Merry Christmas to all - 2004

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2004

This morning the sun is shining and the snow that capped the mountains last night is brilliant. What an amazing place we live in! For the last several days we’ve been under rain clouds and I was thinking that it was definitely time to head south. At least today we can enjoy some sun as we visit Holli, Rod and Devan for a Christmas dessert and present exchange.

Most of you already know that our trip to India, which we’d been planning for months, was cancelled because I managed to hurt my back a month before our departure date, and just the weekend before we were to leave I was still in lots of pain. Slowly but surely it’s getting better. Is it the acupuncture? Is it time? Am I getting more mature than I think I am?

In any case, we leave for Mexico in five days to spend a month and a half in Puerto Vallarta and a month and a half wandering – maybe a Spanish Language School in Oaxaca, with visits to outlying villages. Or maybe we’ll just drift down the coast, looking for more beaches to laze around on. There will definitely be a stop at Zipolite Beach for enough time that I can get my overall tan well-done. Geordie will no doubt spend the time reading, reading, reading. The worst thing for him is that he won’t be able to plan any trips except in his head, because we won’t have the travel books. There’s always the internet though, so he can scoot off to one of those cheap places and immerse himself in the web.

As we did last year, we are now looking forward to our PV Christmas with the great friends we have made there over the years. There will be lots of people arriving on the beach after we arrive on Dec. 10, and we will be awaiting them. This year we are prepared for the Christmas Beach party for the beach vendors children with some delightful small stuffed animals that we found at a children’s shop nearby (remember, everything we need for daily living is within two blocks of our apartment). The owner of the shop gave us a great deal on the toys, and threw in seven more for free, so we owe her a good picture from the beach, of kids enjoying their new toys, when we get back.

After our Mexico sojourn last winter we were only home for 40 days when we were off again to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago. I began my visit by heading to San Lucar la Mayor where I attended the annual Convencion de Papiroflexia sponsored by the Sevillan chapter of the Associacion Espanol de Papiroflexia. For all you non-Spanish speakers, that’s the Spanish Association of Paperfolding, better known here as Origami. I met some great people, folded almost non-stop for three days, taught an elephant to a group as well as teaching several other folds on the fly – over breakfast, coffee, lunch, coffee, dinner, and late night. These folks are fanatics.


After the convencion we headed to Pamplona and began our walking and my adventure with blisters. At last count I had managed to accumulate 30 “ampollas” on my feet, toes, heels, and on top of other blisters. However, the walk was spectacular, the weather gorgeous, the landscape incredible, the architecture inspiring, the art fantastic, and the people wonderful. We enjoyed meeting and chatting with people from all over the world – Brazil, Columbia, France, Germany, England, Holland, Denmark, and of course Spaniards galore. Everyone was great, the hostelries comfortable and the food and wine too generous for this body. How does one gain weight walking 600 kilometres? Geordie is already planning our next Camino, which is a 1000 km, from Seville to Santiago de Compostela.

On our arrival in Santiago we also spent time with another group of folders, some of whom I had already met in San Lucar at the Convencion. Along with Esther, who was my contact when I was planning to attend the 2003 Convencion, we sat in an ice cream restaurant and folded again for several hours. I told you these people were fanatics. I also got to buy some really nice paper to bring home with me thanks to Teresa, one of the folders who met me at a café the morning we were leaving to deliver the goods from her sister’s paper store, before she went off to work.

We also spent time in Portugal, much of it on the coast, although we had to head inland to get back to Spain and Madrid, to do our last minute shopping before flying home.

After our return from Spain we took another 40 days rest, (very biblical this) and relaxed in Vancouver. We had visits from friends James and Angel (LA and Mexico) who were here during the Pride Week festivities. We enjoyed the parade together and they enjoyed the night life while we locals stayed home. Our friend Midge arrived from Calgary right after, and we had another great visit with her.

Then we were off to Newfoundland for three weeks to see my mother, visit with other family, pick blueberries, visit friends in St. John’s and then spend several days in PEI with our wonderful friend Suzy, who had packed up to move from the Big Apple to the Little Sandbar to complete her EMT training. We expect to hear that she’s begun medical school next, or that she’s moved to Paris to take up with a playboy. Either is likely, although I think she has more sense than to hang out with the playboy set.

My mother is doing remarkably well. My brother Eric calls her his miracle mom because she has survived so many congestive heart failures. She’s always in good spirits though, unless she has slipped down in her bed and needs to be pulled up from being “down in a hole”. The rest of the family is doing well too. While visiting with my brother and sister in Buchans and while visiting my sister in Shearstown, we had to head off to check out the video lottery terminals. I actually left Newfoundland with more gambling money than when I started, a first for me. I don’t expect to make it a habit though.

After we returned from Newfoundland we had a visit from my brother Jim who had flown out from St. John’s the last night we were there. It was his first time in our apartment and it’s been a long time since he’s been this far west, but he’s coming back next fall for my niece’s wedding in September 2005 in Kamloops. He’ll be here longer then too, so we can show him a little more of our Vancouver.

As usual we have our travel year somewhat planned out. The winter in Mexico will be great, I do need the sun and there’s not as much of that here during December, January and February. Next winter we are going to make that trip to India and Sri Lanka. Geordie also wants to do the Camino again, go to Thailand again, with a trip to Cambodia this time, so he will be doing lots of thinking/planning over the time we are in Vancouver. We have promised ourselves to stay in Vancouver from March to November this year, with a side trip or two to Vancouver Island or Alberta, and if need be another short trip to Newfoundland, but really we want to stay home and enjoy our great city.

I’ve planned to do the Vancouver Marathon this coming May, race-walking it with Marlene, a friend from Calgary. I entered two race walks this fall. The first was a 10 km and I finished first and got a great pair of walking shoes as my prize, The second was only 4 km, but I won that one too, wearing my new shoes, and got a huge gym bag for my efforts, as well as winning a draw prize and getting a free hat from Celebrities Night Club here in Vancouver. I’ve never been to the club but I wear the hat proudly. In any case, my winter exercise plans will have to include lots of race-walking training. No chance of a prize in the Marathon though, because walkers are not a separate entry, and are probably barely tolerated anyway. They do make us start the race a half hour early too. However it will also be a great opportunity to visit with Marlene and her husband Stirling.

We look forward to seeing friends soon, and in the New Year. There are people we miss dearly. We expect to see some of them while we are home this spring, summer and fall.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone. Hope you find all the presents your little heart desires under your tree.

Peace on Earth,

Nigel and Geordie