Bing a kid is so fun

Acting like a kid is so fun, and watching your kids act like you is terrifying. The other day I witnessed both of these first hand. The day started like any other Saturday morning. We got up and had our cereal for breakfast. He likes "fruit loops" while I ate warm oatmeal. We took his Mom into work and then headed back home. "What are we gonna do today?" I asked him. "Build a race track." he yells back happily. I think to myself....how can I make it different and better for him today. I was bored of the same old race track we'd been playing with.

We search for things to make a big hotwheels race track out of and in the basement we found a gold mine. An old piece of eavetrough. This took me back to when I was a kid and we used to build tracks in the old barn at Stewart's, the family across the field. We would play for hours there. Up the stairs we went and we built a race track in the hallway using the eaves trough, some plastic tubing, and pieces of the old hotwheels track. He and I played for hours and I even videod some of it. You can easily hear in the video (sorry I don't like posting videos) that I am more excited than my son.

Shortly after playing he comes running up to me and says "Daddy I gotta go to the potty." I tell him to hurry down to the washroom and he heads off. Half way down he stops, turns around, and to my surprise says "I need to get a book." He goes and grabs "The Divide" by Nicholas Evans (a great adult read by the way), and runs into the potty. He gets up on the seat and opens the book. Now this scared me, becuase suddenly I realized how much of an impact I was truly having on my son. He could have only learned that from me and he reaffirmed this by saying "Look Daddy I'm reading your book on the potty just like you." I was oddly proud and yet terrified at the same time.

From now on I will be more careful about my actions around him and I will have to be highly consceintous about how I treat others as well.

Stayed tuned. I am planning a cold weather backpacking trip and I will fill you in and have some pics.

Winter Carnival report

Well the Sussex Corner Winter Carnival has come and gone. The pond hockey, sliding, skiing, fun and games are complete. I don't know about everyone else, but I had a blast. I was much to busy as an organizer to take photos but I hope there are some good ones floating around that I can share with you later. The Kings County Record has some posted this week too that you can look into. As an organizer of this event I was very happy with the way it all came out. We had an estimated 500 people there at our peak time on Saturday and likely close to 300 stayed around to watch the championship pond hockey game and fireworks. Judging from the ooohhhs and ahhs and the expressions on the kids faces I think everyone had a great time because lets face it, adults have fun when their kids are having fun.

For me this was a great experience and one that I hope we continue for many years to come. I gotta thank "Outdoor Elements" (http://www.facingtheelements.blogspot.com) and "Elmhurst Outdoors" (http://www.elmhurstoutdoors.ca) for helping me with the cross country skis and I have to thank the Sussex Regional High School's PhysEd department for providing some snowshoes. Also, a big thanks goes to "Adair's Wilderness Lodge" for providing the grand prize (http://www.adairswlodge.com). There are many others who should be thanked as well but I will leave that up to those who brought them on board with the carnival.

The championship pond hockey game was a rather one sided affair which saw a team from Sussex Corner take home the Corner Cup. The team donated their portion of the cash winnings to their charity as well resulting in $300 going to the Children's Wish Foundation. Hopefully all the teams who took part had a great time and will come back again next year. The contests were often fast paced with great puck movement and some great puck handling.

There were lots of treats to eat and some great entertainment to boot. Keep the Sussex Corner Winter Carnival in mind next year when making your plans for February.

See you in the woods or on the water

Simple Things Like Sliding

There is a great deal to be said about the simple things. This has become much clearer to me since becoming a father. Shortly after my son was born I really thought I was still going to be able to get out and enjoy lots of backpacking and camping adventures. This has turned out to be harder than I thought. I have learned though that the simple things can be just as fun as the longest hike into the toughest terrain.

Just the other day, we have been blessed over the last week with some great winter weather, I decided to take Seth sliding at his grandparents. They don't have a big hill in their backyard or anything exciting so I was aiming small. We got dressed and headed out with him talking 90mph about all the things he was going to do while sliding. The plowed up mound in my parents backyard was actually quite large, thanks to the snow we have gotten this winter. We took the flying saucer, a simple slide unlike the GT Racer's and such, and made a great path down the bank. In the end Seth was sliding more than 12m each trip, which for a 3yr old is plenty far. He was having a blast and so were his grandparents. We made snow angels together and even swung on the swing set for awhile. Before long he started thinking about going inside, and hot chocolate. You could see it in his eyes when he thought about hot chocolate and from that moment on it was all he could think about.

