... And here endeth the lesson

The dawn of a new day (even if I don't photograph sunrises very well), and what lessons shall I take from it?



"We learn something new every day" or words to that effect. Sometimes it can be the reinforcement of an old lesson that we should have taken before. Another old saying: "if only..." If only I'd done this or hadn't done that. If only I'd taken a few extra moments when fixing that flat tyre this morning, but I'm getting ahead of myself (will that be tomorrow's lesson?).

I had decided to head for the usual Hinze Dam ride before work this morning, although I expect I'll be moving it to after work as soon as Martin gets the free time to join me. Once again it had been another beautiful morning, with a surprisingly red sunrise (what I was trying to photograph above). It just had to be Robina where the trouble struck. A nail straight into the tyre. Well, I inserted the spare tube hurriedly (now I was running late). A little too hurriedly as it turned out -- there appeared to be a problem with the rear axle (the second time ever, and the second in as many weeks).

Eventually I rigged it up well enough to ride home, now running fully 30 minutes late. There are times when a sligtly untidy apartment is a blessing -- that's if everything I need is on top of the pile. After throwing everything onto the old bike that I keep in the garage as a spare, and making my way to work (incredibly making it on time), I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I'd stared adversity in the face and owned it.

As the day went on, however, some of my delight faded. Another mechanical problem to deal with, and on the weekend where I wanted some serious km, too -- not to mention the financial implications. After work I take a trip to John's (the best bike shop on the Gold Coast), where I get John to have a quick look at it. Didn't I feel like an idiot? No axle problems at all, just a hasty re-assembly that led to a quick release spring going on the wrong way!

If only I'd taken a few moments to do the thing properly in that roadside repair, I wouldn't have had to make up 30 minutes on the way to work this morning. I wouldn't have had the embarrassment simply having something on the wrong way (although I'm told that happens to quite a few racers), and I wouldn't have had the stress of worrying about how much it was all going to cost.

So today's lesson was take a few moments to do things properly -- otherwise the consequences next time could be much worse.

The Cuckoo and a Stile

image borrowed from moorlandguide.co.uk

Yesterday I heard my first cuckoo of the year.

I was out, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air with Toby.

Toby is an old boy, he still manages to break into a run, very occasionally, but he struggles with scrambling over things. The walk I had decided on had three dog-unfriendly stiles, so I had to lift him up and place him on the other side. I am showing my years too but somehow we managed... I don't doubt that it looked utterly ridiculous! However, it was that or the cattle grid, and he can't cope with those either.

The cuckoo stile!

So, there I was - derriére in the air as I heaved Toby over stile number three when I heard "Cuckoo"! *

Quite!

I'm still not sure that it wasn't uttered by a human.



Once over the stile we walked down the side of the field adjoining this sweet little cottage. I love the tiles on the roof.



The views are beautiful as they sweep across the barley fields, the meadows and across to Belleau.

This is how I normally see the cottage from two fields away - thereby saving myself from having to heave Toby over the triple stile obstacle.

Ms Sparrowyou wanted me to give Arnold a hug...I visited him yesterday and gave him some horse treats.

I whispered your name in his ear and gave him a hug from you. Here is Arnold, wondering whether I have just one more horse treat in my pocket... He was in fine fettle and was enjoying the warmth and the sunshine.
* "cuckoo" is sometimes used to describe someone who acts in a peculiar or strange manner

Washed away

Those who have clicked on this post expecting a heap of spectacular photos are going to be out of luck. My camera stopped working at some point during the day's ride. Presumably inside the last 10km as that was when I took a picture of the floodwaters engulfing Elanora this morning. I have a store of previously unseen pictures from recent rides that I can use to "decorate" the page until I have other arrangements in place.
I have a feeling that the amount of moisture around this place offers at least a partial explanation for the demise of the camera. It certainly had an impact in Tallebudgera Valley overnight. According to the "official" figures, parts of the Gold Coast Hinterland received as much as 600mm (24 inches) of rain over the last 48 hours, much of it falling last night. This morning's ride proved to be as much about evading giant pot-holes and fallen trees as it was about racking up kilometres.
A landslide prevented me from riding the last few kilometres right to the end of the valley, but I was astonished to have made it as far as I had. By that stage I had negotiated three fallen trees, a barbed-wire fence that had "moved" across the road at some point, a "crater" in the road surface that was as wide as the road itself and several metres long, and had observed telegraph poles that were lying horizontally across farms some 40-50 metres from where they should have been standing.
Astonishingly enough, the sights that I had expected (impromptu waterfalls and mist-covered mountains) didn't seem to appear for most of the ride. I can only assume the downpour had cleared from the valley a little earlier, and left behind the mammoth clean-up job. For my part, I managed a reasonably pleasant 60km in conditions that were reasonable, if a little more humid and muggy than I would have liked. Somedays you have to take what you can get.

