Life's a Stitch

Three castles in the morning and the afternoon at the Dead Sea

Qasr al-Asraq was out first stop, about 60 miles from Amman. To give you and idea of it's location, these were the choices at the main crossroads.

On the way we passed a UN refugee camp that housed 40,000 Syrians in a model consisting of four villages of prefabricated buildings, not the tents you see frequently in the news. Families live together in one room. There are schools with classrooms of 75 students, a hospital, health clinics, a solar power plant, 390 shops, and community centres. 100 babies are born there monthly. There are income generating programs for refugees as well as the availability of 1300 work permits for employment outside of the camp. I'm sure it's not as rosy a picture as the one painted on the UN website. After a career in community social services I found it fascinating.

The Asraq fortress was built by the Romans and was in use in the 13th-16th centuries and again in 1917-1918 where the real Lawrence of Arabia based his operations. It was strategically located geographically and had access to water from a nearby oasis that no longer exists.

The second stop was Qusayr 'Amra, built in 743 A.D., as a royal retreat including a bathhouse. The amazing feature of this castle was the extensive artwork - the frecoes covering the walls and ceilings.

Next up was Qasr Harrana, a 60 room castle built in 710AD, and there is debate as to its use: accommodation for caravan travellers, military fort, a Crusader's Castle, and the one use all historian agree upon, a meeting place for Bedouin leaders. 

It was interesting to visit three castles each with unique architecture. At all three stops, though, our guide noted the lack of tourists as ours was the only bus in the parking lots that day.

On to the Dead Sea. Again, the location was disconcerting given the state of the world, 6 km from Israel. We noticed hazy skies and suspected drifting smoke from Gaza or from farther away Beirut, but tour guides assured us it was "the hot weather."

We floated in the Dead Sea and slathered ourselves in the mud. You would think that the high salt content would dry your skin to a crisp, but the mud was very moisturizing. Our photos aren't very good as they were taken through a plastic bag. Afterwards we spent time at the pool prior to heading back to Amman.

Wadi Rum

Nope, not a brand of alcoholic beverage, especially in a strict Muslim country. Wadi Rum is a place in the desert, that in Arabic, translates to a vlley iof high places or a valley of sand. It's also known as the valley of the moon. You might recognize it a a location for movies: Lawrence of Arabia, Indian Jones and the Last Crusade, Aladdin and Dune. 

We piled into a caravan of 4x4's to get to our quite luxurious desert camp for a one night stay. Dinner was cooked underground - lamb, chicken and veggies buried in a vault covered by sand and heated underneath by coals from a wood fire. I was still not feeling well from my Little Petra experience, but I made sure I tasted a bite of both delicious meats.

There was an optional sunrise tour by camel that we passed on, having done it in Morocco, but Mack and Rika's photos were amazing.

 

An adventure of a lifetime: Jordan and Egypt

It was over a year ago that we booked our trip to Jordan and Egypt with Mack and Rika. Between then and now the Middle East changed dramatically. Between assurances from the travel company that our itinerary was safe and the fact that cancellation would involve a 70% penalty off we went. It did feel safe, but there was a definite lack of tourists. Petra normally has thousands of daily visitors. There were 200 on the day we were there.  

Petra is a city carved into the rocks, that reached its peak population of 20,000 in the 1st century AD. Petra has a long and interesting history and you might recognize it from the last Indiana Jones movie. We spent the day walking in the heat through the beautiful rock canyon then through the ancient the city and back. I'd post more photos, but as usual, Typepad is having uploading issues. One of these days I'm going to host my own blog, but the transfer of data from 20 yers of blogging scares me, given Typepad's track record of technical difficulties. 

Afterwards we escaped the heat in the Cave, one of the only bars in Petra, carved into the mountain.  Hmm it seems I have fewer issues with photos shot in landscape mode.

The view from our hotel in Petra:

The next day we visited Little Petra, located in a community of Bedouins, traditionally nomads, who have settled in a small community. A market is at the entrance to the ruins. There are no photos, and this time it's not Typepad's fault. Shortly after our arrival and initial history lesson, I wasn't feeling well and let the group go on. Chuck stayed with me. Good thing, because when I got up I fainted onto the desert. Other tourists and people who worked at the market came to my assistance. I was well taken care of and we offered the Bedouin stall owner a gift of money in thanks and he refused. Turns out, although I drank plenty of water, I was dehydrated, as the highly filtered bottled water contained no electrolytes. From that day on I faithfully added electrolytes to my water bottle. 

Summer of '24 - Part 2

Note: I am going to publish this post despite the fact that only two photos would upload. I tried on three devices to no avail. I'll try again another day, but for now this is all I have.

