On a retro weekend in Toronto - Part A

Andris and I are in Toronto, enjoying a reto weekend of sorts. WIth the cats left at home with bowls of food and Barney at Aunt Shirley's.... we set off for Toronto via VIA. The original raison d'etre of this getaway was to see a production of "Barrymore" at the Elgin / Winter Garden on Yonge St, starring Christopher Plummer. Unfortunately or fortunately - I am not sure which - any talk of Plummer reminds me of my mother, who once having heard that he referred to the movie "Sound of Music" as the worst saccharin sweet crap he had ever made (or words to that effect)said thatshe could never watch him again.

Well - tonight he was very good in a part he could run the gamut of peacefully calm expression to chewing up the scenery. The script is one that, with the cute guffaws and sometimes great oneliners, any competent actor could generate the laughs, but it did seem that he was more than that. With his age, Plummer is certainly an iconic actor of his generation, with generational actors not being much the norm any more, are they? We were lucky to have had this chance to see him.

Oh BTW - the retro part of the visit has to do with eating at Frans on College and Mr Greenjeans at the Eaton Centre....

Sounds of silence

At times it groans. At other times it moans or grumbles. Sometimes one might think that it was just the rumble of distant thunder. In other eras, people might have compared the sound to the drone of distant artillery fire. I have heard that whale song is similar.

At other times there is a crack, like the snapping of a branch or a sharp crack of a whip.

Up to this home, I have never lived near a large body of water. The Madawaska has provided a unique learning experience.

Who knows whenI will get another chance to draw or paint, so I thought that I'd add my sketch and watercolour to the Point No Point blog....

It is nearing the end of February and with the new year already 1/6th down, it is amazing to think that time is on its usual racettrack course. Andris is racing away on plans and ambitions to return to jogging, and I am ... not. I am racing to a slower life, more sedentary, and less healthy.

I would like to think that it is partly the fact that every year my body my body goes into hibernation mode, with extra layers of fat....

Day Five
February 10th

Our last full day and night at PNP this Feb 2011. Over the past few days I have been trying to keep waking up at least shortly after 6am.... We have been going to bed around 10pm and so the amount of sleep is closer to 8 hrs... though my body craves more. And yet – I am fully aware or try and keep aware of the fact that in two days back in Arnprior I have a class with 3 or 4 children preparing for the Sacrament of reconciliation and I will have to be getting up at the latest 5:30 BC time (8:30 Arnprior), to get the space prepared (and me prepared!) for 7am BC time teaching (10:00 Arnprior). I was hoping that Andris would keep sleeping like he did yesterday – but today he is up with me – I made coffee, he poured it and sliced a piece of bread for each of us. A calm morning.

Andris was still antsy to go for a drive to Port Renfrew – so (I hope he truly didn’t mind... he’d never tell me if he did... mind, that is....) off he went in that direction and shortly thereafter (it was around 8:30am) I headed off to the beach, sketch pad, pencil, and paints at hand – plus blanket to sit upon. I started to sketch a tree soon after going through the gate. However, after about 10 minutes, I decided that I should really go to where there was something a bit more “unusual”. My first “real” sketch was of the windswept tree. It felt good to draw... not that how I was drawing was necessarily the thing coming out the way I saw it. I went down to the beach and at first was planning to take crayons out to draw/colour rocks, but the crayons were back in the cabin. So I decided to go back to sketch – maybe something “interesting”. Why I chose the most gnarly tree stump/root, I don’t know. In retrospect it was probably pride to show I could. While it was interesting, my pride did not have to grow from the result. Then came watercolour – acrylics attempt. I spent most of the time “trying” things – since I certainly had forgotten most of whatever anyone had taught me (sorry Mr Hyndeman!) Again a humbling experience. Mind you, the actor or peacock in me was imagining Andris coming down and seeing me from a distance, taking a great outdoorsy portrait: Anda painting rocks from the rocks. What I didn’t know was that the big camera had died while Andris tried to take a short clip out by Port Renfrew.
Ah Pride strikes again....

