WELCOME TO CAMP TIMMY'S

At the very least, there are 4 perspectives of this story. Either version will attest to the same thing: we were extremely lucky (or extremely "watched over"). But, some context is required. What a blessing it is for me to spend my first Christmas away from family being able to host some close friends visiting from Toronto. Of course, part of their stay was to visit some nearby mountains to do some serious snowboarding. First stop, Golden, B.C. to Kicking Horse Resort. Perhaps it is more traditional for people to sleep in on Christmas day, waking up and giddily opening presents around the tree, still donning their PJ's. Not us; we were up and out of Camp Timmy's by 6 a.m., making our way westward in pre-dawn darkness. Three hours later, we arrived in the near-empty parking lot and quickly put on our gear to make our way up via the gondola. Wow. I've never been riding this high before and I don't think I can ever go back to Blue "Mountain" again without feeling a little gypped! Imagine the deep, powder-ous snow found only within the trees which cannot be groomed, inaccessible by the machines. Well, everywhere I rode in this place was like that, an endless sea of powder! You did not want to stop for risk of finding yourself sinking in waist high snow! Well, I was riding pretty hard, making my best attempts at carving when I noticed that one of my straps broke. After fixing my strap and taking a quick lunch (which consisted of warming up by a fireplace and wolfing down an Hawaiian pizza), we made our way back up the mountain. At the gondola, we were told that the mountain was closed! The recent warm weather that the whole continental west coast has been experiencing was making conditions ripe for avalanche. A little disappointed, we decided to ride the gondola up one more time without our boards to take some pictures. Part of the "shoot" included simulating a miniature avalanche, a humorous homage to mother nature's domination over our quest for recreation which resulted in a shortened day. In one instance, one of us decided to roll down a gentle slope, somersaulting in the fluffy powder to create an avalanche visual for the camera. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT. Well, not all was lost as the early end to the day meant that we could stop off in Banff while en route back to Calgary. Banff National Park, with the posh little town adorned with overdressed dollar stores. Where some of this country's most breath-taking sights are found. Where Sunshine Village is located...

And so, another early start to yet another snowboarding destination. This time, as we arrive back in Banff, it is obvious that people don't stay at home for Boxing Day. In Calgary, it seems that most people go to the slopes! But, having gone through the gear-up routine the day before, we made record time from the car to the gondola. What an amazing place Sunshine is! From the multi-stop gondola ride, to the unending chair lift circuits, to the sick-ly wide runs, this is truly snowboarding heaven! In fact, there was one lift that kept going up and up, disappearing into the clouds, and we couldn't help but start humming that familiar Led Zeppelin tune. Interestingly, once one starts playing in such an amazing playground and having such an amazing time, one's sense of boundaries and danger seem to relax. And so, after just having finished a relatively "easy" Black Diamond run, we got off the chairlift leading to heaven, ready to conquer the next slope that Sunshine could throw at us.

