Confessions of a beginner climber
I’ve taken up climbing. And not the corporate ladder style. After an introductory class in the climbing gym, I headed outdoors. First climbing sport routes, then mountaineering with some ice climbing, onto multi-pitch climbing and so on. I’ve been fortunate to have had many good climbing experiences in a relatively short time, especially for someone living in mountain-less Edmonton. However, after a one year accelerated program of learning, I must confess: Jamming and twisting your feet, which are equally jammed into tightly fitted climbing shoes, into mountain cracks and then using that vise-like leverage to hoist your body weight up to the […]
What’s your tire swing?
Every now and again, we need to be reminded of a time when life was simpler, less complicated. When you didn’t have a care in the world. When you didn’t know how to over-think and over-analyze. When you didn’t retreat to the past or worry about the future. When you were so focused on the present moment, without even realizing it, because your goal during every waking hour was simply to have fun. I could pour out 500 words on the topic. But sometimes a photo says more than words ever could.
41 Lessons earned and learned over 41 years
We all have baggage, but the real question is what you do with it. Check it and fly, or spend your life stuck in the terminal? Show gratitude often. Feel it all. Even when you don’t want to. Fear should keep you alive, not hold you back. Squash fear like that spider crawling on your bed. The only predictable thing is unpredictability. Give back. Try hard to never say, “What if?” RSVP when you are asked to RSVP. Seriously people! Learn to love to sweat. When you are young, your family gives you energy. They’re your entire world. As you […]
When your dog dies
You are smacked hard in the face with the true meaning of unconditional love, and the sad realization you don’t have it anymore. You feel like there is no place for your love and affection to go. You miss their quirks. How they chased airplanes like you were under nuclear attack. How they loved eating lettuce. How the sole purpose of a toy was to tear at its heart, rip out the squeaker, play with the squeaker for days, and then add it to the collection of dozens of squeakers living in every nook and cranny of your house. You […]
The real reason the Oilers suck
It’s not the coach, our defense, offense, youthfulness nor the fact that we don’t have a A-lister goalie. It’s not because it is a “building” year, or because we don’t check enough, lack locker room leadership, or [insert any theory here]. Every year for the past 6 years we hear all of these excuses as reasons for our team’s lackluster performance. The Oilers themselves know they suck. They have fired coaches and GMs, traded, benched and publicly berated players. Yet nothing changes. We continue to lose. We continue to live in the league’s basement. Why? What’s the real reason the […]
Look forward and back
Every so often opportunities come along where you step back and realize life has been preparing you for that exact moment in time. Before these moments happen, you catch yourself in challenging, everyday experiences and think, “Why am I doing this?”, “What’s the point?”, or most appropriately, “Is this actually happening?” 🙂 You wonder if your efforts, toil and stress are taking you towards something hard-earned and great, or if you will be left with only bruises and (hopefully) lessons learned. Lately, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few of these a-ha moments, both personally and professionally. Extreme moments of […]
Green thumb
Every spring, I experience many “This is Actually Happening” moments in my yard. I may have watched the movie American Beauty a few too many times, but I say honestly that sometimes there is so much beauty in my front and back yard, it hurts. And at this time of year, beauty doesn’t come in a showy or full package. There is beauty in what pokes out of the soil. Beauty in how easily everything multiplies and morphs. Beauty in how nothing becomes something, roots become flowers, flowers become fruit. While all this beauty happens around me, I simply stand back […]
Wearing bloomers leads to career success
You’d never think wearing bloomers would get you anywhere. But it did. I had the best worst job for two summers of university. I was a role player and a tour guide at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. What does that entail and how was it both the best and the worst? First, a bit of dirt on “The Village”. For those that haven’t spent time at The Village, it is a living history museum just east of Edmonton on Highway 16 that recreates the lives of Ukrainian settlers in East Central Alberta from 1899 to 1930. The buildings on […]