Visitors From Abroad!

This weekend two visitors came to visit Canada. One woman, Marta, is a friend of Ann Marie's cousin in Spain. The other, Brynja (Breen-ya), is a freind of Marta's from Iceland, where they met working as nurses in the same hospital. I picked them up from the airport at 11pm on Friday and drove them to their bed and breakfast. On Saturday, Ann Marie, our friend Sharon, and I drove to Toronto to pick them up and take them to the Royal Botannical Gardens in Burlington. Why a garden when there are so many other places in Toronto to see? Trees. There are almost no trees in Iceland and they were very interested in spending some time outdoors amongst the nature on Ontario. We had a really good time walking around and talking. The funniest part was watching Marta trying to capture a photograph of a chipmunk! The chipmunks looked as though they were jacked up on cotton candy and wouldn't stay still for even a second to give her the chance at a picture.

The Gardens are very beautiful and I wouldn't mind a trip back to spend some quiet time with Ann Marie and maybe take a picnic lunch. It's definitely not a great place to take young children for two reasons. One, it's only plants to look at with the occasional animal and two, the gardens would be a tranpled mess after the kids got done running through them!

After the Gardens we went back to Toronto where we parked the car and walked through the streets of Toronto in search of a restauraunt that didn't exist. It was about 7:30pm and already dark when we started our walking adventure, after spending 6 hours walking in the gardens already! We were in search of the Rainforest Cafe, but alas, we mistook it for Planet Hollywood. We ended up at an East Side Marios where we enjoyed a relaxing dinner and a recap on the days events and some nice conversation. By the time dinner was done it was raining and we were 45 minutes from the car so we opted to take the subway. By the time we got back to the car we were all beat so we dropped Marta and Brynja at their Bed and Breakfast and went home...

RAINDROPS

By Matthew Kuehn

I am lying on the ground, still, staring at the sky,
Puffy clouds, slowly, and lazily drifting by.
My mind, it drifts, to the lives I have touched,
And I wonder, if those lives, would miss me that much.
I feel raindrops on my face…

Between clouds, the sunbeams dance,
Birds, flying free, everywhere I glance.
I lie there, pondering, what lies ahead,
A warm silky pillow rests under my head.
I feel raindrops on my face…

What was I doing a few minutes ago?
It doesn’t really matter, time is going slow.
I feel at peace, I just want to sleep,
What thoughts, I wonder, will loved ones keep?
I feel raindrops on my face…

A hand strokes gently through my hair,
"Stay with me…" she says as I gasp for air.
My eyelids close, she pulls me tight to her breast,
I can feel and hear her heart beat in her chest.
I feel raindrops on my face…

My heart and my breathing are starting to slow,
She cries out "I Love you, please don’t go!"
I want to say something, but I have no more breath,
I open my eyes a few heartbeats from death.
I feel raindrops on my face…

The light that surrounds her is warm and bright,
She looks like an angel, all dressed in white.
I’m glad she is with me in my last moments of life,
She’s my friend, my lover, my soul mate, my wife.
In my last breath, I feel raindrops on my face…

What's in a Dream?

Dreams. We all have them. Some we can't recall, others we remember a few tidbits. And others still we remember it like we lived it. There are all sorts of books, articles, and websites dedicated to understanding and interpreting dreams. There are also individuals who dedicate their lives to figuring it all out.

Dreams. They can haunt, inspire, enlighten, reflect, frighten, and sometimes even provide pleasure. From what I understand, dreams occur in seconds and fractions of seconds contrary to what feeling you may have when you wake about about the duration of the events. Most of us discount our dreams and either fall back asleep or get up and get going with the daily (or nightly) routines. Rarely do people record or reflect on the dreams they have. In some cultures, dreams play a huge role in society, especially in historical times . Take Native Americans for example. They created dream catchers, snowshow and clothing patterns were based on dreams, there are painting and dances all related to their dreams.

I have often woken up and thought about the dream I had, but never scribbled down any notes. Maybe from time to time I will add my dreams to this list, and maybe try to interpret them. YIKES!

DREAM NOTES...

Dream #1 and #2
A couple nights ago I had a series of, I guess you can call them, bad dreams, all in a row. I remember only bits and pieces, but I do remember a lady in red crawling along a hallway, pulling herself with her long white arms towards me. I was huddled in a corner and I woke up as she reached for me. FREAKY!

It took me a while to fall asleep and I ended up dreaming again, this time there were hundreds of spirits surrounding me, all chattering. I could not make out any words or faces but I remember not being frightened, but feeling helpless and confused and not knowing what to do!

Dream #3

All I remember about this dream is LOTS of baby spiders hatching from HUGE egg sacks! They were crawling all over everything, including me! I was laughing! Wonder what that was all about...Tickly hairy spider legs maybe?