Diary of a Wild Hike

Last weekend, my folks took me to a Marin County Open Space area I hadn't explored. It was beautiful and we had it to ourselves... well... with the exception of some other creature species that I had to investigate. Here I am with my dad at the entrance.
Here's a beautiful California redwood! Aren't they impressive?
I've already spotted something up there. I can't convince it to come down and play heheh!
Yeah - I'm thirsty - so thirsty I could jump in - but it's for the horses.
Trot, trot, trot - ooops - missed something!
After I checked out that smell, I lead on as I needed to make sure I cleared the way of any beasts that could attack my parents.
Aha! Gopherland! Some likely candidates to flush out! Dang - missed him!
Beautiful wild iris - tons of them as we hiked on through the meadows and redwood groves.
Comforting my mom.
Hurry! There's so much to do... I smell something afoot up ahead.
Hurry............. I'm smelling something big...
Okay, I'm taking off. (I heard a crack in the woods and couldn't help myself. I took off after a gigantic furry creature that jumped gracefully over every rock and fallen tree. I couldn't keep up) Here I am returning to tell my folks all about it. They looked frantic.
Usually my recall is pretty good, but I just can't help myself. Gotta investigate this thing they called "deer" again. Their calls to me go unheeded.
But what is that? Yonder in the sky is a giant feathered menace. And I can not get him to come down.
We hike on through meadows with wildflowers and our own pretty California poppies.
I just love running through grassy fields in the spring! I'm very happy here!
THIS is the entrance to Lizardland. What a time I had here! You can imagine! I never caught one - they are zippity fast, so I don't know if they taste like chicken or what!
Can you spot me? I'm hiding!
But he is not hiding and I'm going to .... get him!
I jump in the air and pounce and... dang - missed again! That wascally lizard!
You'd think we were in the middle of nowhere, but... as mom pans the camera directly left... look!
Civilization! Drat! I thought we were all alone on this beautiful day!
I am so hot when we get to more redwoods, that I'm thrilled to find a tannin-y pool that I can cool off in.
In one of the giant trees, we find a hole that Dad and I can fit into together. Mom could even fit in with us!
I've never seen such big trees, but they sure have a lot of critters in them. I tried to get them, but they were too high up to climb to.
But I sure had a great time with my folks at this pretty place. There were a couple of minor problems. When we got home, mom and dad saturated themselves with something called Teknu to ward off a possible poison oak attack. ( I didn't know that was an enemy or I would have slayed it.) Then they got a Teknu-ed rag and slathered it all over me. Then I had to go to the spa. There, they removed about 100 ticks!!! They are still removing the little buggers from me and mom even took two out of her hair yesterday and screamed while doing so. Hope we get to go back there soon!

Small Town Calabria

As you know from my last blog post, ETERNAL CITY OF ROME, I embarked on a vacation to Italy this summer with my little niece and nephew. My first post recounted their thoughts and experiences in the Eternal City, insightful and funny as they were, their experience in Calabria bordered on the Twilight Zone and so here their Italian summer holiday experience continues…


After filling up on espresso and brioche, we packed up our two vehicles, said “Arrivederci Roma” and headed off to sunny Calabria. I drove the vehicle that contained the Precious Cargo (our luggage) and spent the next 4.5 hours singing along to my favorite Italian oldies. It’s incredible how fast you can get somewhere on Italy’s infamous ‘two lane’ highway when you just follow local traffic. The slowest vehicle must have been going 150km/hr. I know it’s wrong, but as they say, “When in Rome!”



When we finally drove up the familiar road to our aunt’s house, the same home that had greeted me 23 years earlier (LA BELLA CALABRIA post), I was excited to see the children’s reaction. Let me just say that a child in small town Italy is the equivalent of setting a monkey free in the jungle after years of captivity. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of local traffic, noise or confined spaces, but the kids went wild!!!

My nephew’s first observation was that our summer home was big, “Zia, we’re staying in a castle!” No, not a castle but a very lovely villa with a massive terrace and wind around porch that gave the children a freedom they never experienced before. My nephew was playing soccer on the terrace, dangling from the statues that adorned our aunt’s home, jumping over railings, throwing balls into the fountain, poking holes into water bottles (which our aunt discovered when she picked up a case and found water squirting out all over the place and all over her!). They found trash from outside and formed a local band with children, needless to say, NO ONE slept during siesta or ever!

