Blogs from Ontario, Canada, North America - page 308

August 6 Burk's Falls Ontario Pleasant and uneventful drive to Burk's Falls. The roads are good and very little traffic. I even drive half the way after a stop at Tim Hortons - a canadian institution - for coffee and cookies. The scenery changes to vast mixed forest and frequent lakes with long straight roads. Almost no buildings just miles of nature. The view is uplifting and makes driving a breeze. Stop at a lakeside picnic area for a comfort break and have to work hard to stop the boys getting soaked in the lake. Nearing our destination a few 'towns' start appearing along the road.They are 90% commercial centres with the usual billboards and car lots. Arrive at the cabin site mid afternoon. There are 6 rustic log cabins set in the woods along the ... read more

Dear Bears, Simpson, and Illsley families, Thank you for your kind hospitality during my week long stay in Halifax. ...Joan, you made a wonderful supper for everyone on Sunday. You had quite a selection of items: roast beef, chicken, chirizo sausage, russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and fiddle heads -- yum. We retired to the living room for carrot cake and amaretto flavored coffee. ...Esther and Joan gave me two books from the family library. One of the volumes was compiled and edited by Raymond Simpson -- Esther's husband. From the diary of Annie Rogers Butler and the letters of John Kendrick Butler, Ray weaves together a telling account of life on the sea in the late 19th century. The title is, If we are spared each Other. The other book is a secondary source, which ... read more

Saturday, July 23, 2005 Someone by the name of Mike Wiseman sat upright on a short stool. He was scratching the surface of a drum with his wooden sticks. He was waiting for the pianist , Kenny Werner, to bow his neck before the song moved from a waltz to a ballad -- and before the music dropped a half-tone on the scale. Meanwhile, the third player in the trio receded into the shadows of the stage, along with the barely audible sound of his bass. His name has already faded from memory. I was at the last, live performance of the Atlantic Jazz festival. The pamphlet described Werner as one of America's "Master Jazz Composers." Ten years ago, he apparently stopped recording his famous trios. Instead, he concentrated his energies on the tour-circuits, because he ... read more

At long last we are back home again. We ended our road trip, right where it started, in the garage! No road was travelled twice... one big loop through five provinces and ten states. We spent our last two days driving from Madison Wisconsin to Yale Michigan and then on to Home. We got a good start out of Madison, thinking that hitting Chicago around noon would be good for traffic. I guess there is no good time to hit Chicago as there are far too many people there with cars. Between the usual congestion and the summer construction season it took awhile to get through. The I-90 goes straight through so when you're stuck in traffic, at least you've got plenty to look around at. I think next time, I'll fly though and avoid the ... read more

The philosophy of the firefighter exchange program is to enable firefighters from all over the world to cross boarders, both nationally and internationally, so as they can both study a specifically nominated Standard Operational Guideline from their host fire service. As one of the participants in the International Firefighter Exchange Program between Canada and Australia, spearheaded by New South Wales Fire Brigades Superintendant Marcus Baker and Deputy Chief Gary Largerquist of the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services. Canadian Senior Firefighter Chad Fiegehen and Australian Senior Firefighter David Simms have "traded places", to the effect of fire stations (fire halls as they are called in Canada), accomadation, friends, surf boards for Ice hockey gear, singlets for skiing apparel. This is quite simply my journal of the exchange, not in any way to be reflected upon as an ... read more