"OK gang. Choose your own line and we'll all meet at the bottom near the chairlift".
They all nodded in agreement as their eyes scanned the slope before them, their jaws dropping at the beautiful backdrop of tall snowcapped firs. This was another Black Diamond and looked no more intimidating than the one they had just finished. THEY WERE WRONG. The first clue was when one of them was found sitting near what appeared to be a ledge: A LEDGE OF A CLIFF! There was about a 10 foot drop from this edge to a steep slope that fed into a bowl-like valley! Frozen with fear, this rider refused to move, as she felt herself slipping ever so closely to the edge. The thought of easing herself over the ledge and then riding the slope down was way out of the question. The second rider, sensing the seriousness of the situation, made his way towards her, also edging ever so closely to this edge. Slowly, the second rider helped the first rider un-strap from her board, thinking that this would make it easier to climb back up. In doing so, he also had to un-strap from his own board. The moment he got her board off, he started sliding. Even though he dug hard with his heels, he couldn't stop the rapidly increasing descent, until he found that HE was falling over the ledge! Preparing for the worse, he went prone and prayed that there was enough snow to cover any sharp rocks that might be protruding on the slope. Thankfully, there was and he was about 3/4 of the way down the slope when he digging his heels successfully grabbed hold into the soft snow. Relief momentarily set in, but then he remembered his snowboard. He couldn't remember if this wooden plank with a blade-like sharpened edge was properly secured or if it, too, was propelling down the slope towards him. After what felt like eternity, he realized that the board did not follow his fall. He turned and saw just how far he had slid down from the cliff. However, the other rider was still stuck. So, he slowly made his way back up, laboriously climbing the slope face in knee high snow. The original rider was still there, but was now joined by a third rider, who just happened to ride by at the right time. Apparently, he was so taken by the view that he was snapping pictures while the rest of the group made their way down, otherwise this seasoned rider would have already rocketed down the mountain. He was now trying to coach the first rider on how to "make it" down the ledge, by finding a slight clearing and sliding down, bum first, similar to how the first rider unintentionally went down. After some coaxing (she wouldn't stop insisting on getting the attention of ski patrol), she agreed to try inching over to the edge. First, there was the issue of what to do with her board, now that it was no longer attached to her feet. So, the board was handed over the ledge to the first rider who finally climbed his way back up. Without really thinking, the first rider let the board slide down the mountain. BIG MISTAKE! The board frighteningly picked up speed going down the slope of the mountain; fortunately, there was noone skiing or riding at the bottom of this face. Even more fortunately, the board stopped once it reached the bottom of this bowl. Next, the stuck rider slid just past the ledge. This is the same person who pretended to be an avalanche the day before; now, here she was doing the real thing! She ended up sliding all the way down to the bottom, in a safe, controlled rate. Whew. But, the story doesn't end there, because there is still one rider at the edge of the cliff, an unmanned snowboard, and a fatigued boardless rider who just climbed up the side of a mountain! The plan was to pass the board to the boardless rider, but this time to keep it securely strapped, lest there be another runaway board. As this was happening, the two riders at the top couldn't help but notice that the originally discarded snowboard, the one that stopped at the bottom of the bowl, was on the run again! This time, it was followed by its owner, who appeared to have been trying to strap it on but somehow let the board get away from her. Now she was fruitlessly chasing after her board which was quickly gathering speed down the run. Down the run towards a group of children who were learning how to ski! Yikes. Quickly, the rider on top of the ledge spoke (with the calmest sense of seriousness in his voice) into his radio: "At all costs, stop that runaway board!" Standing a little further down was the fourth rider of the group. She somehow avoided the cliff that the rest of us found ourselves caught in and safely made her way down the slope. She was waiting for us and looked up to see what was happening. "At all costs, stop that runaway board!" She now found herself between that group of unsuspecting ski students and this ferocious blade that was now hurling itself towards them. So, with true heroic instinct, she slid slightly to her left, bent down and did her best attempt at being a road block. The board hit her right on her hand and she quickly keeled over. The rider at the top of the cliff radioed to her but there was no response, not even a slight movement. The owner of the runaway board now caught up and bent down to see how her friend was doing. Thoughts of a broken hand or arm or worse raced in all minds as the two looked on helplessly from the ledge. The other rider, the concerned husband of this fallen hero, was radioing again in his calm yet urgent voice. No response, no movement. He quickly leapt into action. In true superhero fashion, he transformed into a blur, hurling himself off the ledge, taking in about 10 feet and 5 seconds of air. He landed gracefully and soared straight down the mountain face, racing to his wounded mate. Sitting with his back against the cliff face, held up only by a mound of snow, the remaining rider quickly strapped on and was about to make his way down when he heard some rustling from above. Another adventurous snowboarder, for some unknown reason, stopped just before he was about to jump off the cliff. Only then did he see the other rider below him. A moment later, and he would have found himself landing right on top of final rider. They exchanged glances of surprise and bewilderment as the final rider started his descent.

Needless to say, I am thankful for a few things.
I am thankful for enough snow on the cliff's face to make my unintended sliding down on my bum safe and even fun. I am thankful that our photosnapping rider stopped to take pictures, thereby delaying his ride down which meant that he was able to see the stranded riders. I am thankful that the runaway board stopping the first time that it was tossed over the mountain, not killing any skiiers or boarders riding by. I am thankful that we were carrying radios so that we were able to radio ahead to the fourth rider to, "at all costs", stop the runaway board. I am thankful that the fourth rider had stopped right at the exact position where she was able to stop the runaway board the second time it escaped down the mountain. I am thankful that this runaway board did not succeed in reaching the group of novice skiiers. I am thankful that the fourth rider did not sustain any serious injuries and reaching out to stop the board (just a bruised hand and an unforgettable experience) I am thankful that I was not decapitated by that other rider as I prepared for my descent Snowboarding is really not as dangerous as this story may suggest. It was a series of little complications that amounted to one big problem, but that was resolved by an even more miraculous set of circumstances.