I had a hard time getting him out of his snowpants cause he wouldn't sit still. Snow was flying everywhere as I pulled them off. He danced over the puddles and up the stairs to get his hot chocolate. Now hot chocolate is simple enough but, it was the marshmellows he truly wanted and we had a giggle over this. In three hours Seth had a full day and tired himself out doing simple things and I come to realize that I too was tired out.

The hot chocolate drove the message home for me that day and inspired me to write this all down. Simple rewards are still rewards and nowadays I fill my self with a greater number of simple rewards as opposed to filling up with a few large rewards. Most of this came to me while I watched my greatest reward sleep on the couch. He just didn't have the energy to clean up his toys before bedtime.

Sussex Corner Winter Carnival

I have recently been helping organize a fun outdoor event and I am hoping that it is a huge success. It is somewhat nerve racking to be heavily involved in events like this. You can only hope that people come out and enjoy themselves, and you pray that the weather is favourable. Right now as I stare out my office window I see water dropping off the roof which means the ice at the local outdoor rink is likely melting as well. this does not fair well for a Pond Hockey Tournament and winter carnival in Sussex Corner.
http://www.sussexcorner.com/community.htm

The weekend should be full of fun and lots of outdoor recreation. We are hoping to provide a very family and community type atmosphere with music, games, food, and lots of friends. Come on out and have some fun. We have had some great media coverage and hopefully this will bring the people out.
http://www.ossekeag.ca/ossekeag/1238/Sussex-Herald

The pic came from Pearson Photography, thanks Pat
http://patpearson.ca/


I hope to see you all there.


Cheers

Frozen pond

The ice is dark, almost black. The cold wind blowing across the surface has kept it polished and smooth. Your fingers are aching as you pull the last loop on your skate laces tight. You struggle to pull your gloves back on and prop yourself upright again. You look across the large bare terrain, take a deep chilling breath, and then push off. You get a rush as the sound of your blades tear through the silence and then the ice creaks under the new pressure. You hesitate, now uncertain about the strength of the ice, but then can't resist the urge any longer and power your body to full speed. You turn and skate backwards and notice the powerful pattern of white arches on the dark ice, and a smile creeps across your face as your eyes water against the cold air. It feels like you are much faster today than what you might have been the other day at the local arena. Even though you realize that the wind whipping through your toque is creating this deception you swear its true and stride even harder until you feel like you are flying. Your lungs are now screaming at the cold air that you continually suck in and finally you make a sudden stop. Your blades catch true and shave a long white brush stroke from the pond's frozen surface sending a white mist which catches a breeze and blows back in your face. You wipe away the moisture and sweat and head back to your boots to pick up your stick and puck.

This is a Canadian postcard, one that will last as long as there is a frozen pond in January to play on. I love skating outdoors. Whether on a lake, pond, river, puddle, or a flooded outdoor rink there is nothing that compares to living the way they did in the "ole days" It is rewarding to be able to "simply" enjoy things the way they were when originally they came to be. Hope you are all enjoying your winter months. Dress warm wear a smile.

Fast pace fun and work

Well life for me is always going at a face pace. This is especially true over the Christmas holidays. I wouldn't have it any other way though. I work best when I know I am actually working...or play best when I am on the go :)

I love to play as hard as I work, and I love when my work feels like play...which lucky for me seems to often be the case lately. This allows me to do more and be more...I think anyways. If you take the time to build a snow fort or a pillow fort with your kids, you are being a good dad while playing. If you spend a few extra hours at work planning a community event or a way which your company can give back to the community you are being a good worker while also improving yourself. It sure makes those extra hours worth it. A friend of mine once told me "you can't be good at something unless you are having fun doing it." I truly agree with that statement and that is why I am no good at accounting.

Enjoy the pics.

Are we really?

