A Week in Niagara 2013

The word of the week is magical.
 

July 29 - Arrival back in Niagara!
 

It was definitely not an early rise for me today.
 

I was feeling the weekend today, no question. With all that I'd had to eat and drink, it was impossibly difficult for me to get going. Period. I ended up outside, where the cool air refreshed me a bit and I soon tottered went back to stay inside the covered porch while the rest of guys tided up - sorry. I simply didn't have the energy and nibbled on some granola with water, which seemed to help. Movement however, didn't, but I was grateful that only my stomach was giving me trouble, not my head.
 

We started the trip home well before noon, with good weather all the way. I wasn't feeling all that great on the move, I confess, and at one point we had to stop while I unburdened myself on short notice. In a construction zone on the wrong side of the road - not fun. However, I felt fairly decent after that. It's strange that even after decades of moderating my intake, it's still so simple for me to make myself feel awful a day after feeling very fine. I also suspect that the large quantities of food I wasn't used to( any more )got my digestive system in a tizzy, which I added abuse to and well, that was it.

Writing the blog in the evening was a chore, but I put my nose to the grindstone and had it done by the time midnight rolled around. I was determined to get it done no matter what I felt like, as I've yet to miss an entry in the nearly 6 years I've been writing it… and I'm certainly not going to miss one because of any excesses of my own doing. Nosirree! For a wonder, it was coherent and while lacking pictures( due to my tablet not being the greatest for doing blogs )it was a solid entry, I think. 

I was worn out enough to fall immediately asleep, with my stomach settled at last into a semblance of normalcy for the night, at least.

 

July 30 - Niagara, here I am!

Today was a much better day.
 

I was up fairly early, well before 8am, with a decently settled stomach. I headed over to the Pen Centre to get some breakfast and some minimal groceries for the week, for the occasional lunch or snack when I wasn't going to be out.
 

It was a lovely half-hour walk down Pelham Ave and onto Glenridge, with perfect weather on the sunny morning.  The walk reminded me of all the beauty that Niagara possesses, especially the forested parts, like the ravines where I played as a boy. The cool breeze in the trees, the quiet that settles over you in the shade of the woods; these things and more played on my mind as I walked. The road was lightly trafficked and I found my way fairly quickly to the Pen, where I discovered a brand-new A&W had been built and I decided to eat there:
 

Don't mind the thumb; it's a thing I do with my phone. A lot.

To my delight, I found they had a breakfast special: bacon, eggs and toast for a mere $2.99 - sweet deal! Once I had eaten, I got a few groceries and headed back to where I was staying, feeling better than I had when first waking a few hours ago.
 

Later in the day I went to visit my grandad at his home near the lake. He and I visited for the afternoon, where I caught up with him on things and just enjoyed his company. He's in good health; at 92, he looks like he's 65 and moves with a slower but spry step - definitely a good sign for my own passage into seniority when the time comes!

I break out the dimples whenever I'm at the Kilt!

The evening saw me end up at the Kilt, with my stomach still unsettled but I was determined to enjoy myself. A few people came by to keep me company, which made for a lovely night on the patio. However, I'd managed to forget a message I'd sent over the weekend about getting together with several friends tonight - it would have worked MUCH better for their schedules if I'd remembered, but I didn't. I found this out the next day, so this evening wasn't one spent wracked by guilt. 

Which I don't do much of anymore, thank goodness. So the evening was a good, laid-back time, with some reminiscing and not all that much in the way of drinks.

July 31 - Co-Working!
 

Sleeping in doesn't seem to be in the cards this week.
 

Waking is taking place at dawn, as I don't have blackout blinds where I'm staying and the light is enough to trip my internal alarm. I can go back to sleep, but it's not the same and I'm still tired from the weekend, not to mention still feeling a tad touchy in the stomach - but it's nothing I can't manage sensibly.
 

A leisurely breakfast at A&W again set a good tone for the day, as did the walk there and back. Soon after, I was picked up by my friend Trevor to be taken to the Mahtay Café downtown. We joined some other folk there for a co-working session, which is kind of like a networking lunch only with no pressure and you can come or go as you please. I met quite a few cool people with all sorts of talents, including another writer who's completing work on her own book this summer!

