Saying Goodbye from Far Away

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

I've been working on this post for a while but it has been a bit difficult. As many of you will know on 16th November 2013 the world lost a wonderful soul when my Gramma (Bodden) past away at the age of 92. Losing a loved one is always hard and made harder by living a few thousand kilometres away and made even harder by living that few thousand kilometres away alone.

I wasn't able to return to Canada for the funeral but the funeral home in Yarmouth actually live-streams it. The connection wasn't always great but I was able to see most of it and "being there" offered some comfort.

It wasn't an easy time but instead of focusing on the negative I'm focusing on the wonderful life and person. Here are a few pictures from over the years.

Gramma and Grampa's Wedding in 1948.

Gramma and Dad in 1953......maybe.

Dad, Aunt Winnie, Gramma and Grampa in 1968.

Grampa, Gramma and Dad in 1976.

Gramma, Dad and Aunt Winnie heading to Bruce's wedding in 1977.

1982 while living in Regina. That's Debi and I with Gramma in case you weren't sure.

1988 Christmas in Athabasca.

1989.....another visit in Athabasca.

The look on Debi's face is priceless!!!! We weren't so sure about lobster back then. This was during our 1990 visit to Yarmouth.

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Gramma and Dad in 1995, RCMP Operation Show and Tell.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ns/prog_services/community-policing-police-communautaire/adps-spai/history-histoire1-eng.htm

This is another lobster dinner in 2005. Bruce, Uncle Ernie, Aunt Winnie, Gramma and Dad in the common room at Gramma's place.

Also in 2005.

Yarmouth Seafest Parade July 2005. That's Aunt Winnie, Gramma, Stephen, Dad and Bruce (Dad's cousin....I've just been assuming you know that up to this point).

Dad and Gramma in 2012.

Gramma's 90th Birthday. Always a beautiful smile.

Gone but always in our hearts and memories.

Julie

A Few Years......A Few Changes

Here, There, Everywhere

Some of you may have noticed some minor changes to the look of my blog over the past few weeks. After 3 years I think I have finally figured this blogging thing out. Yeah, that's right, it has been 3 years to the day that I started this blog. These last three years have brought a whole lot of memories. Here are few reminders of where the last few years have taken me:

July 2008 - Remember when I hated wearing dresses and had a buzz cut? Yeah I hardly do either.

1.) I have posted over 250 posts on this blog with well over 600 pictures.

Jan. 2009 - Explains why I spend so much time in front of my computer.

2.) I have managed to live in 5 US states but only 2 Canadian Provinces (I know that doesn't seem right but hey, it's my life). In case you have forgotten that's Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia (twice in fact), Maryland and New York. And yes, I also lived in Vermont but that was before this blog so it doesn't really count. And no I never lived in DC, I just worked there......plus it isn't a state.

3.) I have set my feet on the soil of 12 different countries. Canada and The US are a given but you also have to count the Cayman Islands, England, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and France.

4.) I have stood in the centre of a pyramid. A life long dream. A life long dream now fulfilled.

Sept. 2008 - What do you do when you've accomplished a life long dream?

5.) I have stood in the Temple of Zeus at Ancient Olympia. Another life long dream, also fulfilled.

Nov. 2008 - You head to another country and accomplish another one.

6.) I have stood beneath the Sistine Chapel. Still takes my breath away to think about it.

7.) I went whale watching in Nova Scotia.....and I actually saw a whale.

June 2007 - Yeah it might be June but it was really cold in the Bay of Fundy.

8.) I have stood a top the CN Tower, the Empire State Building, The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Eiffel Tower. I got vertigo on them all.

Feb. 2007 - How I thought it was a good idea to visit the Empire State Building at night in February is beyond me. It was cold.

10.) I have felt my heart break in a foreign country and got over it by getting on a plane and heading to another one.

11.) I was sworn in as President of the United States......ok maybe not but how else do you explain this picture.