Dream #4

This dream is a little weirder. I was in a very old house with several people, whom I do not recal recognizing or associating to. There were many rooms and hallways, all weird. One room had a very large rectangular fishing pool. There was stairs that led to the edge of the pool on "the south side". There was a dock with a strange boat on "the east side" that you had to jump to in order to use the boat. The boat could not be controlled, it went whichever direction it wanted! I remember a lady trying to talk to me and the boat kept drifting away and making me face my back to her so I jumped out into the water to talk to her. I do not remember the conversation. I remember a hallway with lots of strange and small creatures. One of them had bat wings but was not a bat and stuck to glass with a suction cup mouth. I also remember having a conversation about ghosts being in the house. In particular I remember saying to a very small and frail old lady "This house is very old! Do you think it could be this old without someone having died in here! Of course there are gosts!" I remember her hitting me, but she was so frail I could barely feel it. I knelt down so she could punch me in the shoulder, but again I could barely feel it. Then I woke up...

Kim's Birthday!

This is going to be my attempt at trying to write short and concise blogs on a regular basis as opposed to monumental writings...

My friend Kim, whom I have known since grade 11 (counts on fingers...) or about 16 years turned XX on Saturday, so we joined her (Ann Marie, Jonathan, Genevieve, and I) at her apartment Friday night to celebrate. Several other friends and family were also there with kids so it was a pretty noisy place! If I get my facts right, there was a 6.5 year old, two 3 year olds, and 2 one year olds. For a condo, that's a lot of kids.

Everyone had a good time! We munched on pizza and snackies and drank BEvERages. We spent time talking about this and that. At one point we tried to watch Ren and Stimpy, but the VHS tape, which is about 15 years old, was flickering which would have quickly introduced headaches and vertigo if we didn't stop the tape.

By about 11pm we were all fatigued and packing it in. One of the disadvantages to parties after a long day of work...

Fishing in the Great Northern Outdoors

The biggest catch! A 30lb log!



When ya gotta go...ya gotta go


Me with a couple keepers


Craig with a couple Keepers

The morning of September 1st, my buddy Craig and I departed for untamed Northern Ontario to do some fishing in Red Cedar Lake, near the town of Temagami. The day before we spent packing, gathering supplies (BEvERages, food, and "crap wrap"), and loading the boat we borrowed from a friend of Craig's into the truck. It was an old boat but we were informed it was reliable.

I'm not sure of the hoops Craig had to jump through to convince his wife to stay at home alon with their two children, but lucky for me I have a wife who understands and respects the hobbies I have. It takes a lot to watch two kids for four days on your own when you are used to a second pair of hands! Actually, if I take a second to look at it form her point of view, it may be easier to take care of two kids instead of three (me being the third!!!). It's an opportunity not many wives would be understanding enough to allow their husbands to embark on a relaxation trip leaving them to deal with the offspring.

The trip North is a solid 5 hour drive, which is short as some roadtrips go, but it's a very straight drive with a constant scenery...trees, rocks, and farms with the odd town thrown in.

Once up there we waste no time unpacking and getting to the business of fishing. We get the boat in the lake, get the gear loaded, and head off. 5 minutes later our shoes are getting wet...the boat has a leak...from a one inch gash on the underside of MY seat. In less than 30 minutes we have a 3 inch deep lake in the boat...time to get the bailer into action. In true fisherman fashion, we continue fishing and got one Pike each, with Craig claiming the larger pike. The score: Matt 1 Craig 1.

The next day was kinda cloudy and we had high expectations from the day before. We borrowed some aluminum putty to fix the boat which really helped out! We set off for the day...and caught nothing all day except a little pike which wasn't worth a mouthful to keep. We were mystified and retired to the relaxation of a nice fire and lamb chops for dinner. The score: Matt 2 Craig 1.

Sunday was real crappy weather. Overcast and drizzly all day. We donned chest waiters and rain jackets and set off in search of fish. We decided to fish a river behind a dam using minnows and worms. I caught nothing. Craig claimed three small bass (of which I only saw 1!), but all were too small to bother keeping. We went back in the boat and finally caught a Pickeral each...in the black of night! At least we weren't stumped! We went back to the cabin in better spirits but wishing we had caught more! The score: Matt 3 Craig 5.

Monday was a mixed feeling kinda day. We were glum knowing it would be the last of the fishing, but we were glad to know we would be returning to our families. We packed and cleaned up and then went for one last trip. It was worth it! We each caught two pike, three of them keepers in only two hours! It was a nice way to end the fishing weekend....

The FINAL score: Matt 5 Craig 7.
Matt: 4 pike (3 keepers) and 1 Pickeral (a keeper)
Craig: 3 pike (2 keepers), 1 Pickeral (a keeper), and 3 Smallmouth Bass
Biggest Fish: Craig's 1st pike at nearly 5lbs!