Small towns also provide children with a sense of empowerment and comfort, hence why my 4 year old niece thought she was old enough to walk to the local bar for ice cream, lemon tonic water and espresso. (Yes, did I mention her new fondness for an espresso with milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar?!) Or how she would walk up to us to ‘announce’ that she was going to visit her cousin because she knows how to go there ON HER OWN!

Italy is a country that allows children a freedom that North America does not. Italians believe that ‘bambini sono bambini’ and they will grow out of things just as the thousands of bambini (children) before them. Hence why they found it so entertaining when my niece entered a room one day holding a candy cigarette telling everyone to move away from her or they would get smoke in their eyes, and when I asked her in a not so friendly tone what she was doing, she answered nonchalantly, “Having a cigarette like Ema!”

Sweat Ema is their favorite 21 year old cousin; a stunning beauty with long hair and long thin legs to match. Always dressed so stylish, complete with hair and make-up, she made sure that her ‘Little Princess’ was just as adorable. Is it not every little girl’s dream to spend time in the presence of a ‘real’ princess? After all, Italian women are known for their style and beauty, and Ema did not disappoint.

Curfews are also hard to keep in Italy. Being in bed at 9pm simply doesn’t apply! Children are out and about in cafes, restaurants, ice cream shops and bars until all hours of the night. Try explaining to kids why they have to go to bed when everyone else is out having a ‘good time,’ so on occasion curfew was as late as midnight, or even later…

Small towns also host many FESTAS; local festivities that usually include live entertainment, food and lots of vendors selling anything from candy and toys, to fashion accessories and cds. It is a time when townspeople come together to celebrate. The kids LOVED this experience! The highlight being when my nephew had our cousin buy him a BB gun (because Italians see no crime in giving an 8 year old a loaded weapon) and he shot his sister in the leg, as well as someone else in the butt; all to the other children’s delight! NOT ours!

Loading them up in the car also proved to be a challenge because they didn’t understand why ‘they’ had to sit in a car seat in the back when Italians children are allowed to sit in the front all the time!




Another thing the children loved was being able to go horseback riding and visiting local farm animals. I mean how often can you take a walk up the road to see pigs, chickens, hens, goats… However, when someone explained to them that the cute piggies are killed to make the delicious prosciutto and salami sandwiches they love, let’s just it left a bitter taste in their mouth :(
SHOPPING!!! Everyone knows how great shopping is in Italy, but what many people don’t know is that most Italian boutiques keep their goods behind the counter and it is ‘understood’ that you are NOT supposed to touch any of the merchandise. You tell the clerk what you are looking for and they slowly take out items for you to view. Well… my niece didn’t understand the logic behind this and would make her way through local boutiques trying on expensive shoes and purses, and touching all the ‘pretty things.’ The expressions on the salesclerks’ faces were priceless; it was a cross between, “Oh look how cute she is!” and “Tell your brat to keep her f@#&%n hands to herself!”

Fresh air and vast open spaces...the kids loved this, especially driving home and passing bulls roaming the hillside, or getting stuck behind a herd of sheep! Only in Italy!

I’ve come to the conclusion that in manyways what Italians say is true, children will be children, and they will grow out of things because the minute we stepped foot back onto Canadian soil they went back to their old way of thinking and being. Maybe there is more truth then we’d care to admit to the famous saying, “When in Rome!” If truth be told, I think the children lived by this philosophy while on holidays and that’s probably why they had such an amazing time!

Did I tell you about their experience at the beach… Stay tuned for more :)

Blue Dawn, Sunset on Magnet Island

Roger (www.rogernordstromphoto.com) was up again this weekend for some more shooting. I first met Roger last October when he contacted me asking if I would be willing to take him down to the Spirit Tree to shoot a sunrise. We did just that, but the morning that we went there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Ever since then Roger has been wanting to get back to the tree for another sunrise, hopefully with clouds this time. Well, we went down to the tree this morning and this time we had some beautiful clouds!


We arrived well before sunrise so we could make plenty of images in the low light before the sun broke the horizon. My favorite image of the morning is the one at the beginning of this entry, which I call "Blue Dawn". This image is a 90 second exposure, and the streaks in the sky are from clouds that were being pushed across the sky rather quickly by the wind.


After shooting the sunrise I had to go to work for the day, but Roger and I made plans to meet up again after work. I told him if the lake was calm that evening, we would head out to the Susie Islands to shoot the sunset. As luck would have it, the lake was nice and calm that evening so we loaded our gear into the boat and I headed for Magnet Island, which is probably my favorite place in Grand Portage to shoot the sunset. This was Roger's first trip to the Susie Islands, and after our evening of shooting he said "I decided that anytime you want to head out to Magnet Island, I'm game!" I guess that means he liked it :-)