We went to the local restaurant for lunch (I think both of us agree that the place, though greatly recommended, and though fine, is not the “exquisite” we expected. But the restaurant HAS been closed for over a month. Perhaps it needs to get back into form.

We took our daily trip to Sooke to check the phones and internet (though until I had already packed up the first time, I thought I had left the Bell stick at the cabin – and so was delayed.) While I tried to quickly check things Andris went for a stroll – looking by chance at a real estate place window of sales (we could never afford to move here – I guess it will have to be Twillingate!) and bought a $20 BC ticket. Expensive? Yes. BUT on the ticket we won in 2 games for a total of $60 – that is a $40 profit. Not enough to by a place but enough to cover our gas expenses!

Back at the cabin I took a tub while Andris napped (a first – ie me in before him) but since then he has been in at least twice and plans a third time before bed.

And so the real DO NOTHING holiday is coming to an end. And I would come back to do the same “nothing” in a heartbeat.

Day Four February 9th There is something about not wanting to return to real life when one is away on holiday and enjoying life that doesn’t have the day to day cares, while at the same time knowing full well that that is unrealistic, and trying to take the holiday for what it is. A wonderful blessing – a break between real life cares.... Today was a good day of highlights and little cares. I woke earlier than Andris and went for a walk – just within the property of the resort, without heading to the shore. I spoke to a couple as they were leaving – and when I asked if they had been here before, the man said no – but that his wife’s sister had been, and that time had been in the hot tub when the lid fell on her and she chipped a tooth (!) AND YET she still loved it. To them, if after all that she still thought it worthy to recommend, it should be tried – and now they too are “satisfied customers” likely to return. After a “break-fast” at home, we drove out to Sooke to the Vienna Bakery for internet connectivity, lattes, coffees and sweet somethings. We spent a good hour there or so, then went to Whiffen (?) Spit – which Andris says we did in a previous trip. It was like a dog park with people walking dogs mostly off leash and enjoying one another. We spoke to many – but one gentleman, formerly DND, had 3 beagles - Missy (a hunter), Travis (a happy-go-lucky pup) and Sinclair. Another was a woman who had moved here 10 years ago when her husband had retired. She had a young lab playing with Travis. Somehow it seems that the older adults who move here are all slightly eccentric.... or is that what one needs to move to Vancouver Island? The man with the three beagles had his own commentary – which, as a immigrant, is an astute observation. The first year the newby arrives, compared to locals, he/she dresses in anticipation or gratitude of warmer weather – ie in shorts and bare legs before the locals were to do so. The second year, the newby is already into winter coats and scarves at the same temperature as the year before which elicited the shorts or sleeveless tops. By the third year, the “no-longer newby”, like his fellow Vancouver “Islandites” is complaining about the ferry service to the mainland..... The man with the beagles suggested a place for lunch – a pub-restaurant by the golf course – Mulligan’s. Not bad – but definitely Valley sized portions! Arriving “home” Andris napped and I worked on pictures (great shots of the jays this morning!!!) but before long we were getting ready for my present to “Andris” (?) – massages for the both of us in our cabin. Andris had a hot stone massage by Judy, while I had a West coast scalp massage (which actually involved hot stones, foot massage as well as head shoulders massage – and she added in work on the piriformis ) by Andrea. Although I was a bit worried about Andris, who was incredibly giddy (read: nervous) before the massage, I THINK that he now “gets” the benefits. With a quick intervening shower by each (to at least get some oil out of my head and hair on my part!) we had dinner at the Point No Point Restaurant – which many people had complimented and suggested as a place worth visiting, but it had been closed for its annual January to early February break, and today was it’s first day back on track. As an aside – at lunch time there appeared to be many cars – ie many people knew that it was once more open to the public. The food was quite good – though perhaps exquisite would have been expected for the price. Andris had one appetizer, then 2 appetizers for his main. I had 1 of each with two (!) Manhattans.... Both of us had dessert and coffee. And although Andris now has already been in the hot tub while I have been writing, I would be ready to go to sleep! Tonight we have people in the cabin to of our left – and as we came home we were barked at by the two dogs in their car. Perhaps two pets is beyond what the place allows.... But – without the dog aspect, at dinner Andris and I spoke about how much it would cost to come again... perhaps a bit later in February. What a wonderful thought – even if it ultimately becomes a pipe dream.....