Oct 2006 - I guess the fact that this was in Philly should give it away.

12.) I have visited every Smithsonian Museum and the Louvre and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Yeah.....that's a lot of museums.

Dec. 2008 - Outside the Louvre....in Paris. What a great day.

13.) I went skiing in Austria......and I didn't break anything.

14.) I went swimming with a bunch of sting rays in the Cayman Islands.

April 2008 - Yeah I chased the sting ray. It didn't like me.

15.) I have climbed a mountain in Greece...ok there were stairs but there were a lot of them.

Nov. 2008 - Still one of my favourite places on earth. So glad I made the climb.

16.)I took my daddy to a ball game at Wrigley Field.

Aug. 2008 - Best ball game ever!!!!

17.) I have met a whole lot of strangers, some of whom I can now call friends.

Nov. 2008 - Me, Paul, Eva, Reshmi, Monica and Winston in Istanbul. What a great group. What a great city.

18.) And although sometimes they seem like strangers, no matter how far I go my friends always seem to be there when I do make it home.

Sept. 17, 2008 - Yeah this is my 28th birthday....and the beginning of what has turned out to be an amazing year.

Although I tried, it would be impossible for me to summarize the last 3 years in one little post (hence the reason why there are 250 of them). I have come so far, yet I still seem to be so far from whatever it is I'm heading towards.

But don't worry.....I'll get there eventually and I will continue to take you along for the ride.

Julie

Whale Watching Video

Here is a video from my whale watching trip.

Julie

Whale Watching Fun

The Brier Island Lighthouse

So as promised here are some pictures of my whale watching adventure. Really we have to go back 2 years to get to the real start of this story. In 2005 Mom, Dad, Steve, Heather and I made a trip to Nova Scotia. We all decided (well maybe Dad had to be convinced a little) that we needed to go whale watching because we never had. The day we headed out was not very nice (well actually really cold) and this was basically all we saw.

Well actually that' s a lie; we did see a puffin but the fog was much thicker and we saw no whales.

I then had to head back to Alberta to work but Mom, Dad, Steve and Heather decided that they would try one more time and headed out 2 days later….on a nice sunny day….and saw lots of whales…..and I had the pleasure of watching all the footage on a DVD so professionally put together by my brother.

The good thing was that the whale watching company we went out with (Brier Island Whale and Seabird Cruises) guarantee sightings so if you don’t see anything on your trip they give you a free pass to come back and see them again sometime. I saved mine and used it this time around. This time Dad didn’t need to be convinced (I think he just knew he had no choice and he was coming whale watching with me) and we headed out to Brier Island and then into the Bay of Fundy.

The whale watching boat. During the off season (you can only whale watch May to October) the boat is used of lobster fishing...do you fish for lobster?

Out on the boat heading to the whales.

I must say I was a little pessimistic at first because the day was not very nice (really it was a little cold out on the water) but thought hey if we don’t see any whales at least I got to go for a fun boat ride. We did luck out because the other boat (they do research) was out and had already found some whales for us to see so we just headed there. The boat ride was about an hour long and the water was really rough. It was kind of like riding a roller coaster with all the ups and downs and ups and downs but lots of fun (if you like riding roller coasters). Only one lady got sick (and it wasn’t me). She was a really pretty colour for the ride.

Me on the boat...yes I am wearing a touque....because it was cold...but totally worth it.

YEAH!!!! A Whale. A humpback whale to be exact.

Once we found the whales we spent about an hour harassing them so we could get pictures. They were not overly active so no great pictures of whales jumping out the water or even giant tales but it was still very, very cool. They got really close to the boat and at one point you could actually watch them as they swam under the boat (apparently they are very aware we are there but don’t seem to mind).

Look closely and you can see the white fin under the water. You can usually see that when they are close and that is how we could watch them swim under the boat....which is a little wierd by the way since they are much larger than the boat itself.

There were 4 whales in this little group we followed for about an hour although for a while it only seemed like 3. Oh and whale breath smells really bad.

