Year end 2011

Queridos amigos y la familia,


What a year it has been and we have not seen the end yet! This planet is going nuts, but luckily not us.

Yes we still have our sanity on track, things have been going smooth for us in general, but we are always sensitive to all the events happening around us but as you know, what’s the point of going “loco” on things we cannot control.

  

So let’s start with the beginning, we started Y2k11 with our traditional January Vacation that took us to Columbus isle,  a small island 200 miles south east of Nassau (Bahamas), what a place to be! This is one of the places I can/will elect spending the rest of my days if you ask me, Columbus isle has about 800 living soul inhabiting the island, within a day everyone will know who you are, where you are staying, what you eat and when you will be farting! Eerie you say? No! real island life! We were the “visible minority” on the island that week and how hard can that be when your skin is yellow??? If you like being alone on a beach the whole day or work on a complete, I mean complete body tan, this is the place to be, we spent countless hours on beaches that has no names..not a single soul to bother you except for the spirits of the pirates who were murdered on these beaches. There is a single gas station on the island located a few kilometers before Cockburn town , it is closed on Sundays and takes cash only, 2 grocery stores that look more like my Grandfather’s boutique in Bon Acceuil.

Also met with the Police chief, who wanted to try Kitesurfing, he introduced himself as Cartwright, so I asked him if he was related to Little Joe or Hoss from the series Bonanza and he went into a hysterical laugh! I guess he liked my joke. I also questioned him about the criminality rate on the island and he said “Crim… what??” “Our unique jail has no lock and it is being used more like a tourist attraction than a restraining tool”. We then understood why nobody ever stole that little red car abandoned by the side of the road we travel by every morning on our way to Snowbay, there is nowhere to hide it!!! Ya maan.



I told him he will be internet famous!

Needless to say we had a tremendous time on Columbus isle.

Fast forward.. 2 weeks later, I had to change destination towards the land of Raoul..since Fidel gave up his stronghold.

Cayo Santa Maria was the next destination, but this time along I had to share my bed with nothing but my Kitesurfing equipment and some nice clothes to attend Fred’s and Karren’s nuptial day. Nice place to be, more so when it is minus 25°C back in Montréal, as you can read between the lines, I went alone to Cùba, Pinpin and Caro could not make it..bummer. The week went by fast, especially when I had to manage my precious time between Kitesurfing and some wedding ceremonies. No seriously we had an excellent week on Cayo Santa Maria , and for those who could not make it, you really missed a bunch.

About F&K’s moments, it was special….really really special, it was “f……g” windy, cloudy and cool the first few days of the week so everybody was starting to wonder what it be like on wedding day, we were also wondering why F&K did not choose Bora-Bora instead of Cùba as a destination.

But something outstanding happened on Wedding day, this sounds like a repetition, regardless, some call it a miracle, I call it Voodoo, the instant we were walking out to the Gazebo to celebrate the union of the love birds, the sky opened up and the wind started to taper off, then I immediately thought in the back of my mind..Darn!!! There goes my Kitesurfing sessions, skunked, no more wind for the rest of the week !!

Los pájaros del amor

There were more pleasant surprises, I should say until the whole evening was over, the atmosphere at restaurant San Salvador was outstanding, quite a cozy environment, the newly discovered Bruno Mars  (Quebec version) was sharp and Rhum was flowing like a stream. We had a good time..let me rephrase.. we had an outstanding week thanks to Fred and Karren and the immediate family.





Zhuhai-From Zobon art hotel

Fast forward one more time, May 15th, the visit to the home land of my ancestors was way overdue, arrived in Hong Kong and crossed over by ferry to the "Romantic City" of  Zhuhai, what a country! Never seen so much Chinese in my entire life, if I was to drag my feet, my boss would lose sight of me in the crowd, so I kept playing hide and seek just to piss him off! What a week I had in Zhuhai! One must absolutely go and see what progress our brothers are making, let alone the AMAZING cuisine! I was ashamed though when we drove along the Highways, bridges and tunnels, that alone told me a lot about the worn down infrastructure we have in Canada. It also struck me how simple and hardworking Chinese people happen to be, so this gave me a kick in the behind and made me realize that I have adopted too much of the Canadian life style and neglected my roots.




