Countdown to Iraq

In Memory of

It's goodbye to another friend. My buddy from Creignish was killed in a car accident a couple of days ago. He was probably the most loyal reader of my previous blog and always had great comments.

He was intellectually inclined with a working man's life. We had great conversations and I was always looking forward to talking to him and hearing his opinions whenever I was back in Creignish.

He will be missed.

This is pretty much how I live my life.

Toronto

On a spur of the moment I decided to go to Toronto and really glad I did. The best weekend in a long time. I met Denise, Ed and Eric and it has been a long time that I have seen the three of them together. It was a long day to get there with a long layover in NYC. I was an hour late leaving Houston but I still went to Midtown and met my cousin and her husband for dinner. It was an excellent restaurant and good to see them. With the hour delay it was a bit rushed so now I had to take a taxi back to the airport and onward to Toronto.

I met up with the three of them in a great Belgium pub smack downtown and it was a fun (and late) night. With a foggy head the next day we walked around for a bit and landed at the Kensington Market (and did not get me a fish to fry) but it was a great day with perfect weather.

It was funny because we decided it would be a grand idea to have a nap so in Denise’s temporary condo that is also smack downtown we put ourselves down for a group nap. And a lovely nap it was.

Showers for everyone and we were off for more of the finest beer the Toronto can make. Ed met up with an ex colleague of his and it was more of the same. Another foggy head and I was back to the airport for a long trip home. It was a very expensive bender but well worth it. Very nice to see old friends.

Onward,

Funky Graffiti in Toronto.  

First trip to Mexico

At the ripe old age at 48 I made my first trip to Mexico. It wasn't really high on my list but I did think about going to see the migration of the monarch butterflies but my buddy Darin emailed about the whale sharks that we near the Cancun Area. Isla Mujeured to be specific.

So three days later were we in Mexico. It was basically Cancun that had no particular appeal for me but I was really looking forward to seeing the sharks. I remember driving from the airport with all the shiny resorts and American influences if there would be any great Mexican food.

As we went over the trip and rules of being in the water we had the added bonus of seeing some very large manta rays. After a 45 minute choppy boat ride we arrives and there were sharks everywhere. We think we saw at least 30 whales and 20 rays. Both species are baleem  feeds and take in a lot of sea water and filter out the plankton. The average size of a shark is about 13 meters and 21 tons. Just amazing to be that close to so many. They are almost harmless to humans. The rays were very graceful to be around as well.

The next day was quiet with us renting a golf cart and went to a turtle hatchery. I basically live on a turtle beach in Nicaragua but still like to see them.

I don't think I would ever go back to Mexico just to go visit a resort but there are lots of interesting

things to do there.

The Creignish Dan C's

A couple of years ago I researched my family tree in Scotland (Hebrides)and found the entire process to be fascinating. Really glad I went and did it. My uncle gave me this picture so I thought I should scan it lest it get lost in some moving shuffles. The thick gent sitting down (not sure what happened to me) is my grandfather, Dan C and the little tyke to his right is my father Black Angus. We are known as the Dan C's. You need to distinguish yourself from the next family because there are so many similar names. And the first thing any Cape Bretoner is going to ask is WHATSYERFAAATHERNAME so you generally attache your father's name to you.

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