I spent the afternoon at the café, with a break to go to the Merchant Ale House for lunch with Dan and Trevor. I had the opportunity to talk about my book with quite a few people, which had me espousing its strengths with passion and enthusiasm and lots of smiles! Everyone seemed quite taken with the fact I'd written a book, especially when they leafed through it and got lost a little in whatever passage of words their eyes fell upon. That made me feel… incredible.

After a little time spent with Dan at the Lake St Steebs, we met up with Lucas and Matt at the Wildfire Grillhouse on Ontario St for dinner. The weather was cloudy, but the rain held off as we sat outside for tapas on the patio. I'd never had tapas before and the concept of being able to order a whole bunch of cool stuff for dinner was very tempting. However, my stomach was still not very happy with me and the shrimp in particular didn't sit well, so I ended up eating in a very birdlike manner and just tried to enjoy the patio with my friends. Also, this was the first time in many years that I was sitting next to people who were allowed to smoke and the shifting wind often brought their exhalations into the same space I was using for breathing, which wasn't pleasant. But hey, it was only for one night and they were enjoying themselves, so who was I to say anything? I was out with my friends and that was enough to ignore any other distractions.

I'm nursing this drink back to my health. Yep.

Afterwards, we all headed down to the Kilt first few hours to relax and watch what the weather was going to do. As it turns out: nothing, which was nice. I again caught a ride home with a friend and again marveled at the fact that so far I've been able to do just fine without a vehicle while visiting Niagara. It was also ironic that although I didn't have to drive myself anywhere up to this point, I had no desire whatsoever to have more than one or two drinks of an evening after the weekend I've had. So really, being chauffeured around was wonderful and quite funny in that I could've drank a lot more but simply didn't have the stomach for it, which was fine.

Aug 1 - First day, BUSY day!

WOW, what a day today! Family and friends galore!

Another breakfast with friends today was a wonderful way to start the day. My good friend Josh picked me up and we headed over to Cora's at the Pen Centre to meet Matt L. and Dan. It's funny that in all the years I was in Niagara, I wished that a Cora's would open in the region, as I really liked their breakfast variety which includes a lot of fresh fruit. Naturally they opened the location we ate at only a few years after I left Niagara, but that's the way it goes. It was a fantastic few hours spent with my friends, where the discussion ranged widely across a variety of topics and never had a dull moment. We had to break up eventually before things carried over into lunch time and Josh was feeling quite tired as he was on nights this week.

Also, I had somewhere to be at noon! My Aunt Connie picked me up from Matt's place and we met my Aunt Carolyn and my cousin Paula at Perkins for lunch. I was quite tickled that my family had made me a belated birthday cake from my grandmother's recipe! It was splendid seeing them all again and I spent quite some time catching them up on how things were going in Victoria for myself, my sister and my parents. They were all quite thrilled to see the proof copy of my novel and I spent a fair bit of time talking about that unashamedly. I also talked a bit about the things that have led up to my choice to move to BC with my parents and how that had influenced the person that I am today. It was fantastic to see how supportive my aunts and my cousin were about the decisions that were made back then and how I had chosen to leave my life up until the present. I truly miss them all as well is the rest of my extended family here in Ontario and I determined once again to make it back here sooner rather than later to see them all as much as possible.

We had to head out eventually, as I was visiting other family in the afternoon down in Port Dalhousie. I was dropped off at my grandfather's house by Aunt Connie, where I visited for a wonderful hour outside in the garden that he's lovingly cared for for over a quarter century. We then headed to dinner with my mom's sister, her husband, her daughter and her husband along with their two young little girls. It had probably been at least 15 years since we'd all sat down at the same table together at my grandparent's house over in Port Dalhousie and it was a very pleasant time that we had together. Everyone enjoyed each other's company and I got to catch up on their lives, something I hadn't been able to do much of at all for closing in on a decade now. The side of the family has been somewhat estranged from mine and I was extremely grateful to be able to close that gap tonight on my own personal recognizance and with the willing participation of everyone at the table as well.

