Tag Archives: travel

Friday Photo

Posted on by

Photos of fog are difficult to capture. They seem to look better in black and white.

I haven’t said much about my trip to St John’s 2 weekends ago. Here is the St John’s bit…

It was the spring meeting of PWRDF youth council, the council for which I am BC/Yukon representative. Since it is a 14+ hour trip to get from this Island on the left coast to that Island on the right coast (and Oh did I ever complain about this a whole heap on twitter!), I went two days early to spend some time in St John’s before the meeting. I was last in St John’s when I was 11 years old and I couldn’t tell you if much has changed. I have some specific memories of St John’s: Signal Hill, Cape Spear, fog, and rain. I was able to experience them all again this trip.

We walked up Signal Hill on my first afternoon in St John’s, and proceeded to be nearly blown off of the top (unzipping my jacket and trying to fly may have helped). We were unable to see much of anything. There were many cannons up on the top of the Hill and I’m not sure how the cannon operators could have ever seen their targets for all the fog. The lady operating the gift shop inside of Cabot Tower was fairly surprised that we had walked up the hill. Really, it wasn’t too far, but it was very foggy. From the top, it was as if we were in a cloud with no view of the city whatsoever.

I was booked into a hostel right downtown, in the middle of a street of colourful houses, with the other BC/Yukon rep. We befriended another in the 4-bed room and the three of us wandered around, exclaiming at colourful houses, going into shops, and finally stopping for fish and chips and beer at one of the local hot-spots for fish and chips.

The next day saw us needing to head out to the conference site mid-afternoon. Oh what to do for a morning in St John’s? With Signal Hill down and an iceberg seen (but others, not me… but it was out of our reach for that day), what to do but steal/borrow a van and drive the very hill and foggy half-hour drive to Cape Spear.

Cape Spear. The Most! Easterly! Point! in Canada. (L: The rocks and waves and crashing waves at the Most! Easterly! Point! M: Me contemplating the rocks and waves and crashing waves in the fog at the Most! Easterly! Point! while Tessa takes pictures. R: DANGER!)

The conversation went something like this:

Gillian: If my Dad were here, he would say something like “You’re not really at the most easterly point unless you are touching the water off the end of those rocks.” Mind you, it would mean jumping the fence and climbing down slippery rocks in the fog. Oh look, a Danger sign!

Tessa: Remember that we are the only vehicle in the parking lot right now and you have the keys and we have no cell reception. Maybe don’t go. It would be a long walk and I don’t want to get stuck here.

Gillian: Its okay, that’s just what my Dad would say. I never actually listen.

The End.

Friday Photo

Posted on by

I took iphone photos everywhere in St John’s. Sometimes I had my actual camera along and took photos. Sometimes I took photos with both and now I have a crazy doubling up of some things – though it is interesting to use those duplicates as a point of comparison between digital camera and iphone camera.

At any rate, I just got around to putting my photos from Newfoundland onto my computer and here is one of St John’s harbour, looking down from The Rooms.

“Dear Artsy and Musicy Friends”

Posted on by

My sister is moving to South Africa – in a little over a week. To say I am jealous would be an understatement (though, as she pointed out, after sailing around the Pacific I really haven’t got a leg to stand on). I’m going to miss spontaneous phone conversations at all hours of the day, but I know we’ll keep connected and I know she is going to have an incredible experience.

You might be wondering what on earth would take her to South Africa, I asked her to share a little about what she will be doing because I think that it is something that many of my friends could relate to and may want to think about supporting. In her words…

Hello, friends of my darling big sister!

I am embarking on a really fantastic adventure and Gillian mentioned that she has lots of “artsy and musicy friends” who might be interested in hearing about it. I’m taking off for South Africa at the beginning of August to teach music in a very rural part of the country.

My destination is Hamburg, on the coast of the Eastern Cape.  The Keiskamma Trust has been active in this area for almost ten years, bringing hope to one of the poorest regions of the country by combining health and art to heal both body and spirit.  In addition to running a health clinic to deal with the high incidence of HIV/AIDS (approximately 35%), they manage art projects that help the local Xhosa people express their struggle for reconciliation through photography, embroidery, and pottery.  Some of their major projects have included the Keiskamma Tapestry and the Keiskamma altarpiece.  For the past five years, children in the area have had the opportunity to receive music lessons through the Keiskamma Music Academy, providing them with an opportunity for creativity and development that would otherwise be far beyond their means.

I was originally put in touch with the Keiskamma Trust because they need a recorder teacher (recorder is the main instrument taught at the music academy), and I am one of that rare breed that has a university education in recorder performance.   As I learned more about the organization I was impressed by their holistic approach to health and by the high musical standards of the Academy.  I’m inspired by their core belief that health is more than food and bread but also includes quality of life and opportunities for becoming more than our lot in life would dictate.