These whales waved a lot. It was cool to see.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.
Julie

Back to Canada.....Nova Scotia this time

Yarmouth Lighthouse

So my 10 day visit to Nova Scotia started in Portland Maine on June 7th. Now I figured that Portland was going to be a boring city so really did not plan on doing much except sleep while I waited for the ferry to arrive. However when I got there I quickly learned that the city is filled with things that I love to see and do like museums and lighthouses and history and trolley tours and lots more. Of course I did not arrive there in time to check out too much on my first night there but I made myself a nice list of things to see so that I could check them out on my way home. It is a really quick 4 hour drive (well actually I made it home in 3.5) from Hamden so I planned to check out a few things before I made the drive home on the 18th.

Old Fort in the middle of Portland harbour

After a night in Portland I hopped (well more correctly drove) aboard The Cat Ferry nice and early for an 8am departure time. The Cat is a high speed catamaran ferry that makes the trip from Portland to Yarmouth (and then back again) a few times a week (in 5.5 hours) and makes the same trip to and from Bar Harbour Maine (in 3 hours) the other days during the week. I have been told the trip can be quite rough and lot of people hit Nova Scotia looking pretty green but I must say I had a very uneventful trip. The water was perfectly flat and although the boat moves pretty good (I ran into poles every time I tried to walk anywhere) I am like a baby and the rocking motion simply put me to sleep. So once I saw the Canadian navy frigate patrolling the water I felt nice and safe and slept the rest of the trip.

Leaving Portland Harbour from the back of The Cat

The Cat by the way does have a lot on board for those who don’t sleep for the entire trip including a couple bars (they serve Alexander Keith’s by the way…that’s Canadian beer for my American friends), a little Casino, some movie screens and a little cafeteria.

The final lighthouse on the way out of Portland Harbour

Upon arrival in Yarmouth I headed to the hospital…no I wasn’t missing work but that is where Gramma is right now so that is where I went. A little back ground for those of you who do not know, Yarmouth is my Dad’s hometown and Gramma still lives there. Unfortunately she has been in the hospital since early this year after breaking her hip. Some more background, Yarmouth’s hospital is about 93 beds and approximately 56 of them are filled with people like my Gramma who are medically stable but cannot go home so are waiting for placement in extended care facilities. The average wait time is 9 months although it can take up to a year so it appears that she will be there a bit longer. The hospital is in a very nice spot though (kind of like Rockyview) looking down Yarmouth Harbour.

Yarmouth Hospital

A lot of my days were spent there and I must say is was nice to be in a hospital and not have to do anything (although I did get offered a couple jobs, which I promptly turned down).

Me with Gramma at the hospital. She has a bed by the window so at least she has something to look at while she waits.

I did spend time visiting a couple other family members as well. It was nice because Dad actually came into town while I was there so I got to see him, but I also got to visit with my Dad’s cousins Bruce and Stephen and his Uncle Ernie (Ernie is Bruce and Stephen’s dad and Gramma's brother). I also spent some time with my Aunt Winnie (dad's sister) who has been staying in Yarmouth and helping out with Gramma as much as she can. I went whale watching (pictures to follow). What else did I do….ate a lot of fish and chips…..mmmmm…..fish and chips, drank some good Canadian beer ( I brought back my allowable amount as well), checked out some churches (what else) and hit the Yarmouth Museum (of course). It was very nice and relaxing. Some much needed time off.

Me and Aunt Winnie outside the ferry terminal

My Dad (on the right) and Bruce

Me and Uncle Ernie. He will be 90 this summer. Apparently a dislike for cooking comes from this side of the family because I think he and I both live off microwave dinners.

Saint Mary's Parish. You will find this church at Church Point along the french shore. It is the largest wooden church in North America.

The sunset over Yarmouth Harbour from the patio at Rudder's Restaurant. We had a few very good meals there (lots of fish and chips)

Julie