60th Wedding Anniversary Party

Sitting here at Sun Peaks watching the moon drop into the western horizon after 3 days of family reunion celebrations. There has been hiking, fishing, eating and drinking into the wee hours and lots of new stories created which I'm sure will show up at future reunions. Mom & Dad and Jean and Bill enjoying their 60th anniversary is a rare event these days, so all the more reason to celebrate. It has been fun to visit with cousins, aunts and uncles and significant others and learn about their recent experiences and future plans. Lots of funny stories and it bods well for the future watching the enthusiasm of the kids coming up.

Celebrated the dinner at a local restaurant and returned to one of our 4 houses for the presentations and celebrations. Great meal and there were cakes that we had specially made for the occasion. Lots of toasts and stories were told all night and there were presentations afterwards supported with libations!

Mike and I decided to walk back to the house afterwards only to be caught in the middle of a very violent thunder and lightning storm. We had to cover our ears a number of times as the explosions occurred directly over head. It was pretty amazing and definitely an adrenaline rush! For the first time in my life I was pleased that Michael was taller...figured the lightning would hit him first! We were soaked to the bone and even though we knew it was a risk, we continued to run onwards for 20 minutes until we reached cover...pretty dumb, but we survived! Sure woke us up though!! There were 2100 lightning strikes that night with over 100 fires started. The forestry choppers were out early this morning and you could hear the water bombers making their runs. Apparently it was the most violent storm of its type in 3 years!

The storm event delayed Erin's return from Europe. She was to have arrived late on Friday night, but lightning storms over London forced the plane to divert and when she finally reached Heathrow her flight had departed. She was put up in a great hotel and all was covered, but she was late arriving. New plans had her arriving the next day and she made it as far along as Vancouver, but again the storms in our area Saturday night stopped her from getting to us and she spent another night as a guest in the airport hotel. Caitlin & Bryan were caught on the road that night driving to meet her (an hour away) and were pretty well overwhelmed by the storm, but they made it safely back once they figured out that the plane wouldn't be coming.

While away we had fun exploring the back roads and the mountain lakes. Lots of flies and mosquitoes, but beautiful scenery and excellent vistas from up high. The homes in the village are huge and quite the places, but noticed considerable property sales with Sothaby International signs at the front...a sign of the world economic times! The strange thing was that other homes continue to be built, so the trickle effect is taking its time.

The whole weekend has been a pleasure and I return to home tomorrow and to work Tuesday. Road trips are always a good time...get away again in less then two weeks for a weekend and next weekend is a long one as well! Weather extremely hot and the fire risk is as high.

Turkey: Reflections

It is true what they say...all good things do come to an end. I'm back at home and waiting for the balance of my brain cells to find their way back to this time zone...I think they are somewhere close to making landfall on the east coast!

Turkey...it just doesn't disappoint. Each time I've visited I'm humbled by the genuine hospitality and how visitors are treated, as they should be...as welcome guests. We had many memorable experiences, enjoyed sunsets, learned to appreciate the 'call to prayer' (even at 4:15AM!) and visited some amazing historical sites. However, my best memories will remain the people I had the good fortune to meet and to share time with. Mustafa and his family in Goreme, Cappadocia - I already miss our early morning conversations on the top floor of your pension over a hot cup of tea long before other house guests found their way up to breakfast. We spoke of many topics and shared perspectives about the regional geopolitical situation and future possibilities for Turkey. We shared family histories. We laughed (a lot) as we watched the balloon tours drift by each morning (not about the balloons...impressive!). Your knowledge about Cappadocia is extensive and was always appreciated. The upper sun deck was a welcome refuge at the end of a long day of trekking and exploration. However, I still don't understand how you managed to train your grape vines to grow 2 stories to the top floor of your pension where their annual growth provides shade for your Turkish lounging area!

There were the young boys in Ihlara who enjoyed trying to show us the hidden route into the Ihlara Valley canyon. We enjoyed the hilarious negotiations for your services and how you kept under-cutting the price. We never did find our way into the canyon at this location, but we both took away some very humorous memories of our excursions through your village and our discussions about all things football. Not bad English language skills to boot...much better than my Turkish efforts. Well worth the 1 lira fee paid to each of our ‘guides’!

Then there was Bilal and his son Hakan who invited us into their Fethiye carpet business for a short visit which turned into the better part of an afternoon. Your hospitality and our wide ranging discussions over tea were greatly enjoyed. Your assurances that you “just wanted to talk” represented a welcome and refreshing variance from the typical entreaties we received in other locations. Your invitation to visit with you and your family in your home on our next visit to Turkey was appreciated. I suspect that we will meet again.

There were many, many other instances of assistance and friendship offered during our trip. Harry (the 'former' carpet salesman), we enjoyed re-connecting with you in Selcuk…thanks again for the ride to Ephesus and later to the ceramic factory. There was the Istanbul waiter who freely passed over the glass partition more than a few hot cups of tea late in the evenings as we sat on the roof top of our pension watching the Asian lights and the continuous passing of ships on the Bosphorus. There always seemed to be someone willing to step forward to assist two strangers from a distant land…with or without language skills…usually a simple smile and thank you was sufficient acknowledgement. I also enjoyed visiting with many other travellers from all over the planet...all on a similar journey...each with different experiences and expectations to freely share.

This is how I will remember our visit to Turkey.

Istanbul - Hot and Humid!

Merhaba. Walkıng thıs amazıng cıty ıs hot and humıd work...just as ıt ıs sıttıng ın thıs ınternet cafe usıng a Turkısh key board and helpıng Unıverısty of Istanbul students work on theır englısh skılls!! Thıs cıty never stops and ıs full of great sıteş, good food and weırd key boardş. The moşques are amazıng places to sıt and medıtate and the people everywhere are welcomıng ıf you come wıth a smıle and try a lıttle turkışh when you vısıt wıth them. Sıttıng late one nıght on the roof of our pensıon a waıter from the roof top restaurant next door trıed to talk a lıttle wıth me and then presented us each wıth a cup of hot tea over the wall...whıch we drank as we watched the lıghtnıng flash acroşş the eastern sky and the Bosphorus traffıc steam past.

The shıps move unceasıngly along the Bosphorus and pass slowly as they track up stream agaınst the 10 knot current. Severnş 1990s book about Jason and the Argonauts and his efforts to recreate their journey from Greeçe to Georgıa to discover the golden fleece descrıbes theır exploıts as he trıed paddle upstream against this current...and he even had a few olympıc rowers to help. It ıs an amazıngly strong current.

We wandered across the öld Galat brıdge yesterday and enjoyed watchıng the fıshermen cast theır lınes ınto the waters of the Golden Horn...somewhat cleaned up these days compğared to our earlier vısıt ın 1981. The vıews back to the Topkapı Palace and the Blue Mosque are stunnıng! We plan to cross over agaın tonıght ın search of some nıght lıfe and dınner. Tomorrow we wıll rıde the ferrıes...sort of lıke buses here...all the way up to the Black Sea and back whıch ıs somethıng I,ve wanted to do for many years. So much hıstory along the Bosphorus.

Erın ıs about fınıshed lookıng for apartments on lıne for Grad school, so tıme to wander the Grand Baazar and look for some bargıns! Bryan now ın Tofıno and gettıng hımself sorted out there whıch should prove to be an excellent fırst experıence away from home for the next 4 months. I head home thıs Frıday and Erın contınues on to Roma to start her next leg.

HAPPY ÇANADA DAY everyone!!