THE MIRACLE OF LIFE

This will be the first Christmas that I'm away from my core group of family and friends. I'm okay with this because I feel that Christmas is often a time of year that has been overhyped by flashy marketing, causing people to act irrationally, like spending money frivolously or deciding to volunteer at a soup kitchen when throughout the year they have not. People also get sentimental at this time of year, often re-establishing contact with that friend that they have not talked to since last Christmas, as if because of the time of year, a lack of commitment to a relationship is excusable. I find this ironic during a time when we are commemorating someone whose life demonstrated the preservation of relationships through the investment of time and care (no, not Santa Claus...) I think that friendships and "family-ships" shouldn't change throughout the year!

But, what a delight it was for me to connect with my Western cousins whom I've not seen for some time. The last time was in Toronto, when the rest of the family got to meet their newest "addition" - Lienne. Well, Lienne is turning 3 this April and the Mah's have another addition: Caelen was born this past October 4. Since Calgary is only 3 hours or so from Edmonton (or specifically Spruce Grove, where they live, which is just outside of Edmonton), I made the trip out to visit my family. It was great! I got to see their new place, which is a cleverly designed open-concept home tucked away behind a golf course. Caelen was wide awake when I first met him and he was such a delight! Apparently, he loves it when you put him down on the changing table. Lienne was not there as she was attending a party, but her installment within the home is pretty obvious, judging by the different toys placed around the house. I'm looking forward to more visits (and a chance to try out their "bounce house")!

Well, I now prepare for visitors from Toronto. It should be an amazing week of snowboarding, snowboarding, and oh, did I mention snowboarding? My Burton is all tuned up, sharpened and ready to go. Kickinghorse, here I come!



Here's Caelen, he's so small! But he didn't seem to mind that I was holding him - but I think that he was wishing that I was a changing table!


This is Caelen's older sister Lienne. Apparently, she'll talk your ear off. Wow, I don't think I can ever remember a time when I was the same height as a bannister!

SETTLING IN

The condo board recently organized a Christmas social at a local pub for all the residents here at the Milestone complex. It was great seeing so many people out and I was surprised that it wasn't all "older" people (I was under the impression that it was mainly seniors that lived here). In fact, there were a couple of people similar in age to me that just moved in. And although most of my neighbors that I met are in the energy field, there aere some that aren't:
- Julie is a crime analyst for the Calgary police department. She's probably been asked a million times but she's not in forensics; rather she does all the data gathering to create profiles for criminals and then deploys this information to the front line force. Pretty cool. Her husband is a contractor, currently working on a project in the posh Garrison Woods community
- Nancy is a rehab therapist. Her and her fiancee (set to get married in July) Kevin just moved here from Saskatoon. She's so lucky: she didn't know what she was going to do for work and walked across the steet to the plaza, where there is an agency that specializes in "at risk" children. Well, she showed them her resume and they hired her on the spot; apparently, one of the workers there was just finishing that week and they were just about to post the position!
- Dwight is in the energy field. He and his companion Martine are avid outdoors people. We spent lots of time talking about cycling, snowboarding and snow shoeing. Yup! When there's too much snow on the ground, that doesn't hinder these crazy Calgarians from hiking the mountains. They just strap on a set of snowshoes and off they go. He mentioned that the University of Calgary has a superb outfitter renting everything from snowshoes to snowboards to camping equipment. He also pointed me to the Calgary Outdoor Club who organizes many of these excursions.
- I met Jerry near the end of the evening. Him and I were the only visible minorities there and so I guess there was some unspoken bond. Anyways, he's an older bloke, but I didn't really find out much about him. Instead, he was beeming about his sons, one who is a dentist in town and another who is a stock broker. He even gave me their business cards and asked me to give them a call!