I’ve agreed to go over to Hamburg to teach for at least the next six months because I know that music has made a difference in my life and in the lives of my friends.  I believe many of us would agree that our sense of human-ness comes from the ability to express ourselves through our art.  It’s a privilege for me to give the opportunity of musicmaking to others.

A few of my own music-loving friends have asked if the Music Academy needs anything in the way of music or instruments.  The students use plastic Yamaha recorders, which have worked well, but as the music program grows they are running out of instruments and could use several more sopranos and altos.  These instruments seem very inexpensive to us but are completely unaffordable for these students.

I don’t have room in my bag for instruments, but if anyone is interested in sponsoring a recorder please let me know.  It would be easy for me to take money over to South Africa and purchase instruments there.  Please contact Gillian or myself if you’re interested and we can make arrangements.  I promise to send photos of the recorders in action 🙂

Also, I will try my best to send out sporadic indications by email that I am still alive.  If you want to receive these glad tidings of music making on the other side of the world, let me know! (You don’t need to help purchase instruments to get on that mailing list.)

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom of this message from someone you don’t know, and blessings on your own artistic and musical pursuits!

Jen

Friday Photo

Posted on by

In November, when Jen and I travelled to San Francisco for a week, we made a point of finding out about some of the unique boutiques and cafes there that we wanted to visit. Inevitably wandering streets of shops looking for the one you came to fine will lead to other exciting discoveries. Down in the Mission District was just one of those “goldmine” areas. We found a little stationary/art shop that was selling, amongst other things, the papercut art of Nikki McClure from Washington state. I came home with her 2011 calendar and now I get to look at these beautiful images every month.

May Some Light Enfold

Posted on by

This is taken from (and adapted with my own photos) Episcopal Cafe Art Blog.

I feel myself in need
Of the inspiring strains of ancient lore,
My heart to lift, my empty mind to feed,
And all the world explore.

I know that I am old
And never can recover what is past,
But for the future may some light unfold
And soar from ages blast.

I feel resolved to try,
My wish to prove, my calling to pursue,
Or mount up from the earth into the sky,
To show what Heaven can do.


Words by George Moses Horton (in “George Moses Horton, Myself”)

Photos by myself: Trial Island and Mt Baker; Solitary Paddler, Munda, New Georgia; The Boathouse, Thetis Island; On Top of the World: Tavish on Moorea, French Polynesia.

SALTS

Posted on by

I have been associated with SALTS, the Sail and Life Training Society, for over ten years now. My first trip was a three-day coastal voyage in high school. I’ve been on board nearly every year since then. For two years, I worked for SALTS in the position of cook. Coastally, I’ve sailed all around the Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound as well as circumnavigating Vancouver Island at least once. Offshore, we circumnavigated the Pacific Ocean: Hawaii, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, China, Japan… I lived and breathed SALTS for those two years – at times literally never leaving the boat for weeks on end (the longest passage we had was 30+ days without sighting land). I had to miss sailing with them this summer because of school, but I am looking forward to getting back on the water next season. It is hard work, but it is some of the most rewarding work one can ever do. Enjoy the short video. If you watch closely, you might pick me out once or twice in the offshore footage at the end.

Because it never just rains

Posted on by

… it floods.

I’m flooding the world with postings all of a sudden. I finally got around to updating my photo site. In the Daily Life album, you can find a half-dozen or so new photos at the end, including the one and only photo from my time in France this summer that I saw fit to add. There is a limited-time San Francisco album with about 20 photos from our trip earlier this month. It will stay up there for an undetermined time and, when I get around to it, my favourites will be shifted to other albums and I’ll delete the rest to clear up space. Enjoy!

November. School and San Fran.

Posted on by

And then it was November. I’m not sure where October went. Nor September for that matter.

One week left in my coursework and I am frantically researching and writing my final paper for the course. It isn’t supposed to be long but there is a lot of research in the area and it is harder to write something when there is a lot already written on the topic. I feel like I have to read absolutely everything before writing the paper which has meant at least 3 days of reading and note-taking so far. All of that for a ten page paper seems excessive.

Because I am doing all of that, I haven’t spent nearly as much time planning the upcoming trip to San Francisco as I would like. I’m relying on my sister’s preparation and the guidebook given to me by my friend. A week from now, I’ll be basking in San Francisco-ness and enjoying the many shows there. I have no idea how/what to pack as it looks like it is 10 degrees warmer there than here but I need to be ready for rain and fog. Plus, I need to bring my computer as I’ll have to do some school work from there. At least I can travel and do school all at once.