Our monthlong camping and visiting trip was delayed by a day due to refrigerator failure. A six year old Whirlpool fridge, already repaired once, deemed not good enough to sink another penny into. Really? As it's a secondary refrigerator, we replaced it with a decent looking cheap one from China and added a five year warranty for $215. The good news is that if you don't use the warranty, you get the premium back in the form of store credit.

We had scheduled two nights with Mack and Rika in Kamloops and a night on the road to meet up with Elina and family  at Pembina River Provincial Park in AB. We reduced the visit to one night and drove all the way to AB in a 10.5 hour day, defying my usual limit of 4-5 hours when pulling the trailer. There were magnificent views around every curve on the Yellowhead Highway.

We camped right on a river that worked out well fishing-wise and enjoyed our traditional steak dinner. 

After two nights we followed them home to Sherwood Park. 

Next stop was the Burn in the Forest Festival, the AB regional Burning Man yearly event, where we met up with Mari, KC, Bryant and Sammy. If you've ever thought of attending Burning Man, but it feels overwhelming, I highly recommend looking into your regional festivals. this one with 1300 participants was much more manageable than 70,000+. BC's version, Burn in the Forest has 3000. The smaller festivals follow the ten principles of Burning Man and include the traditional man effigy burn and some semblance of a temple burn, a solemn experience. 

Fulfilling the principle of participation, we set up a crokinole table and offered free lessons.

The principle of gifting required the giving of something with no expectation of return. We met our camping neighbour, a delightful young man, who was the designer and builder of the festival's man. Sometimes us older folk can be treated dismissively by some younger ones. Not Blake, he was truly interested in us and called us by name every time he saw us. I decided he would be the recipient of my gift. I did a painting of his man's burn and gave him the choice of being surprised or seeing a photo in advance, the option he chose. I shipped the painting on a Friday.  After seeing the photo on Saturday, he told me the captured moment gave him goosebumps and he’d treasure it. It would not be for long. The next day, Sunday, this healthy 41 year old passed away from a cardiac event. A real loss of an ingenious, creative young man who never saw the real painting. I was determined to get it to his mom, and though it took a long time and a bit of anguish, thank goodness it's finally in her hands as of this week. I wanted to gift a painting that would be special to the recipient. Despite the circumstances I think it fulfilled its mission.

To be continued...

The Summer of '24 Part 1

It seems I’m always in a state of catching up. Why did I think retirement would be different? It’s been nine years and I’m nowhere near caught up!

Covid behind me, off we went to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit Chuck's midwest family.

We headed up to Petenwell Lake to the new lake house.

Where we took part in feasts:

(although I don’t drink them, they sure know how to make a Bloody Mary in WI, appearing to be a meal in a glass)

and we saw our share of wild beasts:

Back in Minnesota, there were opportunities for the Boesen family to get together:

One evening grandniece Kirsten didn't want to miss out on the Boesen action and initiated a family face time where she and Ben could be included to announce their engagement, which occurred at the moment of totality in the recent solar eclipse. How romantic is that? 

Good old fashioned midwest thunder storms produced amazing sunrises.

Next up: The Summer of '24 Part 2: The monthlong circle trip of camping and visiting.

 

 

 

Paint Out Retreat

I finally tested negative for Covid, just in the nick of time. Once a year our art society sponsors a three night non-instructional retreat and I was afraid I’d be missing it. The other good news was that Bryant, Sammy and Chuck, as well as visitors Blogless Marsha and David all escaped contagion. I was the only “lucky” recipient.

 

It’s an opportunity to gather with fellow artists, in a beautiful setting, to give and receive feedback and learn from each other. I used it to finish neglected paintings as well as to create a new one.

 

At Look Lake Lodge and Retreat Centre, we were a group of mostly grey/white haired women and one man. Reminds me of the European art study tour I took between grades nine and ten, two nuns, 42 girls and one boy (the nephew of one of nuns).

 

I painted a statue of a horse, 11x14 watercolour,  a technique learned from David and Susan Avis Murphy (YouTube). It’s just the head of the statue as this steed’s rider is not an admirable historical figure:

Inspired by a photo I took from the Pacific Coast cruise earlier this month, I finished two small paintings of a lighthouse near Cape Disappointment, WA. During daylight:

Then I painted the same scene at night, still mesmerized by our recent Aurora experience. Both lighthouse paintings are 8x10 watercolours:

Already looking forward to next year's retreat.

 

Aurora Borealis!

Note: once again, depending on my phone for posting, the typeface and photos are glitchy. 

While in Iceland, it was a disappointment to miss the Northern Lights by 15 minutes. I had seen green aurora previously in Edmonton from a distance and was hoping for something more impressive. Who knew it would be so spectacular, just 15 minutes from home.