Wow is this a bizarre December so far. More ups and downs than a roller coaster as far as the weather goes. We have got a ton of rain yesterday and today again and the rivers have come up to flood stage for the 4th time this fall. That is a bit crazy. The only thing crazier is the state of our country's capital. What is happening in Ottawa? I am proudly Canadian, even in this time of economic hardship, but one thing I always like about our country is the leadership we demonstrated. We have never been scared of bucking the trends. Now however it seems that we are just another number in a long list of worriers.

As a people we have always been strong fighters, and I am sure that this time around will be no different. Those who have been suffering will continue to suffer through and hardly notice a difference, those who have been living high over the last while will now need to buckle down, quit bitching and put their nose back to the grind. Of course me, well I can't even tell if the economy is slow, so I have no sympathy for those who seem to be suffering. Maybe it is about time that the money makers start to appreciate the rest of us and maybe the economy would become more stable. You can only tip the scales to one side for so long before the scales break. I think that the breaking point is near, and I don't plan on standing underneath the falling debris, but as a good hardworking Canadian, I will help them put it back together after the pieces fall.

But really, are we at a time of economic crisis, or dare I say depression?

First Snow

Last night we got our first little bit of snow. I woke up this morning and the windows were frosted and the house was chilled. I didn't want to step out of my bedroom into the bathroom as that meant leaving the warmth of the carpeted floor for the cold, chilling, tile floor. The snow fall amounted to nothing really but it got the anticipation level up there. The only bad thing about it is that we can no longer put off putting the winter tires on the car. We'll have to swallow the bill and find the cash somewhere. Merry Christmas I guess :(

This time of year is great because I think people start to anticipate winter and that gets even strangers talking. People become more social I think this time of year. Christmas may have a part to play in that as well.

I hope to get out soon on a good day hike or maybe even do an overnighter somewhere. I have to admit my life has been extremely busy and my time is committed to a great number of things, few of which allow me to get outside. Thank God for my wife and son as they are my biggest reason to play lately and nothing will take their place on the priority list.

I hope you are getting out there and wandering.

Redd Eye...

I often sit at work and think...."wow I got a great job." Lately I have been on the banks of the rivers assessing future restoration sites. This work though lends itself greatly to watching those rapids and riffles looking for salmon redds. It is an awe inspiring thing to see a salmon in its natural habitat and lately I have been keeping an eye out for them. Today brought rain and I was hoping to see one but as luck would have it I am stuck in the office today finalizing some project reports and preparing a funding proposal. Still I hope tomorrow to be back along the banks of the river and looking for redds.

I think with todays weather there is no doubt that winter and snow are not that far away. I know this is true because the deer have started to gather again in my back yard at night. I can usually expect them this time of year for a couple weeks and then they dissappear, only to return in December.

Well I hope you all are enjoying your fall. My family has been having a blast. We raked the leaves the other day and man what fun it is acting like a kid. All we needed was a big pile of leaves to jump in. My son must have ran circles around that pile 50 times. We had a blast and of course got some great pics. I have noticed too on FB that everyone must choose to have their family photos done in the fall because alot of my friends have their recent pics posted. I hope they don't get redd eye....get it? LOL what can I say I'm a dork.

just rambling

I am sitting here at my job this morning stressing out about various little things. Do you ever do that? I don't particularly need stress in my life but for some reason this morning I am creating it. I am a bit hungry so maybe that is why. It is a bizarre sensation to feel one self creating un-needed stress. I do not think I am alone in this endeavor though. In fact, I bet just about everyone creates an un-needed stress in their life. We all tend to worry about money, relationships, food (did I mention I was hungry), etc. Stress, I think, is a fact of life. It is how we deal with stress that defines who we are. Today I am dealing by writing this blog. By getting my creative juices flowing, I often am able to create a sense of focus within myself. This focus allows me to get on with my job and finish the tasks at hand while not allowing my mind to wander to all those other little things, such as my stomach growling.
The other way I reduce stress is play. Now before you make any false assumptions about me, I have to state "I have a good work ethic (I think)." I make time to play. I go hiking or backpacking, I play with my son, I go fishing, or I just simply act a fool. All this keeps my stress level down. Since I have wrote about this issue once before (I think), it may not be working though??? I feel better though now that I have wrote this blog so thanks.