马桶

 
The short and sweet meeting with aunt V was also very exciting, nostalgic and pleasant, I feel an urgent need to reconnect, too many things to say and not enough time to spare. The week then ended abruptly when we had to take the train back to the airport, and I was not looking forward to the 16 hours direct flight to Canada. Many thanks to Yuwei and his Jetlag drug that did an amazing job!

Back in Canada.

Pnut is still doing what he knows best, chasing all that moves within his confined area and still playing tricks on us when he is not happy, Maggie has disappeared from the map due to child custody agreements, so Pnut is single again. His friend Ruby also got confined within her invisible fence and Clohé ‘the cougar” still refuses to allow Pnut to climb on her. The recent episode of “epilepsy” allowed us to appreciate the complete failure of our health care system, let me explain, Pnut had to be taken to the Vet because we thought he was poisoned since he was completely “stoned”, so I called on the Vet and they said to bring him over immediately, there are fees associated for emergency they stated, but that did not matter at that moment, amazingly there was almost a whole team of Technicians and Vets waiting for us at the hospital, so he went through a battery of tests and was inserted with a Catheter within a heartbeat. They proposed to keep him under surveillance for 3 hours at the Hospital just to keep an eye on his evolution, but he came back home the same evening since he was doing better, then the next day I received a call from one of the Vets and she stated that she has been discussing Pnut’s case with her colleagues and had some proposition for us. All to make sure our beloved son will be followed and will enjoy a happy health!

So ask yourself this, when was the last time you ever had your hospital or clinic call on you to follow up on anything? Or proposed to you any sort of treatment they have been discussing with the fellow physicians? Ever been to emergency lately, just go take a peek. And we think we have health care.

We surely discovered the perks of being an animal in a Canadian home.

Caro, well Brébeuf has its up and downs and she still needs to find a good Math tutor who can accommodate to her time and taste, travelling is wearing her down, so we will opt to have her stay on campus for the next sessions. So as you can see the eagle is spreading her wings. And… she is still looking for a real friend, sounds like the story of both my siblings. Oh and the traditional “miss my stop” happened again this year, contrary to the previous event, with experience, she happens to know how to locate the train operator and hitch a hike back on the same train to her original destination, free of charge.

As for Pinpin, strong as a Locomotive, chooing along steadily and avoiding all stations along the way, still can’t follow her even if I am one of the wagons attached to the back , the Café is still busy as can be and we are still looking for a decent cook who can handle the pressure generated by the Locomotive. Not too many events to narrate except to the loss of one of our dear patrons to the disease of the century, we will miss you Alice. .

As for me, non of my members are missing, just some sore joints resultant of  extreme Enduro rides with my neighbor at Limerick, hit a few trees and bushes but still in one piece. Oh and watch out for me on the highways, I am  now legit to ride a bike on any street, blame it on red head.

The Bull-Archery

St Hubert answered to my prayers again this year, my freezer is full with Venison, Moose to be more precise and we had another exciting hunting season full of events to say the least, Rambo failed to kill but Rambo’s cousin took over his bad habit of being trigger happy.

Speaking about Rambo, I have to mention it, since this blog is about events, people and things that hits me. I never knew Rambo could fly ! Fly over handle bars I must precise, but I am so happy you are finally reconnecting with your “taste” of life. God bless the “Sacred cow”, it’s the next best thing that could have crossed your path, I am seeing a wide “Trail” opening up in front of you to ride and enjoy. Sorry red head, if it once again sounds like “a trophy taking kinna thing”, this is the uncanny way I express my thoughts, but I like what I have been seeing so far and I am looking forward to ride the Desert.

Unfortunately, once again this year I cannot end without mention of the lost ones, this last Heart breaking event makes me question the meaning of “The good lord”, one more time, yes I understand the priest conviction about the story of St-Lazar, I paid attention to what he was trying to preach, but this remains another hard to swallow story… for me that is. To each their own belief, if that can be a relief.

Markus we will miss you, even if I did not get a chance to speak or touch you, seeing your brother on the go every time I meet him, I know you are another great nephew that would have made my day.

To all, keep strong, keep on rumbling, life is getting shorter. Every morning you wake up, there is one less day to enjoy so make the best of it, push your limits to make up for time so you will not question yourself about things you never dared to try.…..base Jumping and Highline is on my list, what’s on yours?

Happy holidays, be daring and safe!

The Wan’s from the boonies.