I got a message from Shelley, the woman who is taking care of Daisy at Balanced Canine.  She said Daisy has done well (what else could she say?) and that she is cute and got along with the other canines boarding there.  We are anxious to see her and get back to our own house.  Traveling is great but it will be nice to relax and not think about where we're going for dinner -- I personally will be glad not to have to look at a menu for a while.

At dinner tonight we talked about how we felt about our trip.  We all agreed that it has been a great experience.  My favourite thing was the Wild Animal Park in Escondido (which is associated with the San Diego Zoo).  Mike liked Disneyland the best and was sad when we had to leave.  Anthony also liked Disneyland the best and William agrees.  Of course, we all agree it was great to see Gordon and Annie and visit and hear Gordon play again (or for the boys, the first time).  It was fun to stay in all the different hotels and see California -- all the different terrains and the big cities and the small towns.  We met lots of nice people (and very few unpleasant people).  We learned a lot and will remember our adventures forever.

Traveling makes you appreciate your home, I think.  We've seen a lot of people less fortunate than we are and are grateful for our home and the things we have that keep us safe.  All the places we've been have been very exciting and beautiful, but not everyone in the USA gets to partake of those things equally.  But that is true of Canada as well.  Some of us live pretty high on the hog and others have to be content with the hoofs.  I think we can always try to do better ourselves and learn from people around us.  We need to reach out to each other and do our best to relish each moment -- listen to the music and live each moment as fully as we can.  But never forget our responsibility to each other.  It's not about the stronger dog eating the weaker dog.  It's making sure all the dogs get a good meal.

Thanks to all of you for following our adventures.  We'll see you

soon, I hope, and you can tell me how I did blog-wise.  Until then, this is Jean signing off from Portland.  Canada, here we come!

Back where we started from . . .

Back in Portland in the same hotel, although we all forgot what it was like.  William feels like we've only been gone a short time, but the rest of us feel like we've never been home.  Like we're like Odysseus and everyone at home will have forgotten us.   (Although Odysseus wasn't able to blog about Circe or the Cyclops or anything!)

Last night we had no wifi.  There has been something wrong with every hotel we've stayed in.  I guess the worst was the Disneyland hotel which had a litany of problems.  When we got into the room, it seemed nice and we unloaded everything and started to relax when we noticed that there was water on the floor in the bathroom.  They sent a plumber and offered to let us change rooms, but we'd already ensconced ourselves and didn't want to move.  It was close to the pool and far away from the street.  Anyway, they fixed the leak but we still had it in our heads.  The last hotel in Los Angeles was quite swanky looking with a big glossy lobby and all sorts of people running around after us and warm cookies at the desk to greet us, but Mike was very dismissive of the furniture in the room and the window at the end of the hall was broken.  I'm reading all these Harry Bosch mystery novels and it really reminded me of the Los Angeles he describes.  All made up on the outside but dark and sleazy on the inside.  The pool looked like this mysterious blue place where some seedy Hollywood producer would meet his mistress and they'd swim at midnight and drink champagne until he strangles her because she's threatening to tell his wife about their affair, or some other cheap Hollywood scenario like that.  That was the only pool we didn't use, and the one I wanted most to use.  Also the book I'm reading now, Trunk Music, mentions the street our hotel was on and says it is the site of the "Star Strip" where hopeful actors sell their favours to keep body and soul together.  At least, that's the impression I got.

This morning we had a HUGE breakfast in Yreka (which, I discovered is pronounced WHY REEK AH) at a place called Poor George's which displayed local artists' work on the walls and had a very rustic atmosphere.  Mike and Anthony had chicken fried steak, which is breaded steak, and it came with hash browns, plate-sized pancakes, and eggs, all covered in a thick gravy.  Even Mike couldn't eat all of it.  Our waitress, who reminded me of a woman I worked with at Schenker named Joni Skibbe, said, "none of you are leaving hungry, are you?"

After we left the restaurant, we took a little walking tour of the town and saw all sorts of Victorian homes, their historic main street, and where one of the lynchings I mentioned in the previous post took place.

The people who committed the lynching were never charged -- the city fathers said it was done by "people unknown".  I guess either the whole town is guilty or no one is.  It's like now when you say that the bystanders who don't stand up to the bullies are as guilty as the bullies themselves.  I don't know if I agree.  It can be hard to intervene when you think you might be the next victim.

Mike wants a steak for dinner tonight, so we've looked in my guide books for possibilities and will go after the traffic dies down a bit (maybe at 7 or 8?).  And we'll be home tomorrow!  We'll pick up Daisy on the way and she'll have a vomit fest in the car (her blanket is with her at the kennel, so we'll try to cover Anthony's lap with it at least, since that's where she likes to vomit the most!