I AM SO SORE RIGHT NOW....
Newton was right when he said that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. I recently joined the Westside Recreation Centre, a community centre that is endowed more like a health club. They've got 2 pools (a dedicated lane one, and a leisure one that is a wave pool!), a rock climbing gym, hardwood courts, 2 ice rinks (a hockey one and a 2-tiered leisure one that has fire pits and benches where you can warm up!) and a super crazy fitness area. All their machines are computerized so you can custom tailor any fitness program you want and it will keep track of all the data. It also has 430m worth of running track. Instead of one big oval track (like the ones you would find at a high school), there are a series of smaller tracks: 50m, 100m and 200m and they all link together if you want the full distance. So, that means you're not really running in a circle, which helps to break up monotony. Their spinning bikes are awesome, donning clipless pedals if you've got the shoes and soft tail suspension to give you that realistic climbing feeling as if you were on a mountain bike. So, I decided to go swimming. Not more than half a year ago, I was training for a triathlon and could swim 1,000m non-stop. Well, I could barely do 200m without gasping for air. After 600m, I decided that it probably wouldn't bode me to well to have a lifeguard pull me out on my first day! But my body is in so much pain right now!

HOSTED MY VERY FIRST DINNER...
After finally unpacking everything and putting it away, I feel like I could actually have guests over. So, in a way of paying tribute to a family who has been so hospitable to me ever since I arrived in Calgary, the Tangs were the very first to see my place. And, for once, it was I who prepared the food! Ella was the guest of honour and I'm delighted that she seemed to enjoy my chicken and potatoes! She's really cute because she can pull herself up now; you can tell she's just on the verge of being able to walk. I'm also glad that Mrs. Tang came as well, despite having an extra early flight back to Toronto the following morning. I suspect that there will be more of these dinners since I'm just a mere 10 minutes away from the Tangs.

YUMMY!

Every so often, one has a meal that is worthy to be remembered. It was a simple meal, but one that I will remember for some time: smothered in Club House Montreal Steak Spice, topped with Spicy Diana Sauce, and broiled in the oven on rack position 4 for 13 minutes, the 8 oz steak I had was JUST AWESOME!

Ode to Timbit

Although I never actually got a chance to introduce myself to you, because you are nocturnal and I only ever visited you when you were asleep;
Although you lived in a multi-level condo that rivaled those built by Donald Trump, and snuggled up to shreds of torn Kleenex which you made into a bed;
Although you will now be a permanent resident of the Blue Mountain glades, a place that means so much to me,
and each time I blaze past on my Burton,
and each time I reach for a Kleenex,
and each time I walk into a Timmy’s and my eyes land on a Dutchie,
I will remember you.

(in memory of Sam and Anna’s dwarf hamster)

Amazing Race stops in Toronto

I haven’t been following the latest installment of this reality TV series (now in its, what, 5th season?) affectionately called the Family Edition. I was working the night shift and the season finale was being shown. Well, one of the final challenges stopped in Toronto. Perhaps because I haven’t been thinking about it lately, but all of a sudden, a wave of “homesickness” rushed over me. Which is weird because I really do consider Calgary home now: I’ve applied for Alberta Health Care (have to pay $44 a month now for “public” health care), I’ve traded my Ontario license plates for an Alberta one (you only need to put a plate on the rear of the car) and I’ve finally unpacked all the boxes and bags that came from Toronto. But, seeing my old digs near the Toronto harbourfront was exciting (like hey, I’ve run there or I’ve had coffee there) and nostalgic (who would’ve thought that I would be so happy to see the CN Tower!). It was like seeing an old friend. I guess it’s because I have no memories of Calgary. Yet.

I'VE MOVED!!!

Crazy weather…
I bundle up just a bit more tightly as I make my way to work. It’s -18 in Calgary and, though I’ve only been outside for a few minutes, my eyelashes are sticking together and I think I’m starting to lose feeling in my nose (I’m stricken by the fear that there’s goober escaping but I don’t realize). I can’t help but ponder the words of one of my colleagues from the day before: “The most essential car things to survive a Calgary winter are snowtires, a scraper and an extension cord”. An extension cord? He responds to my bewilderment in a tone more crass than probably what was intended. “So you can plug in your block heater!”