After a great couple of hours, it was time to head out yet again!

My friend Pierre picked me up and we headed to the Steebs( Starbucks )on Lake Street to meet some more friends. Dan was there, as was Trevor and my friend Mike, who had driven down from Burlington - he would have been down on Tuesday, as would have Pierre, if it not been for my error that night which in retrospect neither of them called me out for, so I was grateful for that. Soon we were joined by Shiloh and her new fiancé, as well as Lucas and Matt, which made for a great gathering. I talked about my book as much as everyone could stand and I was quite happy that everyone seemed to take in what I had to say about the process with very few questions. The most surprising part of the evening was discovering that Pierre was no longer a staunch supporter of Apple and was actually leaning towards getting a few android devices the next time he needed to.

The cake was declared to be delicious by all!

As with all things, people had to leave to get on with their other responsibilities and a few of us headed down to the Kilt - naturally - to spend a few more hours together. It was just like old times( if you'll forgive the cliché ) with us sitting around at the bar catching up with each other. Unlike old times, I made a point of speaking my mind about where I've been, what I've done and where I am now with my friends. I was grateful to find that most everyone was very pleased with where I was now personally and wanted to see me succeed in becoming an author and generally enjoying life instead of watching me being ground away underneath a huge burden of responsibility for my family.

Unsurprisingly, I want the same thing!

Aug 2 - Last Day in Niagara!

As it turns out, a breakfast appointment didn't happen this morning, so I ended up going to A&W again - this time with Matt and Josh. You really can't beat a $2.99 special, which is laughably inexpensive when you realize that a large orange juice from the same menu will cost you just as much!

Things came together yet again for lunch: I met friends at The Feathery, most of whom I hadn't expected to see due to their schedules and mine not mixing well. Turns out I was wrong on that count, at least for today - and I'm so very glad I was! Simon, Dave, Bill, Lucas, Rene and his new lady Simone all turned out for a lovely lunch, where again I passed around my novel( see a trend here? )and got some great feedback about it. I made sure to catch up with everyone as best I could given that most of them had to work that day - I was very touched that they'd all gone to such effort to see me. I know some of them hadn't seen each other since I was last out to Niagara, which made the gathering all the more special to me.

All former HALO buddies, now retired from the game!

After we parted ways, I was at loose ends a bit as it turned out to be the only day this week were I didn't have anything planned for the afternoon or even dinner. I'd posted as much on Fbook as soon as I'd woken up today but nobody was able to do much on a Friday afternoon on shorter notice, which was fine as I soon received a txt from Lucas wondering if I'd like to have a drink at noon down at the Kilt.

I immediately accepted - it was perfect timing!

I have to say that Lucas in particular has been fantastic this week, taking multiple days off to spend time with me and ferry me when needed here and there - friends like him make the decades seem like days and make me wish that I could hop back to Ontario every few weeks instead of every few years.

We spent a good part of the afternoon on the patio at the Kilt, enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather. That was also part of my good luck this week: the incredible heat of the previous few weeks had waned and all this week here in Niagara the weather was - for the most part - perfect. Not too hot and not too cool with little humidity, just right for relaxing outside, as everyone I talked to agreed.

In the mid-afternoon, I was hijacked to a party!

 

Ring-tossing: aim for the ankles!

It was a birthday party for one of the Kilt regulars, down in Port Dalhousie. There were a fair number of people there at a lovely little home set back from the road enough to leave a lawn which was the perfect size for ring tossing - the same game as we'd played at the cottage. We played until it was time to eat and the clouds have rolled in by then, with a little rain keeping us under the front porch eaves. The pulled pork dinner was fantastic along with some potato salad and it was finished perfectly with a very filling chocolate trifle brought along by one of the Kilt staff( thanks, Krystal! ). I stayed and talked with folk for a bit, making some new friends and enjoying myself immensely with an ease I've always had when just being myself. It seems to work wonders in meeting new people, I find.

