2022 January 1st - December 31st Toronto and environs - Home
Dateline: 2022 December 31st Toronto, Ontario
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| At the end of Tommy Thompson park I've skiied down and I'm soaked from sweating 5 Below, but strip off shirts and change into dry stuff |
Just another year, Family, friends etc
January - December 2022
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| My hikes, bikes and wayward movements always take me through Ontario Place. If its a westerly this is always the result |
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| New year |
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| I try my luck at Calculus from first principles |
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| The theory is, even in early January, that I'm up for a massive (180Km) hike over various mountain ranges in Corsica. I start practicing in my new hiking boots |
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| Next week, I'm full on for the Don Valley Subway to Victoria Park, then walk back home (24Km apparently) |
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| Todays destination Balzac's |
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| Later that day, I'm TTC to Queen & Leslie just making it into the local Timmies From there, it's the lighthouse, then home This shot is timed at 8:20PM |
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Still trying to impress totally not interested parties No chance..... |
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| we know |
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| Kayla has brought back an obnoxious version of Covid from Cuba. We did not accept the offer |
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| Our local park. Now safer due to being lit, courtesy of me bugging our local excuse for a Toronto City Councellor |
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| A real dump |
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| So, I'm out with my skis down to Tommy Thompson |
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| Wildly wonderful. Including cutting my own trail AND dropping my phone in the snow. It survived |
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A bit of exhibitionism, then ski back to the parking lot. January 20th |
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| local ex |
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| Never before or since Cutting my own trail around the lighthouse January 18th |
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| My own personal magic down here |
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| Still lots around several days later |
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| A pretty bitter winter. Most of the lake to the island is frozen. Haven't seen this since I arrived 1n 1980 |
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| Burns Night. I slum it with a St Lawrence Haggis. Steve, our haggis man has retired. |
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| It's still January folks but lots of walking and skiing |
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| With! A scratch Scotch sauce |
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| Another walk, via Ontario Place. There's often crazies here now |
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| Today, I walk February 1st |
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| Tommy Thomson does not have many visitors Mind you, as soon as the sun starts to set, I loose about 5 - 8 degrees, plus sometimes and 18Knot wind At least -15 wind chill folks |
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| 18th February. Soggy. But, the temperature is plummeting. My skiis pick up a lot of ice, I have to take them off to get rid of it. Real heart attack stuff today |
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| Today, I ski February 3rd |
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| 2 weeks later..... Just to confirm my presence here as the storm blows in |
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| Skiing back. It's actually late in the season as earlier shots showed. March 1st Here the grass is showing through It turned out to be my last skiing day |
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| My quest, still, is to find the best Ramen the world has to offer |
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| But, look what Santa Amazon brought! 1.5 man woman tent for my Corsica hiking |
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| So far, it's not in Toronto folks |
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| Winter still bites I still walk |
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| And snack. I've located my supply of Madeline's at Costco |
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| Middle of March. Anchored near Sunnyside Cheap moorings I guess |
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| But just down the bike path from here Yep, same day folks |
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| I guess. Crocuses, finally coming out |
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| Winter loosing its sting you say? |
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| April promises. Kayla finally joins me for a walk |
And I am Off to France!
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| And I'm back, right in the bosom of the cockpit. Early June |
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| Note change of outer gear in June compared to March |
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| Somehow, I'm still fit enough for this, but my bum really aches |
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| It does get monotonous every year but I pace myself |
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| Ian, my regular skipper has headed off to Europe Had a terrible time (I guess he needs a life coach!) and came back with Covid |
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| This doesn't get monotonous, and I don't pace myself |
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| Another success story Crewbanking and aske "what can you do" "Jib trimming, main if you are desperate" "Take main" We came first |
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| I'm out slutting at every opportunity The good, the Bad and the truly DREADFUL I'll sail with them all, at least once |
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| I lost count of how many crew bank slutting I got through this year |
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| And resume my Don Valley biking specials About 65Km each |
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| Andrew. An absolute gentleman and great sailor Wine & chees after every race |
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| Tommy Thompson in a more favourable clinmate |
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| I know. I actually tried to contact social service via a special phone number. Forget it! |
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| Hardly any wind, but if you are on main, you have the boats motor to look after Lots of fun |
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| I really don't mind having a pint on my own at the club |
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| It's still Covid restrictive, so instead of in the restaurant, we have massive BBQ fests o the lawn |
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| Richard arrives for hist 28.5 hour visit |
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| And brings my contraband with him |
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| But his Alimentary canal is less efficient than mine and he is almost starved half way through |
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| He demands a bike run. We head off |
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| We barbeque about half of the massive amount of swordfish he's brought |
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| Next day, ObergrupenFuhrer Gael demands his immediate return to New York, even as we are in the middle of another BBQ "Richard, you have failed the prerequisite test for your mandatory remedial friendship course |
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| From a sitting start contemplating his next meal to out of the driveway; 12 minutes! Even Ilge has trouble with this level of being controlled "Oh well" is his response |
