I would walk 500 miles

Twas a good week. I clicked over 500 miles of walking to work on Monday morning and 500 miles of running on Thursday evening. A nice way to finish 2008. Can't say it was a lot of work. Didn't have to drag myself out any particular days. I look forward to walking to work starting the night before, so I wake up pretty keen. Most of the running was done with Gonzos, in a group and at set times.

Now I would walk 500 miles
And I would run 500 more
Just to be the man who went 1000 miles
To end up at my door

What's coming up for 2009? Hopefully more of the same. Walking and running are pretty easy sports to carry around with you, so I expect to continue even after leaving Dal and heading out on my trip. In New Zealand, I'd like to spend some big chunks of time just walking.

Airport Arrival info

Spent an interesting hour or so at the Halifax Airport yesterday, theoretically waiting for my daughter's plane to land. The mis-information flying around was stunning. The Arrivals board at the US customs waiting area showed my flight as landed and in Customs, when in fact, I knew that it had just taken off from New York.

This is not a new problem. Over the past 5-6 years, I have seen this happen on every flight that has been delayed (about 50% of the the flights). You complain to the airport, they say it's the airline. You email the airline, they say it's the airport.

The board for Halifax Airport US Customs area displays info based on the published arrival time of the flight. No connection to reality. In fact, thet flight number disappeared off the screen about an hour after it's 'fake' landing.

So, what do we have for customers in this waiting area? 1/3 of the people were wondering why Customs was taking so long. The other 1/3 assumed that the flight had been cancelled. The more aware 1/3 had been on the phone to people who have an internet connection and were checking the flight status with the specific airline (which is the only semi-decent way to get this info)

With all the technology available, to have dozens of people with wildly different views on the status of their flight, makes you wonder just what all that technology does for you.

What's worse than lack of information? How about the mis-information that the Halifax Airport dishes out on a regular basis.

Halifax Explosion

Today, I got up in time to make it to Point Pleasant Park and get in a run. The weather was cold, sunny and very crisp. I love running in that park as the sun comes up or goes down. After changing, I made my way up to the North End for the Halifax Explosion ceremony. This is the 91st year. I started taking my kids when they were quite young, and we did that for 5-6 years. Myself, I have kept going almost every year since then.

It is so easy to be busy and not spend anytime thinking about such a tragic event. The ceremony always affects me quite deeply. Not so much as a Canadian or as a resident of Halifax. More as a citizen of the world. Canada was at war back then. We have soldiers fighting in Afghanistan right now.

It is so easy to glorify times in our past. Horse-drawn carriages, skating on the forzen harbour in winter, listening to the radio with the family on Saturday nights. The reality, life was a good deal harder back in 1917. The war made everything tougher.

Oddly enough, during the moment of silence, I am not thinking about how the explosion affected the people of Halifax. I am thinking about the current residents of places like Mumbai, Baghdad and Darfur to name but a few. When a bomb goes off in a marketplace in Baghdad, think of the effect that it has on the locals that are left behind. Family members are dead, friends are gone.

For every person that dies, many more are injured, some quite seriously. The hospitals are full, confusion reigns everywhere. If you live there, your market is gone. Where do you go now? How safe are you every time you go out for the necessities of life? Your country is a mess with no real end in sight. There is no real rule of law, just rule of might.

Are the people of Baghdad any different than those who suffered in the Halifax Explosion? Innocents caught up in the mindless terror of war.

Coalition - NO Coalition

While it's nice to see Canadian politics take up some of the news-cycle, the timing is very unfortunate. We need a strong government and a strong leader. I doubt the Coalition could order a pizza without falling into disarray. As talented and bright as Stéphane Dion is...no one sees him as a leader. Not of his party, not of a Majority government, and certainly not of a Coalition. Put in Jack Layton or Gilles Duceppe. Someone who commands the respect of his/her peers.

My politics? Left of center. I vote against a Coalition.

Yin Yang

To me, yin yang implies balance. We go thru life struggling to maintain balance in many aspects of our lives. How to mix discipline and love when raising a child. How to enjoy life without losing focus. How to spend time productively and still leave empty time for ourselves.

I do a lot of outdoor sports in all sorts of weather and sometimes trying conditions. when queried about why one chases down activities that will make you sore, wet, uncomfortable...the answer:

"It feels so good when I stop"

Spend 4 days hiking and paddling and cooking outside, sleeping on the ground in freezing temperatures, trying to keep at least some of your clothes dry. Then get in your nice, warm car and head to a Timmies for a coffee and doughnut. Oh my! Get home, crack open
beer and sit in the tub listening to opera. Wow! Have a nice shave, get dressed in your jammies, crack open another beer and sit down to read a few days of newspapers. Incredible.

Find a really cold watering hole, say, the small pond outside the hut at Lakes of the Clouds, just below the peak of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Pick a cold, windy day where all you want is some nice hot tea, toast and a bowl of soup. Before settling in, go up to the pond, take off you clothes and jump in the damn-near freezing water. The initial cost is high. But the reward! The second after you are immersed in the frigid water, your body cranks out enough adrenaline to keep you happy for quite some time. The feeling is exhilarating.

A lot of the Gonzo hiking/biking/paddling trips take place in the spring and/or fall seasons. Less tourists to deal with, easier to get time off, etc. There are always rainy, miserable days. It's like a price needs to be paid to have one of those glorious sunny, warm days where the whole world seems just right. So you hike all day with rain running down the back of your neck and all your clothes sticking to you and no views to speak of...yet at the end of the day, you have a nice, big, communal meal at the Farm with your best of Gonzo buddies. Wine bottles are opened, someone is taking pictures, Duffy is expounding on one topic after another, after another. You are thinking to yourself:

"It doesn't get any better than this"

And yet, the next day is a perfect weather day, you run into many other like-minded hikers, everyone is in a great mood and the views are stunning.

To me, yin yang is found in this balance of contrasts. One doesn't happen without the other. The comfort and enjoyment are hiding behind some discomfort and physical stress. By putting myself in situations that test my mettle a bit, I am rewarded with experiences that fulfil me.