Over Ontario

...on the flight home this evening from Winnipeg to Toronto.

Seasons of Change

White House, Nov. 6, 2008

Turkeys!

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada! We're supposed to be headed up to the cottage, but Amado's sick (bad cold), so we will have to see what happens.

Turkeys from Birdcinema.com

Near Edwards AFB

Amado Encounters Fish

I'm stealing this picture from my Mom's blog, LLPOF, because I like it! Here's Amado experiencing his first fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Click to see the bigger size and the amazing school of anchovies flashing through the background! It's great to be in California!

We're Off...

...to Vancouver for the Emerging 2 Where event, and then south to lovely California to visit family! Adios amigos! Hasta luego!

E2W Location Tour

I am in Vancouver checking out the locations where our Emerging 2 Where? event will be held July 11-12. Above is St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church where Diane Butler Bass will speak on Friday. On Saturday we will have a day of presentations and workshops featuring Butler Bass, Karen Ward, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Anna Christie, Gary Paterson, and yours truly. Really great locations and the event is shaping up to be something really special too.

Do You Know the Way...?

I wouldn't mind being finding myself here at this moment...

Winnipeg Sunset

I missed the most beautiful moment of this sunset from Tuesday evening because I was on the phone talking to my web developer, but I think this picture still conveys my point that the prairies have the some of the best sunsets in the world. Especially after a summer storm. Even from my hotel window. Even as seen by my Treo.

10 Things I Thought about on my Summer Vacation

1. I missed many things about not being constantly on-line, but neither blogging or Facebook were among them.
2. I thought I was on to something when I saw some parallels between Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Yann Martel's The Life of Pi. Both feature solitary figures in out of control boats --- the old man being pulled by a marlin toward reality, Pi drifting with a tiger in tow toward unreality, etc. But then I got home and googled it and found out I wasn't the only one who noticed these similarities. Both are really amazing books though and I highly recommend them.
3. I don't like mice. Especially when they bust in our car night after night, leaving an ungodly mess. And all for a piece of gum.
4. I wish I had swam and kayaked more.
5. My BBQ chicken is absolutely the best.
6. There isn't anything much better than sitting in the sun, watching your son in the wading pool, and pouring over 3-day-old box scores of baseball games.
7. I'm reviewing The History of Barrios Unidos for Sojourners and found it a very inspiring book, though the reasons may be completely personal.
8. Michael Vick, one of the NFL's most talented players ever, will lose his career because of a dog fight?
9. I had fun drinking wine with my father-in-law on the last night at the cottage, although the evening ended in chaos.
10. It was great to see all my family from California here, together, in Northern Ontario. I would love to be able to hang out with them anywhere at least once a year. Twice a year would be better yet because I really miss them.

[Photo from a really neat Lithuanian's travel blog, but I'm sorry to say I can't find it anymore.]

British Columbia

I'm back from Vancouver. It was stunningly beautiful, though my little camera phone couldn't really capture it. I did get this picture of some new million-dollar condos from the top of Vancouver School of Theology. There is a big construction boom going on all over the city. Wendy told me that when she was there in 1994 the hillside where these condos are located was totally undeveloped. VST recently sold the land to developers for money to keep their school open.

I was only there about 30 hours, but it was a wonderful trip. Our event went well, thanks to Keith and Noelle and the rest of the Living the Welcome presenters---but especially thanks to Shirley and Sharon who keep the events running week after week all around Canada. They are amazing. The filming I went to do went well also, thanks to the amazing and talented Alison MacLean of Tomboy Productions. And the weather was great---sunny, hot, and brilliant. The flora is basically the same as Santa Cruz, so it really reminded me of a summer day at "home."

I took a red-eye back to Toronto to save money and to get back and help out with Amado, but that didn't work so well. I didn't really sleep on the plane, so after I got back I ended up sleeping almost all day on Sunday. I'm told Amado came in and joined me for his afternoon nap, so I helped out a little I guess. That was pleasant, but I'm still tired today. Oh well, that's life with the jet set.

Yankee Fans

My brother Sol and nephew Ty chillin' at Yankee Stadium on Easter Sunday. And I mean chillin'. We even got snowed on.

I just spent 24 hours in New York City with my brother's family. What a rush! I am still recovering....but we had a great time...and that's saying something, since normally I don't even like the Yankees.

Bridges

Early this morning under the Brooklyn Bridge on the way to LaGuardia.

Over Montreal

Montreal Hotel Parking Lot

There was no snow storm. Apparently the city is buried in snow like this all winter.

A Somewhat Semi-World Traveller

I have travelled to just 7% of the countries in the world, but 72% of the American States. When you see it in a map like this, it's obvious there is a whole chunk of the U.S. I've been avoiding.

You can go to this website and fill out your maps as well. I didn't count places I had been to like England, Texas, or Florida where I landed on a plane but never left the airport.

Somehow, one of my clearest memories is from my cross-country bus trip in 1985. We stopped at a McDonalds in middle of the snow-covered cornfields of Nebraska and an angelic-looking young woman served me coffee from behind the counter. She seemed so young and pure she almost glowed. She had a beautiful smile. As I left the counter I noticed she had a tattoo peaking out from under her uniform that said "I was born to be a Hell Raiser."

(Note to would-be editors: "traveller" and "travelled" have two l's in the Commonwealth countries. That's what I think anyway.)

I ♥ DF

13 reasons why Mexico City is still my favourite city. (Ok, I'm not sure about the temazcal with a real shaman in W Hotel's "sleek, modern spa." But while the rest of this list from The New York Times is Condesa-heavy, it's still pretty cool.)

Just Another Day in Winnipeg

I just returned from another meeting in Winnipeg. The wind chills weren't as brutal as I had hoped, but it was nice to see some real snow. At about -1C/30F, Winnipegians considered it a warm spell. I still have a crush on the city.

We had a brief glimpse of the Northern Lights as we left town on the plane...very ghostly.

Montreal

Yesterday I was in Montreal for a meeting. I brought my camera but I never had a chance to take a picture. So I found this typical Montreal winter scene on the web to let you see what I saw....ok, there wasn't quite this much snow, but I'm here to testify that Montreal is a very COOL city indeed.

Love My Winnipeg

...sorry for bugging out on you guys. I just returned from 25 hours in Winnipeg where the ice cream is cold all year round. We had an Emerging Spirit meeting there to prepare for the launch of our ad campaign and regional training events. Not too much to report, except that I feel good about our work, even though we are super, super busy and will remain that way for some time to come. It is good to be back home, even after a short trip out of town. There's nothing better than coming home to a smiley baby and sweeter-than-sweet wife!

p.s. No Lesley, I didn't sneak off to the Bridge Drive-In for a cone when you had your back turned. This picture is from June when you took us there yourself!