On the 10th of May, still in the throes of Covid I had an outing.  We drove to a nearby isolated bluff in a more rural area and parked facing north. A little while later we were joined by another Aurora seeker on the other side of the street. At 10:39 I heard a car door open and he was outside facing south. Deciding to do the same, I noticed swirling clouds above us. He took a photo with his phone and they were tinged with pink. Then the show began. It got brighter and thicker. At one point it was a dome raining down pink and green streaks of light.

 

When we arrived home at midnight, we

could still see it from our deck. If we hadn’t have faced south we would have missed the best part of the show. Who would have thought, given the name Northern Lights.

 

Ever practical C, summed up his thoughts: this sure saved us a lot of money as we don’t need to return to Iceland to chase the Aurora. 

 

Post cruise covid

The dreaded C-word caught up with me despite seven jabs of the vaccine. Of course I was in a high risk area, a cruise ship. Thank goodness it didn't hit until several days afterwards or I could be writing about cruise quarantine, but no there's doubt as to its origin.

We made the decision to cruise home from California, rather than fly, which despite my current state was an excellent idea. Bryant and fiancee, Sammy, accompanied us and although we were worried about their experience with the typical passenger demographic being several decades older. The young people on the ship seem to find each other and in San Diego and San Francisco they were able to meet friends in port. B described the trip as life changing, as cruising is now a vacation goal for him.

B & S boarding the ship:

San Diego: we were lucky to land on the weekend of the MissionFed ArtWalk, a huge free street art festival within walking distance of the pier. We had our photo taken at the colourful Sarah Stieber Gallery.

San Francisco: the view from our balcony that included all the highlights: the Transamerica pyramid building, Telegraph Hill. the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

View of the ship from Astoria, Oregon

Pulling in to Victoria, BC. Washington’s Mt.Baker looming large in the distance.

Back home in our beautiful city of Vancouver.

Disembarking:

The weather was beautiful, the seas were calm with the exception of one day and a good time was had by all.

An adventure: Ups and a down

When my kids returned from camp I’d ask them “what was the best part and what was the worst?” The trip down south this year had many highs: my BIG birthday, the family time documented with the official photo via drone, adventures with friends, but one stands out as a truly unique experience.

From the time we started visiting the desert we’d spend a day at Joshua Tree National Park, envious of people camping there. We vowed we’d do it someday. We priced a rental camper last years and it was extortionate.

When we picked up our rental car this year at the airport we were given a choice for an upgrade: a Mustang or a Pacifica minivan. No choice for us, the Pacific opened up a world of possibilities with tumble down seats, and the first thing I thought of was camping.

Research on the Pacifica forum pointed us to perfectly sized memory foam mattresses. Craig’s List found us a brand new camp stove, the result of a Girl Scout who refused to camp after a backyard tent trial. The rest was thrown together from home and off we went.

The worst part: the plan was to drive up, arriving for lunch at bbq restaurant, Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneer Town. Didn’t research that one. On our way we discovered it was closed Monday and Tuesdays. Now that the worst part is out of the way, it left room for the best.

We’ve camped for many years,  but this site was the most spectacular we’ve experienced.

The breakfast view from the picnic table:

On the way back from my morning walk:

It was a camping dream come true.

Family, friends, food and fun

The trip to California covered the family portion in the last post, this one’s dedicated to the friends who visited this year.

First up were our camping pals, Mack and Rika. My favourite part of their visit was our hike on the ladder trail of Painted Canyon, with Mari and KC,  as well as all the good food and wine. I’m looking forward to camping with them again this summer.

Next was Nancy, who we know from our years in Omaha. She arrived bearing gifts including two dozen frozen runzas, my favourite fast food from over 40 years ago. I never thought I’d taste them again. What a treat. I inherited the cabbage loving genes from the Polish side of my PoliRican heritage.

We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years and we picked up right where we left off.

Karen and Allan arrived the day after Nancy left. K was a former colleague of C’s and they were neighbours of ours in North Vancouver. We have shared so much together including the simultaneous selling of our family homes and renovating and moving to our retirement places. We’re all artists in our later years and have enjoyed travelling together.

Good food comes with good friends and family. Where else but in California can you get artichokes at the dollar store?

I spent lots of time in the kitchen, which I enjoy. This year’s new menus included an Indian meal: eggplant bharta, butter chicken and beef Rogan Josh, the latter two recipes from this fantastic cookbook.

We discovered gnudi, an easy homemade low carb pasta, made with ricotta, eggs, cheese, and a wee bit of flour.

Family, friends, fun and food, that about sums it up. Now let’s see if the photos will upload! Fingers crossed. 

Update: It took an average of two tries per photo, but it worked. This gives me incentive to try to catch up with the trip to Iceland and beyond.