A little before the rain had started, it was 9 PM and I found myself back at the Kilt - I was waiting to meet up with around a dozen of the old MMart staff from Niagara. As it turns out, only one person showed up despite my messages, but I was still happy to see her as we'd had a ton of fun working together in the years I was here in the region. I guess travelling across the country still couldn't induce any of my MMArt pals to pull something together, as I had to foot all the communications... well, that's their loss. We were soon joined by Lucas, Matt and Dan, then my good friend Al and his pal David who I'd not met before. Even Honest Frankie was there and wonder of wonders, we discovered that we had a mutual interest in science fiction - something I'd not known in all the years I've heard him play at the Kilt!

That's Frankie, being attacked by the mic. He doesn't look worried.

By this time, the rain was really coming down in buckets and the table I was sitting at, being at one end of the patio, was flooding like Calgary last month. The humidity was actually good, as I had my book with me and I wanted to test how well the proof copy stood up to the moisture; turns out it was pretty good, with only a little cover curl. I ended up talking quite a bit about the book - again - discovering that I really can't wait until I can dig back into the creative process to finish up the third draft by the end of this year. 

Coming back to Niagara has really crystallized in my mind why I left: to pursue my dreams and to make them a reality, just as I put the words in my head and onto paper to create the book that I held in my hands t to show my friends and family.

Sleep came easily to me tonight.

Aug 3 - Departing Northward, Again

It was an early morning today, meeting friends for a final breakfast in Niagara.

My friend Shawna - whose wedding I had attended the last time I was here - picked me up and we met Lucas and Katie at a breakfast place over in the west end of the city by the new hospital called Gratzi. It was the same place that Matt, Lucas, Aaron and I ate at last week before heading to the cottage. Surprisingly, my stomach was misbehaving and I didn't finish my meal, though I did polished off some unwanted bacon from a few other people - how often does THAT happen, I ask you? ( the bacon thing, not the stomach ). It was great to see everyone again one more time before I had to call it quits for Niagara and despite everyone being tired from the early hour necessitated by my departure schedule, it was a very fine time that we had.

Shawna dropped me off at Josh's place( where I'd stayed last time I was down ) and I had the chance to catch up with him and his wife for a little while. On a technical note, he'd purchased a tablet from the same ASUS line as my own TF101 Transformer, which had been a trooper this whole week in keeping me connected with my friends and family. It was great to see Mandy, albeit briefly, and I hope to spend more time with them both next time I'm down here.

I did get to spend almost 2 hours with Josh on the ride up to Georgetown however, as he kindly gave me a ride on his way to pick up his daughter from his parents place in nearby Whitby. I was very grateful for the opportunity to catch up with him and I was again reminded of how little the years have changed most of the people I know; Josh especially made it seem like we were both still in university and just heading out to do things for the day. I really enjoyed the trip, though he ran into quite the traffic jam near our destination which I later found out was due to the opening of a new outlet mall like no other in Canada - more on that later.

My drop-point was a church, of all things, where my friend Jay was running a gaming day for the Georgetown Geeks and Gamers group. I spent a good portion of the afternoon happily lost in geeky things like HeroQuest and Munchkin, which I hadn't played in many many years. To wit:

Sweet, sweet victory! That's Fabio the wizard by the door, by the by...

We packed up and headed out into downtown Georgetown, where Jay and I had dinner at the Shepherd's Crook. Over the course of the meal we chatted about where our lives and let us and what we were doing now compared to what we had been doing when we first met a couple of decades ago. Back then, the Amiga computer that I have been so fond of was brand-new and Jay was already an expert in creating CGI graphics with its then cutting-edge technology. We didn't reminisce about the Amiga much but instead tended to linger on things more weighty, but that didn't last too long as we were just glad to see each other.

In the evening I visited briefly with his wife Ruth-Ann and their daughter Anya before it was bedtime for the ladies both. Jay and I g33ked out playing a boardgame version of X-Wing, with a miniature titular ship and two tie fighters. The setup was simple and we were using the basic rules so the fight didn't take the rest of the night. Here's where I turned the tables on the TIE's, finally: 

Stay on target... stay on target!