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| Tommy |
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| Andrew. Fellow crew Wednesdays |
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| Back on Tuesday. I've graduated to apprentice main |
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| I have to concentrate a lot more so I'm hardly ever taking shots now |
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| More slutting. I refuse to crew on a boat / skipper I consider dangerous I end up on a shark. Wow! A bit rinky dink after LindyHop |
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| taking |
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| ike ride |
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| Aiden looking for parental duties? He's very good at this |
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| Loves having a nephew |
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| There's always time for another bike ride |
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| Family arrives |
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| Looks a bit like an Indian wedding. Bottom of Yonge St. |
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| And you know? I still have time to relax |
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| Aiden found some cast off Perspex at Costco. I turned some of it into a large format library box |
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| Mid July. Andrei invites me to his version of bike riding It's hard work |
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| Lots of gravel. Lots of roots, Lots of hills |
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| I ride over a thick branch and get a thick flat tire Andrei is relentless in fixing it. I was expecting to go home |
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| Luckily, at this stage I don't know what's ahead |
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| Can you believe that this is the destination? |
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| We're a long way from home, but it's pretty and I'm totally wanked |
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| One of the markers. This is the Oak Ridge Morraine |
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| Andrei finds some shortcuts for an old man |
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| Andrei in the guise of gourmet chef |
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| There's always time for another bike ride |
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| I have so much fun with these guys |
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| Andrew and Dave? They have been sailing together 40 years |
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| Ian, back from his latest travails. Sometimes we can't even get 4 to sail, and that's minimum |
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| As main man, Mosann usually get more shot with my phone than I do |
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Still the height of summer I head through the undergrowth and laugh as the bugs scatter around me |
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I've re upped my game Now I bike my 60Km before I sail, then head home totally wiped |
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| Absolutely, a blast |
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| I've been toying with the idea of replacing half the tiles on the sunroom. Late July |
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| It's late July. We are hot and a bit tired by the time we have most of it done |
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| I've done lots of research, but it still comes down to lets see if it works come winter |
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| `Hard work, but it worked No one fell off, hardly any blood Still totally leak free end December |
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| Kayla & I have no idea, but we are willing to try and see what happens |
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| Looks like today I will find out how you stay out on the water for 6 hours without having a piss |
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It's so hot. I made the mistake of asking if there is a head on board. "There is, but it's not working" But I only find that out once on board |
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| I snag a last minute crewing at a regatta. Looks like crew is hard to get today |
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| This is how. I could not have made it without pissing myself Luckily the winds dropped about 3PM and the racing was abandoned |
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| The Distillery is still my favourite hangout |
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| But thinking about it, maybe wine and cheese after a great race is my favourite hang out |
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| Or maybe the post sailing socials at the club |
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| Or, possible, on Main out in a 12 knots wind |
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| I had a lot of wonderful sails on Andrews boat , plus the wine & chees process |
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| The infamous wine and cheese party I've worked out that if I'm a guest, maybe bring something for the ost These are truly fabulous events |
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| Another slutting night Great spinnaker technical ability Not sure of the experience I gained |
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| Every sail was a new experience though August 10th |
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| Some sailing is more equal than other sailings |
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| I've seen the Ghost Bikes, some of kids size, but this is the first Ghost Wheelchair. Dundas & Sherbourne |
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| Heading south along the Don Valley river |
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| Don Valley at the old brickworks Mid August |
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| Ian now regularly heading to crew bank on Tuesdays |
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| View II |
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| Ian & I qualify as old farts We need young fit people to do all the hard work |
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| It usually works pretty well |
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| Home, in it's multi leafed fascinating glory |
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| Yet another post sailing party using the barbeques and happy donors. Always wonderful community group |
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| It's quite splendid to bike |
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| Val, a good friend is in Princess Margaret for cancer treatment. I start to document my rides as a kind of window to the outside world for her |
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| A full trip down the Don |
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| And contemplate the know, the unknown, and the unknown unknowns |
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| A contemplative spot by any other name |
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| And on it goes. All I need to do is go there |
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| own |
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| Val can't |
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| It's getting later. September |
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| Finally, Ian gets to sit this race out Remarkably calm too |
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| The last summer race Over to crew helming just for the race |
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| The races are getting wilder Lots of wind and heavy waves. Wet, cold feet |
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| Linda and Ian, post race, calm waters |
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| own |
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| Good work team! The winds were so poor, the race was abandoned just before the windward mark. Many pissed off sailors |
