Tulip Time

Every spring here in Ottawa we celebrate the beginning of the season with the blossoming of the tulip at the Canadian Tulip Festival. Of course, you have to understand that I’m not talking about a small grouping of tulips like you would find in a home garden. I’m talking about the largest tulip festival in the world! At Dow’s Lake (Commissioners Park) where I was today, there are 30 huge beds filled with 300,000 tulips of 60 different varieties. Citywide, there are nearly a million tulips in full bloom. I’m sure you can imagine how extraordinarily colourful and beautiful it is here at this time of year (despite the cold).

The tulips are a special gift from Holland to Canada. During the second world war, Canadian troops helped to liberate the Dutch people and to give safe harbour to the royal family during the German occupation creating a close bond of friendship between the two countries. The tulip is a symbol of this friendship and every year since 1953, this symbol has been celebrated at the festival. The National Capital Commission (NCC) is responsible for planting and maintaining the tulip beds. The displays are no less than stunning. Their gardeners effectively preserve the heritage of the festival by attracting and impressing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

If you would like to read more about the history between Canada and Holland, please click here to go to the official Canadian Tulip Festival website.

Once again, I had only my lowly Samsung phone with me, but I managed to capture several nice shots of the beauty that surrounded me today. I thought I would share them with you. Enjoy.

Pink and White Beauties

The beds seem to stretch on forever.

Yellow and Red with Pink Apple blossoms

The Grape Hyacinth

Let the Sun Shine In

“Love Always”

We all know mothers. Whether they are our blood, adoptive, or even surrogate they all hold special places in our lives. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have a multitude of wise and loving older women in our lives who give us wide range of perspectives and support. I am lucky this way. Being adopted as a newborn I grew up in a tight-knit family with a very loving and wonderful mother. The same year I lost her to cancer, I found my birth mother with whom I’ve developed a very close and loving relationship. I have also known several women in my life who became like a Mom-away-from-mom and they are loved and appreciated for their significant roles in my life as well. It’s amazing how these bonds are formed and can never be shaken throughout our lives.

About a month ago I was travelling in North Country New York state in the quaint and lovely villages just south of Syracuse. While perusing the local artisan shops, I came across an artist whose work I could not ignore (nor did I want to ignore it). Bright, lively, and happy is the only way I can start to describe Lori Portka‘s work. Her mixed-media paintings bring colour and warmth to any room. In fact, I bought two prints for my office which, as soon as the space is ready, I can’t wait to hang. These days, when you find an artist whose work you admire, you look for their website which I did with Ms. Portka. Her most recent posting highlighted her newest painting called “Love Always” which she had copied and printed as Mother’s Day cards. This beautiful painting (shown below) and its message was the motivation behind this post.

Love Always (Lori Portka)

The inspiration for this post is, of course, all the women who came to mind when I saw the painting. To my mothers who have loved me without reservation or condition, Happy Mother’s Day. I love you always. To the women who took me under their wings and cared, you’ll always be in my heart. To the rest of you who are mothers and have mothers. Happy Mother’s Day. Celebrate well and love always.

Wham!

No…not Wham!…Wake me up before you go-go. Wham! The ball is out of the park! Softball season has arrived once again much to the joy of my son, who played last year, and also my daughter, who is playing for the first time. Each of them has already had one practice and we’ll be out for my son’s first game tonight.

I used to play ball when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. In my late 20′s I also got into playing on a mixed adult slow-pitch team. That was great fun and did it for quite a few years. So, in a city full of soccer kids, I rather delight in my children’s choice in softball instead. Oh, don’t get me wrong! I very much enjoy soccer but the leagues here tend to fill up quickly and cost a pretty penny too. The other thing is that I’m much more knowledgeable about skills in softball than in soccer so I can help my kids to learn.

Stratford Kinettes 1983 (that’s me kneeling on the far right)

As I was watching my daughter’s first practice today, a woman in her 60′s passed by walking a dog. She stopped to watch the other little girl on Anna’s team learning to hit. It’s a mixed team but mostly boys and I think the woman delighted in seeing the young girls giving it a go. We struck up a conversation and she told me she lived in the neighbourhood near the diamond and always saw groups of young kids learning to play various sports. She had coached soccer and we marveled together how wonderful it was to see how quickly kids pick up new things and to watch their progression over a season.

My daughter in action.

Anna came up to practice her batting. The coach gave her some instruction and then came the pitch. Wham! Another pitch. Wham! And another. Wham! “Your daughter’s a natural! I’m actually full of pride right now.” the woman exclaimed and, naturally, I beamed with pride. She’s very athletic, I admitted. “Well, good for her. She’s going to do very well.” I decided immediately that I liked this woman whom I would probably never see again. She had a great spirit. Of course, we’ll play and practice at the same diamond again so she and I may cross paths another day…I hope.

Later that day, as the evening sun glistened through the new spring leaves and cast a magical glow about the park, I watched my son hit a triple at his game. The smile on his face made me very happy. One because it’s satisfying knowing that this was not something I pushed my kids into. They chose the game for themselves and are learning to love it for themselves. And two because I remember how it felt when the ball came in contact with that perfect spot on the bat and it just seemed to fly and I’m glad my kids can experience it too. It’s not something you can ever explain to someone. I guess it’s just another cherished connection between us.

The Gloucester Spit Fires

Can you tell I’m looking forward to the rest of the season? Enjoy your “season” whatever it happens to be, sport or otherwise, and making meaningful connections between people.

