edge of the ocean

great tune, minus the video

the power of chocolate

we have been blessed with five senses...blessed are we who have all of them in working order. for the best taste expereince ...i suggest "sweet georgia browns" the ultimate combination of salt and sweet. not been there? giddy up, and even better when shared late at night under the sheets...

it is the little things that mean the most, i challenge all that read these words to create a moment of random "little things" and make another smile.

me, in edmonton, thinking way too much.

be here now

another ray lamontange must haves!

a great day!

a little know fact on me...i collect these crazy bottle openers from the 80's. there are the same as pictured above but have been kicking around some 20 odd years. today i had to get yet another longer hitch for the new trailer..and while at the local cap-it dealer i noticed they had one of these on the door to the shop. it is a nice one as it has an old BC lions logo on it! i asked them for it and without a blink, they gave it to me. they said that the shop was to be dozzed soon and it likely would have become a casualty!
so, happy day for me, made paying another 40 bucks on a third hitch, palatable.

if you see these while garage sale-ing, think of me..should be able to get them for a buck or so!

exit winter enter spring

for those of us who feel the weight of winter on our spirits...where the dull gray skies of winter gloom cover our eyes and hearts...the first burst of colour is elating and brings a smile to our faces

this seasonal change is so welcomed and one can't help but be in awe of the bright pink blossoms that appear,almost over night. these trees can be found on almost every street here in vancouver and it's the sure sign of spring. it is the reminder that all things change over time.

the next event they create is even better- when the blossoms fall it looks like pink snow covering the streets and sidewalks. stand by for this pic!

Camping!

went to golden ears with the gang this w/e, it was a mixed bag for weather but it did not matter...as you can see from above i have bought a new baby! my friend pete is now the new owner of tilly...which is great as then tilly stays in the family...i borrowed tilly's awning...need to make one for the new rig.
my new rig...if you are interested...check it out it tada-rv.com.. it rocks.

ran into sherry, she was camping too, have not seen her for awhile...love it when that happens...


have recently started to arrange a new group of friends for some camping fun...drop me a line if you want to come too.

fur friends and kids always welcome!

yael naim -new soul

fab video, great tune

Pablo Neruda

a great find...

Drunk as Drunk


Translated from the Spanish by Christopher Logue

Drunk as drunk on turpentine
From your open kisses,
Your wet body wedged
Between my wet body and the strake
Of our boat that is made of flowers,
Feasted, we guide it - our fingers
Like tallows adorned with yellow metal -
Over the sky's hot rim,
The day's last breath in our sails.

Pinned by the sun between solstice
And equinox, drowsy and tangled together
We drifted for months and woke
With the bitter taste of land on our lips,
Eyelids all sticky, and we longed for lime
And the sound of a rope
Lowering a bucket down its well. Then,
We came by night to the Fortunate Isles,
And lay like fish
Under the net of our kisses.

Pablo Neruda

river road sightings

sirens

Beautiful women these send their sound
For men over the waves that pound.
Ask Ulysses who's tied to the mast
So he cannot succumb as they go past.
Ask Samson with his long hair
As Delilah draws him to her lair.
See the Queen, Helen of Troy.
She is whisked away with great joy.
There are others that we all know
Who make men's hearts start to glow.
Throughout history they gained their fame.
Sirens they are called if you need a name.

copyright © 2003 by Lowell Bergeron

time = $$

okay, so listening to the prices of crude oil lately gives me gas! what up with that? so my friend tells me about this website called gasbuddy.com. you can go there and find the cheapest gas near you. here is my thought- it takes a few minutes to sit down at your computer and search for a station near to you or on route...so then you make a trip there...it may, in fact, be out of your way or off your usual route. the gas prices vary by 1-3 cents per litre. now lets do the math...the average car has a 48 litre tank, average SUV a 75 litre tank...say you can save 2 cents per liter...
$1.50 saved!

christ, crazy things we get obsessed with eh?

nyquil- my night time lover

My vacation summary and newly started addiction to nyquil.funny thing to reach for it during packing for the trip. served as a saviour for all those around me who heard my cough each and every night!

Started out Thursday in Ottawa, felt a little funny, started to cough while in TO

Friday 6am flight, head was pounding, cough increased

On the runaway- the plane comes to a halt as the pilot does a brake stand sending all of us into the seats in front of us, back to the gate- repair a “glitched” indicator- that’s what they tell us.

