Breaking out the camping gear!

We had our first official camping trip of the season at The Pinery on Lake Huron, near Grand Bend. Now we’ve swum in two of the five Great Lakes, since we camped on Lake Superior during on cross-Canada honeymoon adventure. It fascinates me to swim in a non-salty body of water that you can’t see the other side of. And the sandy shore lent itself to frolicking and frisbee. We also went on a lovely nature walk in the woods. (To call it a “hike” would be to deny my BC roots.) And even though it was the first camping experience of the summer, we didn’t forget anything important like the tent or frying pan. Packing the sleeping bags did come as an afterthought, but it was such a warm weekend that we would have survived without them anyways. And other than a few whiny kids around our campsite that needed a good spanking and some yapping dogs that needed a good euthanizing, our little spot in nature was very pleasant.

Why the 401 Highway is Stupid

The 401 is the scar of southern Ontario. The following list refers specifically to the 150km or so that span from Oshawa to Kitchener, with the deepest wound (perhaps a clogged artery?) being through Toronto. Now I'm not saying I have a solution to the 401 injury, except to question why anyone would want to go to Toronto anyways. (OK, we're both exceptionally bitter about all the time and mental energy we waste in traffic.) So here's why the 401 is stupid:

1. There are too many lanes.
2. There are too many cars.
3. There are too many incompetent drivers.
4. There are too many accidents.
5. People drive too fast.
6. Driving on it causes tension between driver and passenger(s).
7. Verbal and non-verbal obscenities are often exchanged between vehicles.
8. It increases human stress levels enough to spoil a perfectly good road trip.

Friends, the North, and a new couch

The day after my folks left, three friends from Montreal came and crashed at our place for the occasion of another friend’s wedding. Jeff and I had to miss the event, however, because we were “up north” on a speaking tour, (Jeff speaking, me touring…). I say “up north” because when you live in southern Ontario, everywhere else in Canada is north. Then the day we got back, our neighbor below us was getting rid of some furniture since she’s moving. So we went to make an offer on a couch, and she offered it to us for free! It’s retro enough to be stylish again and still in great shape. Jeff has been wanting a “comfy couch” for a while, sighing that our apartment just didn’t feel like a home without one. Now he can’t stop talking about how cool our place is. Well, technically it’s only been cool since yesterday when we bought and installed an air conditioner.

"Up North" in Sudbury, at the giant nickel


view from the giant nickel (Can anyone explain the giant nickel to me?)


Further north in Larder Lake


Thankfully, we don't have bikes, skidoos or dogs...




our "new" and "comfy" couch

A Gift for Mom

To celebrate Mother's Day, my Mom and I played a friendly game of tennis this afternoon. It was the first time in a number of years that we were in the same province for the occasion. When I was leading 3 games to 1, I casually yelled across the net as I was serving for her not to give the game to me, at which point she exclaimed, "I'm not!" and began her underdog journey, eventually tying it up at 6 games each. You can't really tell from our expressions below, after our game, who won or lost. But for the record (that nobody's keeping), I won! But really, I had nothing to lose anyhow. If she had won, I would have just admitted that it was a Mother’s Day gift. In any case, it's a blast to have my parents visiting this week. Mom to play tennis and shop with, Dad to wash the dishes and oragnize Scrabble games... C'est la vie!


Here are some pictures with my grandmother, parents and Jeff at our supper with my uncle, aunt and cousins today.

Springish Activities

Finally the weather has warmed up enough for outdoor excursions. We've played catch and frisbee until our right arms hurt too much to go on. We've also become expert picnickers over the last few weeks. We don't have a BBQ, so we just pack the food, find a park, and fire up our signle-element Coleman stove. Sometimes we're extravagant (note the steaks below); other days, we opt for the simple and cheap (i.e., Kraft Dinner). I also forgot to pack our spoons for the KD...



Here are our friends, Quick and Quack. They always come visit us for a little snack at this park.


We also celebrated Jeff's 28th birthday recently.



Last weekend, I went to New Brunswick Bible Institute for the graduation and conference. It was a delightful road trip with Lydia and Ruth, and a very refreshing time at NBBI. Plus, I got some insight into Jeff's life, as he spent three highly eventful years there.

This past Saturday night we saw Robin Mark, an exceptional worshp leader from Northern Ireland. www.robinmark.com

Beyond Grammar

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of my secret identities (in the name of education) is Gramma Grammar. Here's a photo of me in my wig and shawl, along with the ESL class at our end-of-year potluck.


More valuable than the English lessons, however, are the unique friendships that develop among students and volunteers despite cultural differences. The other night we had supper here with a young couple who are recent refugees from the Middle East. As they shared their experience in beginner-but-improving English, I was overwhelmed at how what they have lived is so completely foreign to my small life. Yet we sensed a wonderful camaraderie with them that I can't explain. After supper (Jeff's famous ribs, of course), I was helping the wife with some English work while Jeff and her husband were watching guy stuff on the computer. At one point I overheard Jeff trying to explain to him the difference between a knock out and a technical knock out (wrestling jargon, I think?) and I recognized that there are some things that will always serve as common ground for the average male. His wife and I preferred potting some plant clippings that have been rooting around our apartment for the last months, a gift to them that I hope will be symbolic of a newly planted friendship.

"People will always do the stupid thing"

This entry should really be credited to my old friend (who I haven't seen in years), Andrew Maves. Andrew, if you read this, you might not remeber telling me this but I remember it like yesterday. Andrew and I were in Saint John, NB working on some renovations (church work) and Andrew, who was obviously entertaining some memories, looked over to me and said, "JEFF, people will ALWAYS do the stupid thing." It sunk in and made sense to me because I, being a "people," had done many stupid things. Well, this week folks really made me appreciate that timless phrase, and without going into too much detail about the idiotic, juvenille, elementary, imature and stupid things people did to me last week and early this week, simply consider yourself warned! Mabye not today, mabye not tomorrow but mark my words! "People will always do the stupid thing!"

In case you don't get it, here are some pictures to help illustrate the stupedness in people!