Day Three
February 8th

We have had such incredibly different views.... This morning there is sun and it would be impossible to pretend that we were facing China across the vast ocean; today there is a clear outline of the US coastline and the mountain chain that backs it. We see cargo container ships and self-unloaders and ferries in the distance. The winged wildlife (apart from the ubiquitous sea birds seen so far) has emerged from cover. We have seen and heard sparrow/finch-like birds but also some sort of jay (blue body with dark grey heads). The jays say that they haven’t been fed by tourists during the rains, and we should smarten up – so we did.

I have another wave category. This I started to be aware of after 4:30 in the morning. These were coastline-long waves coming in towards shore in a steady, even, almost gentle flow. Sure, they broke on the shore with a lavish crescendo, but despite their evident power, there was also an unmistakable peace in their continually regenerating force. In my comparison to our stages in life, perhaps this is not as much a specific age, but rather the bliss of those of any age who know who they are, what they must do and have the blessing of deep inner serenity. Ah – the truly fortunate.

At one point Andris thought about us driving to Port Renfrew, and although I would have gone with the idea (I didn’t want Andris to feel stir-crazy), I was happier that he came to the conclusion that if we came here to rest and read and “do nothing”, we should stay around here. However, that didn’t preclude a jaunt into Sooke to go to a bakery (though originally it was to get cell signal to call home as well as for me to log on) (Andris had been able to check his stuff before the connection went) – and go for lunch at the little place we had stopped in 2 days ago. Here, after a cheeseburger for Andris and a scallop burger for me (and fries for both) I asked the owner about the neat window safety grate that was made to look like a spider’s web, complete with spider. She told us that it came with the place when they bought it about a year ago, but she understood that the artist lived not far from PNP and that we would be able to tell by his gate – that was also a spider’s web. I remembered a sign saying “something about a forge” and thankfully spotted it on our way to PNP. The gate was open and we drove up, although the man in the large workshop looked a bit surprised to see us stop.

Marty (if I remember I’ll fill in last name later)(Gilbertson), soon warmed up and not only talked about his work in progress in the workshop, but then invited us into his home... first to the ground floor with artisan shop pieces, then to his living room. I should describe his home... but words fail me. It is a 3 story building, ground floor walk out but 2nd floor open ceiling to third floor back lofty area, with the front wall facing the Juan de Fuca Strait basically with all glass. There is a balcony all around the front of the house, with a side part under a bit of a roof. Inside is full of his metal work, though he told us that he also wired and did the plumbing (I think) which saved a bit on the cost. His metal work is in lamp stands and wall corners and serpentine wine bottle racks and bird wine bottle racks and pot racks and fire place wall and fire place utensils and fire place decorative ivy” and many many candle holders, not to mention a large candelabra. Downstairs we had also been greeted by two large black great danes, and upstairs on one sofa I commented “bookend” cats (one on each end) – and Marty laughed saying that there were 6 such animals! He had worked in the oil business in Alberta, sold the business to buy the property and build the house, and his wife kept (or started) a job. What a fascinating and very talented man.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on pictures and the requisite nap, followed by a walk down to the beach just past sunset (and a couple there took our first picture together of the trip - and virtually last) – and dinner of soup and bakery buns. A glass of wine, lemon pound cake, reading, writing and hot tub to end the evening!