Try again for take off, same thing- brake stand, they unload us, tell us new flight time of 1130am- we gather at 1130- now the flight time has been changed to 11pm! THE CREW HAS MAXED OUT THEIR FLYING TIME..

On the plane for 11pm- opps, one passenger has decided not to fly- need to find their luggage…take off now at 1145pm

Arrive to PVR for 630 am- taxi to the hotel, pool side – got a burn due to falling asleep in the sun, and feeling lousy after coughing the entire trip on the plane


Spend the next six days almost without eating, no taste buds, cough and sinus problems, in fact, have only six beers the entire week, sleep most days 12 hours, food looks great, I have soup for dinner two nights in a row, hacked so hard couldn't’t sleep…..viva la mexico!

Get back to Vancouver- discover a flat tire and the dealer failed to put the locking hub key back in my jeep when they changed my tires…ugghh

Get to the doctor Saturday morning – bronchitis and sinusitis diagnosed , major drugs prescribed, still no taste buds or appetite…

Back at my desk with little energy…now two weeks with this dreaded bug...and feeling so ripped off!

never take all you have for granted

http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm

i have just spent the day at a seminar called "the power within" and one of the speakers was chris gardner- the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, was based on his life story. imagine trying to make a life with a toddler in tow and living homeless in the streets of new york. his words captured me profoundly and his story is shocking. check out his site.

The amazing story of Gardner’s life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, (Amistad/Harper Collins) on May 23, 2006, and became a New York Times and Washington Post #1 bestseller. Gardner is also the inspiration for the movie The Pursuit of Happyness released by Columbia Pictures. Always hard working and tenacious, a series of circumstances in the early 1980’s left Gardner homeless in San Francisco and the sole guardian of his toddler son. Unwilling to give up Chris Jr. or his dream of financial independence, Gardner started at the bottom. Without connections or a college degree, he earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program. Often spending his nights in a church shelter or the bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland, Gardner was the sole trainee offered a job at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981. He spent 1983-1987 at Bear Stearns & Co., where he became a top earner, and then in 1987, he founded the brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. in Chicago.

Born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner never knew his father. He lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner, whom he adored, and, when necessary, in foster homes. Despite a life of hardship and emotional scarring, his mother provided him with strong “spiritual genetics” and taught him some of the greatest lessons of his life, which he follows to this day. Bettye Jean convinced him that in spite of where he came from, he could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying, “If you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner believed this to be fact, and knew he would have to find a career he could be passionate about, and one that would allow him to “be world-class at something.”

a truly inspiring story despite the hollywierd adaptation.

the comment “spiritual genetics” was a particular moment of awareness for me...what genetics do i have?
i know this: my father said it.."i got three kids..and they will all learn what each other knows, that way no matter what the world throws at them they shall be ready". so my understanding of the physical world and relating to people is because my father never saw us as gender specific...no girls vs boys, the messages my brothers learned i learned..."work hard, respect all and never, ever , let anyone tell you you cant do something"

today i can change an engine in a car or sell snow to eskimos..and fold laundry and cook a decent meal....and so can my brothers.

i ask, what are your spiritual genetics?

old town pt vallarta

spent a day wondering the streets of old town pv. always an interesting perspetive on the lives of others when you are on foot. so much of this city is a construction miracle. so much done by hand, by cheap labour with limited pride or know-how. sometimes it shows and others it doesn't - like this church that sits on the hill above the downtown....a beauty of of a space with old world lines and detail.

after exploring the streets we finished up with a sunset beer on the beach.

local produce - bucerias

bucerias, mexico

riu jallisco, nvo pvr

well...the sun was grand, the food endless and the beer...well; i am not sure. i spent the last six days in a warm sunny place nursing bronchitis and and a sinus infection! the trip started out with a brake stand during take off that put us in vanc one extra night. ugg. i coughed my way over the border at 40k feet and spent the next few days wishing i could eat or sleep without coughing....girls vacation upside included a walk into a cute lil town called BUCERIAS, NAYARIT via two miles or so of beach..found a great seaside spot for a beer and the every popular mexican-salsa and chips. did a virtual cache there as well.


over all, didnt hold me down too much as the suntan and the feel of the ocean underfoot made one forget all matters of worry.


will post a couple o'pics of the vacation....