Speaking of my car…
I learned that my car had arrived on the 30^th, sitting in some holding station before it is released. I find out that the rest of my possessions (which went on a separate truck) were to arrive a week later. Now, having lived without a car for the past month has been very liberating. I don't think that I've walked this much since university days. I have not tracked gas prices in this time period, nor have I had to worry about things like where to find parking, watching the speed limit or worrying about when the next scheduled maintenance is. Makes me realize how so much of my life in Toronto was created with the car as the key mode of transportation, but that IT IS possible to survive without one!

About a week later…
My fingers feel raw and my back is creaking. I’ve done a lot of cleaning and assembling of furniture. The month of not driving has gone down the tubes as I made more trips to Ikea, Linen’N’Things and Zellers than I care to count. Despite Calgary being smaller, population wise, it’s still pretty sprawled out. The difference is, instead of thinking in 45 minute blocks that need to be reserved for traveling (usually from one end of Toronto to the other), I only need to think in blocks of 20 minutes. I’ve also noticed that, despite all the running around, I really haven’t traveled that much in mileage.

Hello AMJ Campbell…
Well, the furniture arrived exactly a week after the car. Apparently, it was more cost effective for them to drive straight through Calgary onto Vancouver to do another pick up before coming back. I was pretty impressed by how professional the movers, Glen and Greg, were: they laid drop cloths everywhere, were very careful when maneuvering the different corners and even put together all the furniture for me. My fingers thank them very much! Kind of silly, but words cannot describe how happy I the moment I saw my snowboard!

Crazy weather…
Today’s temperature climbed to +2 and is expected to hit 11 this weekend. Hello Chinook.

A brief comparison…
Having spent almost 2 months in Calgary, I’m starting to get used to things that I have found unique to Calgary. Here are some things that are done differently than in Toronto:

- when turning at many intersections, there are double left hand turn lanes. This means that you constantly have to check your blind spot to ensure that noone is sliding into your lane. It also means that you have to watch carefully that you stay in your lane, lest you slide into someone else’s lane.
- there is no “+15” rule here; back in Toronto, it was pretty safe to drive at +15. Here, if you’re even 7 km/h over, they’ll get you. And “get you” can manifest itself in different forms: I’ve seen a police officer standing right in the middle of a busy road pointing people over; there is photo radar here (apparently all the equipment from Toronto’s failed attempt at this was sent to Alberta) so you have to be weary of grey vans with tinted windows parked on the sides of the road); your traditional cop-with-radar-gun-hiding-behind-a bush or lamp post. I think that it’s congruent with the general mentality that many Calgarians have – everything is seen as a revenue generating opportunity, including how the police “police”.
- more on driving: you have to constantly pay attention to the lights; they don’t change in the same sequence as what I’m used to; sometimes, left hand turn signals come on, even if it feels like it should be the other lane’s turn; I think that the intersections are actually intelligent, knowing which lanes to wave through to minimize congestion
- the price isn’t always the price (in a good way) – at the Petro Canada here, if you use your Petro Points card (which I do anyways) you get another 3 cents/litre off!; on more than a few occasions, the prices usually shown are not the prices in the computer when the item gets scanned (and it’s always been in my favor!) For example, I saw the Family Guy Season 3 DVD box set at Zeller’s for $45. When they scanned it, it came up for $29! Wow!
- the radio stations here are awesome; so far, I’ve found 3 stations, I believe that’s all I really need to listen continuously without having to listen to commercials. On preset 2 is Vibe 98.5, a top 40 station, just like the 98.5 I would get in Toronto (except this one is local, so the signal is strong unlike in Toronto where you would have to be facing Buffalo to get a good signal!). Preset 3 has 92.1 a classic/current rock station. They play some pretty good stuff. And, on Preset 1 (to my greatest joy) is Shine 88.9, a contemporary Christian music station. I can’t believe that in all the years that I lived in Toronto, there was never a Christian station available on the FM dial. You’d have to listen to one from Burlington or Barrie. Right now, Shine is playing all Christmas songs, so you can listen to every version of Let It Snow ever recorded.

Finally, I created some videos to show my mom how I’ve been living for the past month:

October 17 to December 3: The Executive Suite, Downtown Calgary:

My new digs at Signature Parke Milestone, just west of Downtown: