All posts by Maurice

Flamingos in Curacao

July 24, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

The other day a friend from work mentioned that her mother just loves flamingos, and I said, well, you just have to take her to Curacao and she can see them in the wild!

The shot to the left (click the thumbnail to get bigger pictures) was taken while coming back from Playa Kenepa. They were hanging around the marshy edges of the water, stepping gingerly through the water. They were there the next day as well, when we headed back to Porto Mari.

We stayed in the Royal Sea Aquarium while in Curacao, and they had a bunch of flamingos hanging around the restaurant, with a bunch of turtles. They were often noisy buggers, and had certain interactions that were um – unique – to say the least. Watch the movie to see what I mean.

Here is a movie of the flamingos in the Royal Sea Aquarium enclosure. We were having lunch in the restaurant when the flamingos got rather noisy, so this is what transpired.

Curacao

Flamingos in Curacao

July 24, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

The other day a friend from work mentioned that her mother just loves flamingos, and I said, well, you just have to take her to Curacao and she can see them in the wild!

Here is a movie of the flamingos in the Royal Sea Aquarium enclosure. We were having lunch in the restaurant when the flamingos got rather noisy, so this is what transpired.

All About Max

A lovely Friday

July 11, 2009 Maurice 2 Comments

It was a beautiful day on Friday. Sunny and warm. I got home from work and puttered around the garden a bit, but Pam and Maggie had taken off for some shopping in the States. So Max and I took off for the Watershed Park.

We took a path we hadn’t taken before. And I don’t think many people have taken it at all, either. There were lots of overgrown places where I had to duck down to get by, and there were spider webs across the trail too!

It was a lot of fun. One of the best runs I’ve had since the 2000 cycle of running! Max is so fun to run with. He loves the new trails too. If we’ve been running too long, he tries to steer me up the trails he knows leads to the parking lots! haha

The other day we were running down a path, and a very large horse, (with a an average sized rider) came down the path. I wasn’t quite sure how Max would handle it so I stepped off the path. I told her this was “our first horse” and she said, “Hey your dog is doing very well!” He didn’t bark or get agitated. But Max did give him a long look as they rode off down the path!

Commentary

Good grief, Canada: Shocking and embarrassing

July 9, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this post for some time. I’m not naive, I’m 52, been to quite a few places, but I thought I knew my country. But I feel like a stranger here now. A recent headline in our local paper spoke of three white “men” circling and stalking a lone black man, Jay Phillips, who stumbles and then is swarmed and beaten. The three attackers shouted racial insults, naturally; given their relative bravery, their intelligence needn’t be questioned. They proclaimed this to be a “white town” and they would lynch Mr. Philips and his family.

This is Canada. Courtenay BC. Vancouver Island. Small town Canada. I grew up in small town Canada. This shocks me. Stuns me. This, surely, to whatever you hold holy, is NOT Canada!

The most shocking thing about this is, there is video. You can see and hear all of it. It’s not staged. This is the real deal. Mr. Philips more than held his own against these three “hyenas stalking a lion” as Mr. Philips so eloquently put it. That he survived is a tribute to his bravery.

And it’s not an isolated incident. There are more places than just Courtenay where black people can’t feel safe here in BC. This is embarrassing; not to mention dangerous!

I’d like to be able to say that I apologize to Mr. Philips on behalf of Canadians, but I can’t. I have to apologize to him on MY BEHALF, because I can’t speak for the rest of Canada anymore. It’s shocking to me. This is a terrible, terrible, terrible stain on our country.

Mr. Philips, sir. I am truly sorry you must endure this kind of criminal behaviour. I can not express the level of outrage I feel, but it can not even come close to having to deal with what you must suffer through on a daily basis. I do hope that this video will spark change, but talking to friends and co-workers, I’m not optimistic.

Know this Mr. Philips: when I extend my hand to you, it will not be to strike you, but to shake your hand for your bravery, and for your enormous dignity and humanity that you have displayed in the aftermath of this prodigiously cowardly act.

Good grief Canada. Wake up.

Youtube for some crazy reason has flagged this and is making people sign in to see it. How utterly classless and gutless of youtube. Here is a link to the movie, but you will be redirected.

(Added Saturday – I have put the video directly accessible here. No need to sign into youtube to see something that is important for people to see.)

Something About Us

Spirit of the Haida Gwaii

June 19, 2009 Maurice 1 Comment

These pictures are of the famous Bill Reid sculpture called the Spirit of the Haida Gwai, a representation of part of the creation myth of the Haida people. It is on our Canadian 20 dollar bill of course.

It stands in the Vancouver International Airport, near the international arrivals lobby.

The original is on the lawn of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC. It was a long process, begun in 1985 by Arthur Ericksonn, the architect for the Embassy in Washington, asking Bill Reid to think about a statue for the lawn. It was finally cast and installed in 1991.

I have to always stop and take a picture or two of this magnificent piece of art. It is truly monumental in size – over 20 feet long – and extremely complex.

Reid wrote a poem, dedicated to his wife about the statue. It is a long poem and available for reading on the Bill Reid website.

Don’t miss it! Even if you drive to Vancouver, get out to the Airport and see this wonderful work of art! And the price – my favorite – FREE!

The sculpture here at the airport was installed in 1994. It is made of bronze, but it was given this green patina to resemble West Coast Jade.

There is a third one at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Aruba, Commentary, Curacao, Vacations

Final notes

June 8, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

Well we’re home. It took a little time but we’re home! The flight home was remarkable. We flew Continental from Aruba to Houston. And they served a meal! A hot meal! It’s been years and years and years since we’ve actually got a meal on a flight less than 6 hours – I was totally amazed. The food was pretty good too – hot chicken sandwich, kettle chips, an apple, and a chocolate bar. And the flight was amazing – great take off, smooth, smooth landing.

The flight from Houston to Seattle was also on Continental. After picking up one of our bags, we heard the dreaded, “Will customer Pamela Ormon please come to the Continental desk and speak to a representative.” They’d lost one of our bags, natch. Luckily we’d taken a Park n Fly in Seattle and were going to be staying overnight. They said they could fly it to Vancouver for us, but they promised us it would arrive on the 10:15 am Sunday flight, so we went and slept. It did arrive. So all is good.

We flew four different airlines this trip, and I’d give super high marks to Continental. Usually I book the cheapest fares I can, but I will take Continental if they fly where we’re going, even at higher prices. US Air was cheaper, but wound up being more expensive because they charged a hidden $30 per checked bag fee. Outrageous. We will NOT fly US Air EVER again. I do not like hidden charges.

We picked up Max from the dog sitter – Max let me know he wasn’t happy to be left out of the vacation! But he forgave me when I gave him a duck jerky treat! LOL And it wasn’t raining when we got home, so that was nice too!

I miss the heat already.

Aruba, Vacations

From the Aruba airport lobby

June 6, 2009 Maurice Leave a comment

We’re in the waiting area for our flight, and they allow you one hour of free time on the wifi here. I’ve just got to put in this post.

We were coming through the second security checkpoint, the one done by US customs. We move through the line quite quickly, and came to the customs agent, and presented our passports to him. He asked a few questions, then stamped the passport. I said, cool, another stamp! And he says, yes, I see you were here in December, and I was the guy that processed you then!

He said, yes, you probably didn’t recognize me, because I’ve got a better haircut now!

Now what are the odds of that??? Unreal. There were thousands of people in the room, and we get the one guy we’ve seen before! Too funny.