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| This turned out to be the last Tuesday sailing for the season |
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| I got into the habit of getting up very early in March This to reserve a large amount of camp site for September I didn't this year, so there was nothing, zero available |
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| My final last gasp. There's a 4 day window of sunshine from today At 7:30 AM there is a perfect site available I book and by 2PM next day, I'm approaching my spot in my canoe |
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| It's quite a hike, maybe 2+ hours, but the winds are relatively benign and I make it |
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| With no discernible hear attack |
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| But once unloaded |
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| It's a crappy site to canoe into |
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| With all the freshly chopped wood |
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| I've hacked from the bush with my trusty razor sharp hatchet |
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| razor sharp hatchet indeed A milimetre from catastrophe |
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| The Canadian outback. I realised why I snagged this site when I saw a black bear prowling around by the lake |
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| My paean to the elements, my age and my ongoing ability to remain in cerebral control enough to enjoy it all |
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| This time of year, the only irritant are black bears and..... |
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| I've noticed what I assumed was "a killer bee". It was huge It was being attacked by ants that were eating it's eyes, or equivalent But, minding my own business, I picked up my coffee mug without looking I'm in text conversation with Kayla Potential death by bee possible? |
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| I'm on a cul de sac of the lake Only occasional fisherfolk I remain naked from sun up to sunset, skinny dipping reading, drinking, sunning |
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| I've contacted the park and extended my site and canoe by another day. Elysian Fields is here fellow Athenians |
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| It's a harder task paddling into the prevailing winds on the way back. Seemingly, much longer |
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| That's it, back to Pete's Place, Massassauga I survived my solo camping expedition again Relatively unharmed. Totally better than first rate |
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| Birthday, not mine |
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| Back to the back yard |
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| My alternate bed, open air |
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| It's getting colder and rougher out here Crew bank brings us some talent occasional Sometimes not so much. Hit & Miss |
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| BUT! I think we came 3rd out of 5 |
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| My still naked feet are starting to freeze, but it's still a chill I can handle Just |
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| Biking is still a great pleasure as Toronto experiences an elongated summer as I head along Lakeshore |
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| Ontario Place. I often stop here. The flowers literally smell of honey. End of September |
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| I've volunteered for the day |
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| I'm on bow taking out the foresail pins. I only loose one into the deep |
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| Ian post mast packing |
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| October. We take down and fold the sails, engine maintenance. and de masting |
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| We finally have a good mast storage and equipment for it No more back breaking stuff here |
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| With the masts off, I'm back to my regular haunts |
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| Everything stays on the trees until November this tear |
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| And the Don Valley prepares for winter |
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| Luckily, even downpours are still relatively warm |
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| Canadian "Thanksgiving" arrives Edie, our sister in law has died. It puts a damper on us all |
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| Still smelling of honey |
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| Lighthouse point, Tommy Thompson |
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| Not quite artistic is it? |
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| Still sending these shots to Val |
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| Still not boring to me, but I'm the one on the bike |
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| I volunteer for cradle layout with the up front specification that I do nothing man like This is LindyHops cradle, sort of looking out for it |
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| Next day, another de masting, full day |
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| What a volunteer eh? |
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| This was the only one needing personal attention |
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| Then, I'm off to Charlottetown. PEI Talk about the usual suspects rogues gallery Patty & Roy have recently moved here and a hurricane came through. I've snagged some really cheap flights Patty is almost immobile, Roy has just fallen overo and now has a broken hip. Prime material for social services |
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| A cornucopia pf crap Sorted and trashed as required |
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| These are everywhere in town |
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| Seems there was a lot more forest 2 weeks ago |
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| Not totally destroyed, They were lucky Others not so |
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I literally don't stop Inside cooking, outside clearing |
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| But after a few days, it sort of came right Also, a total search and reorganise in the basement and garage was well overdue I left the family to it's own devices and returned for.... |
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| Haulout. 6:30 AM - Don't ask when I set my alarm for |
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| Luckily, there are folks who know what they are doing here |
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| All haul out by 5:30. Home about 6PM |
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| It's a long day, |
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| And the sun shines for quite a while longer Well after I leave for Norway etc |
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| Still a brilliant fall on my bike path |
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| Then it's back to my regular footfall |
And then ....
Back to the comforts of Scandinavia & the Baltics
At this stage, I'm out of here for many points east. Europe again
Back on December 15th
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| Aiden has moved back home |
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| Tree already here All I need to do is watch the days go bye |
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| I organise the booze |
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| Apart from Costco, and a few Christmas essentials, I'm in the house for 2 weeks |
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| And try my luck at Glue Whine It works, but as we've all got Covid, I'm the only taker |
Life has somehow passed. I'm more relaxed this end of 2022
Two people close to us have died, essentially, well before their time
I do not like the idea of getting used to this, but I think it's the new trend
Be afraid
And that's all he wrote
From your correspondent