It was quite a battle and lasted far longer than either of us expected, culminating in a nail-biting series of shootouts and maneuvers that saw me triumph with a last roll of the dice. By then I was quite worn out by battle fatigue and retired to bed with visions of laser blasts in my head.

Aug 4 - Family and Returning Home

My last day in Ontario was very relaxed, under sunny skies and perfect temperatures.

I had a lovely pancake breakfast with Jay and Ruth-Ann and their daughter Anya. It was necessarily brief, as Ruth-Ann and Anya had to head out to swim lessons while Jay was driving me over to Milton, twenty minutes away.

Why Milton, you ask? Because that's where my cousin Tina and her family live - coincidentally also where my good friend Rob lives too, who was at the cottage last weekend with us. So I was tickled that we could arrange to see Tina today, albeit only for an hour as she was working today. But we still managed to happily catch up on many things before her husband Doug drove us over to her new place of work across town. I've seen her too little in the last half-decade and it was fantastic to be able to spend even that little time with her. She was enthused about my novel and loved the passage she read at random, which made my heart swell that my family thought my work was well-worth reading. It really did.

Back to their home, to a brunch with Doug that Tina had prepared in part for us to enjoy. I was really thrilled to be able to spend time with Doug, as over the years we'd never really connected time-wise. Turns out that as I spent more time with him today than I had in the last ten years, give or take, that we really enjoyed each other's company. He also showed me quite a few family photos to catch me up on things, as they're just about to become empty-nesters and to embark on a new section of their lives. I wish them all the best; it's amazing to have family like them!

Doug drove me to the airport in plenty of time to get checked in. 

I even had enough time to visit the Hamilton Warplane Heritage Museum, a place I'd wanted to go for years but never managed to get to due to the schedule of my visits. Today though, I made a point of walking from the airport doors over to the museum, only ten minutes away. I wanted to see if I could find my grandfather's model aircraft in there, which he'd been working on for most of my life and had donated to the museum after recently completing them.

Wandering the displays brought me to the hangar, a place of wonder.

'F' is for 'Firey Fem' ...

Parked in their places of honour were dozens of planes, deadly still in their silence. I wandered among the planes, able to run a hand along their metal, to feel in their riveted sleekness some of the deadly grace that had roamed the skies in their day. I took quite a few pictures, like these:

It was magical.

The long first leg of my flight home was a noisy one, with a little girl named Veronica being vocally moody for the entire trip in the row in front of me. Earplugs helped, as did earphones, but every passenger in the rear of the plane was quite glad to see her family deplane at Calgary. She was quite the little princess and I hope her parents use today's flight as a catalyst to rein in her behaviour - whew! I'd given up trying to read or write my blog and spent most of those five hours watching an Income Property marathon on the in-flight TV, along with some of the newest Mission Impossible movie - ironic, given the situation.

 

The Vancouver coastline - almost home!

After that, it was quite nice to relax on the hour-long remaining leg of my journey by reading some ebooks on my tablet. The plane debarked at the airport to a glorious sunset and lovely temperatures, which I only caught the last of as my bag was the very last one off the plane. Nice. By the time I got home it was almost 9pm locally, which was 12am according to my body clock. I managed to unpack and get things started on my blog, but I fell asleep at the keyboard and dragged myself to bed well before midnight, dead tired.

But happy! So very, very happy, that I'd been able to see so many of my family and friends on my trip. I'm truly, humbly grateful at how it all worked out! For not having planned ahead intentionally, each day seemed to work itself out perfectly.

Magic. *grin*

There you have it, my trip to Niagara, entire. It was a wonderful, magical time that let me connect with SO MANY friends and family; I feel extremely lucky that things worked out as well as they did without too much planning aforethought. I'm still staggered by how fantastic it was that so many people were able to make time to see me during my too-brief visit and also how little they've changed - in all the right ways - since I saw many of them last. It truly was an amazing week and I'll add some pics to FBook ASAP!