Hecla and Gimli on Winnipeg

That’s not an entirely made-up headline. It’s a scramble of where we are—as a cool-sounding phrase that reminds me of the Star Trek episode, ”Darmok and Jalad at Tamagra,” where Picard has to learn an alien’s language—that’s all in metaphor—to survive. It’s one of my favorite episodes. We are indeed on Hecla Island on Lake […]

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Mosquitos v. Bear

If this were who would win in a battle here in Manitoba: a swarm of these dragonfly-sized mosquitos or an average-sized black bear, I would bet on the bear, based on how I’ve seen Banjo react to mosquitos. She doesn’t, is the thing. They’ll cover her so that we have to wipe them off her […]

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Canadians …

We’re more than halfway through our summer tour of Canada (well, let’s count this as more like a first-time swing through), and I’ve come to a few conclusions. Okay, in truth this is a photo dump before we leave Saskatchewan for Manitoba tomorrow, and I hate not to have text with images. So, here goes […]

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Saskatoons and Blueberries

Jacqui (queen of this blog, if you’ve been following) gathered Saskatoon berries along the river valley as a kid in Canada even though most other non-native folks like her didn’t even know about them; her mom is a botanist, which has perks. She pointed them out to us near Edmonton, and now we see them […]

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Two Days in Edmonton

(Okay, that top shot looks like I’m showing off my new haircut, but it’s the only picture I took of downtown Edmonton and therefore subject-appropriate. Plus, new haircut!) I drafted a post here about the two extra camping days we booked after Jasper, near Edmonton so I could see my friends there just a wee […]

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A Reunion in Jasper Despite Angry Fates

A long-awaited reunion of two families (and life-long friends) finally happened at the campsite beside us at Jasper–one mother-daughter pair from as far as New Zealand—and against every obstacle the universe could throw at them. Let’s see, the absurd events that seemed to conspire against this reunion include: Lightning struck Ruth’s house the day after […]

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