At the Franklin Club

We had dinner at the Franklin Club tonight. Here we are in the clubhouse. I know we are all smiling, but the evening was kind of sad for me. You see, this was our last dinner together. Tomorrow the girls are going back to Japan. It's been a great month! We've had lots of laughs and good times and I know we will have many memories! I came to love these girls as if they were my own daughters! I will miss them. But who knows! Maybe our paths will cross again one day. I want to go to Japan in the future and see the country that turns their children into such wonderful, caring and polite young adults. I want to meet the people who respect each other and their environment. And I want to see all the sights, taste all the foods and experience all the customs that the girls have told me about. Most of all I want to see the cherry blossoms in spring time. One day I will do all that! But for now I wish them a safe journey home. Followed by a lifetime of health and happiness. Best wishes for your future, my Japanese daughters. I will never forget you!

Niagara Falls

Great Day! Lots of sunshine! High of 25C. Lots of cool water spray from the falls. Look! We're soaking wet! But it was fun. We stayed late to watch them light up the falls with beautiful coloured lights, from the top of the Skylon Tower! Got home late. Happy, but exhausted!

A Delicious Japanese Dinner

Our guests cooked us a traditional Japanese dinner tonight. They found the recipes in a cookbook that I had bought a long time ago. I had never made any of these recipes, because I didn't know where to find all the ingredients. But they went to the St. Lawrence Market this morning and found everything they needed. In the afternoon, we went over to my daughter's place and they cooked up a storm! The menu included Miso soup and Nikujaga, which was a meat and potatoes kind of dish. I was surprised that this would be a traditional meal - it sounded so Canadian, but they assured me that this is something every mother knows how to make. It was delicious! They also cooked up some Tofu Steaks. Very delicious also, especially with the Seven Spice and Soy Sauce. Yummy!

Art Exhibition in the Distillery District

It is always interesting to see an art exhibition, but this one was especially good because my daughter knew the artist, Lillan Rosendal. She is on the right and is known for her exquisite watercolour paintings! The show was held down in the Distillery District.

This area had originally been the brewery of the Gooderham and Worts Company. Since 1837 they produced whiskey and beer, making it the largest distillery in the British Empire at that time. Gooderham and Worts closed its doors around 1990, after 170 years of business. The area was later restored and today it is the only pedestrian village within our city. The forty plus buildings house various galleries, artists' studios and workshops, restaurants and boutiques. It is said to be the best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America.

We decided to stay in the District and have dinner at one of the outdoor cafes after the art show closed. This is the first time I had been down to this area and I was pleasantly surprised. The whole place had a very European feeling about it - probably due to the old stone buildings, cobblestone streets and outdoor cafes.

Special events like festivals, art shows and musical performances are held here throughout the summer months. I plan to return next summer and will make note of some of the interesting happenings taking place then.

Who was Here First?

Canada is a mosaic of peoples. We come from every corner of the world. We speak every language, worship every religion and practice every culture. But what about the people who called this land home long before the first 'white men' came? Our aboriginal peoples. We decided to visit Petroglyphs Provincial Park today. This is a very special park. Here native culture is evident in the form of rock carvings. This site is considered profoundly sacred by Aboriginal people. They use this area to pray, fast and conduct ceremonies. These rocks are thought of as a living body, possessed with spirit. We could actually feel the spirits as we entered the building that has been erected to protect the rock carvings from acid rain and other erosion. We took no photos because the Native peoples have asked that visitors not take photos while at the site since this would weaken the spiritual powers of the rocks. After a visit to the rock site and a short walk to a newly built visitor centre to learn more about about the park, we had a picnic lunch.
On our way to the picnic area, we passed a beaver lodge in a pond beside the road. No beavers were visible at that moment, but we did have other nature sightings. A white-tailed deer walked out in front of our car as we made our way to the picnic grounds. He quickly went back into the forest when he saw us. But soon we came across another young buck, eating the low green vegetation. He was much more friendly and posed for us, so I was able to get a photo of him. Cute, eh?
We also encountered some red squirrels who were not happy that we decided to sit at a picnic table in their 'backyard'. They chattered at us as we ate and one even went so far as to climb to the highest branches of a tall pine tree and throw pine cones at us! Needless to say, we didn't stay long! All in all it was a worthwhile and interesting day. On our way home, we decided to go out to a Japanese restaurant for sushi.
We went to Little Tokyo and ordered the bento boxes. There was way too much food, so we put it into containers and brought it home with us. We will eat sushi for breakfast tomorrow morning! It doesn't get much better than that, folks! From a native spiritual world to a restaurant serving sushi - we came a long way today.

A Few Hours at Rouge Beach

It's amazing how a few hours of nature's solitude has the ability to rejuvenate us. We spend the morning at Rouge Beach. There were only a few people there, even though the weather was hot and sunny. It was very quiet and peaceful on the beach. We all welcomed the silence to re-energize ourselves. A group of sailboats floated on the lake in front of us. The only sounds were those of the waves, washing up onto the sand. Occasionally a gull would screech, as gulls often do to tell each other the latest news. A gaggle of geese flew low over the water. They glided in on air currents and made a few short goose sounds before landing a short distance away. Happy children's voices could be heard from the water's edge as they tried to outrun the waves. Some regal swans swam amongst the reeds in the wetlands and a tall, white heron flew to within a few feet of us to feed on the tiny fish along the water's edge. Fishermen were everywhere, trying to catch that one big salmon or trout of the summer! The only sound that brought us back to reality was that of the occasional train as it raced across the rails high above us - off to Oshawa, Kingston or Montreal! We could only imagine! Everything was peaceful and soon we were all dozing in the shade of a few huge willow trees. After a couple of hours of relaxation we were rested, energized and ready to take on the world! But we were also hungry! So it was off to McDonald's for lunch. Nature at our doorstep and fast food only minutes away. Wow! Canada - what a country!

Two Flowers Among Many!

We took a drive downtown today to check out the location of the ELS school and other tourist sites. It was nice and quiet downtown because today is a holiday - Simcoe Day. No traffic and very few pedestrians. We ended up at Allen Gardens. The flowers there were magnificent!

Ribfest!

We took our Japanese daughters to ribfest today. It was sort of embarrassing - kind of like a big redneck party - no place to park - lots of food - lots of beer - loud country music - people dancing and singing in the aisles - games - rides - too many people and too many baby strollers. What more could anyone ask for? Oh, well. At least I didn't have to cook tonight!