Forever Looking West

It’s Christmas day and all the presents have been opened. The turkey dinner is a few hours away and the kids are restless already. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Thunder Bay where we’re visiting relatives but, with the windchill, the temperature is a frigid -23 C (-9 F). Too cold for the kids to play outside – definitely not good for tobogganing – and the stores are closed. So what can we do? Although Thunder Bay doesn’t have a lot to offer commercially, I’ve always admired it for its scenery. I love to take drives along the railroad tracks to see the massive grain elevators and paper mills, or down to the harbour that offers a gorgeous view of Lake Superior, or up to High Street to look out over the roof tops of Port Arthur. Further afield there is boundless natural beauty from Mount MacKay in the South to Sibley Park in the Northeast, and Kakabeka Falls in the West. Over the years of visiting here, the kids have seen all these places (often more than once) and enjoyed them. But there is one important stop we have never made – to the Terry Fox Memorial Lookout.

I was 11 when I first heard about Terry Fox. He started his Marathon of Hope shortly after my birthday in 1980. It didn’t take me long to become completely enthralled in learning about the man and his mission. In fact, I still have the scrapbook I filled with every newspaper article and photograph I could get my hands on. I followed radio and television news reports and interviews and wrote a school project on my new Canadian hero. I couldn’t believe the struggle he went through every day and his determination to push on as far as he could for the benefit of all Canadians, and cancer victims of the world. I was crushed when I wasn’t able to see him run through my home town. I don’t remember the reason why I couldn’t go, just the indescribable disappointment of not being able to see my hero and losing the chance to possibly thank him in person. When he ended his journey on September 1st in Thunder Bay due to the discovery that his cancer had returned, I think there was a huge dark cloud of sadness that enveloped all of Canada. He had run for 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi).1

I remember the day Terry died, June 28th, 1981. I was in Muskoka with my grandparents. Everyone had hoped Terry would overcome the cancer but it was not to be. I also remember my Grandfather crying. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was already sick with cancer himself. In Terry’s remembrance and to raise money for cancer, every year Terry Fox Runs are held all over Canada and throughout the world. My children have been involved in the run at school for the last 5 years. Before the run, they are educated in who Terry was and what he stood for.  This year my son, who is 9, seemed to really take the experience to heart. He remembered, on his own, his Grandmother who died from cancer when he was only 2. When he came home and I saw his running bib, I was filled with pride and emotion. Later he told me everything he had learned about Terry in school and that his desire was, when he grew up, to complete Terry’s run. At that moment, I thought that it would be meaningful for him to see the memorial the next time we were in Thunder Bay.

I was right.

The monument has a powerful presence. Although it is difficult to see it from Highway 17, the view from the memorial is stunning. It overlooks the highway where Terry ran, Lake Superior, and the Sleeping Giant near the horizon. It is quiet and peaceful…especially on a cold Christmas day…and is surrounded by the beauty of nature. My son and I made sure to discover and read every part of the memorial. We looked up at the statue of Terry a long time. The sculptor had caught the intense difficulty, perhaps even pain, of Terry’s daily run but also his incredible physical strength, determination and amazing courage. As we walked away, back to the car, I turned and looked one last time. I realized that he was positioned forever facing West…immortalized in his quest to reach his home in British Columbia and to fulfill his mission and his dream.

Although my purpose of writing this post was merely to impart to you my experiences, I will include a link below if any of you wish to donate to the Terry Fox foundation.

The Amazing Meromictic Lake

A few weeks ago I took the kids on a hike through a nature trail up in beautiful Gatineau Park. The park is just over the border into Quebec, about 30 minutes from my house in Ottawa and I figured it would be a nice outing. Up in the park there are so many amazing trails that choosing one over another can be difficult. I needed one that wasn’t too long for 7 – 9 years olds but long enough to give them some exercise and to enjoy their natural surroundings. I remembered years ago visiting a trail called Pink Lake and when I checked it out online I found it was only 2 km long which, I figured, was perfect. Besides remembering that the trail was a really nice one, the only other thing I knew was that the lake was a beautiful shade of turquoise, despite its name (it was named after the Pink family who lived in the area). I was eager to show it off to the kids.

Pink Lake Observation Deck

The interesting thing about the Gatineau Park trails (aside from the astounding beauty) are the abundance of information signs. These signs are posted along the trail, give you further insight into your surroundings – much more than, unless you were a geologist or biologist, you would be able discover on your own. The introductory sign at Pink Lake describes it as a Meromictic Lake. The essence of a meromictic lake is that the surface waters and the lower waters never mix. Because of the shape of the lake and that it is surrounded by hills on all sides, it gets very little wind across it to stir the waters. The bottom 7 metres (23 feet) of water in the lake, therefore, has no oxygen in it. It has been this way for 10,000 years!

Reminded Me of a Shot I took in the Mediterranean (Click to see)

Very little life can live in these oxygen-free waters. Only a prehistoric organism, the pink photosynthetic bacterium, inhabits them and uses sulphur instead of oxygen to transform sunlight into energy. Another form of life in Pink Lake, that lives within the oxygenated waters, is the Three-spined Stickleback fish, also of prehistoric origins. The Stickleback was a salt water fish left behind by the Champlain Sea which used to cover the area during the late glacial period, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. Over time, the Stickleback adjusted to the desalination of the lake and now exists as a freshwater fish!

The Huge Contrast of Water Colour

The unfortunate thing is that the environment at Pink Lake is very delicate. Gatineau Park conservationists have worked very hard to reduce the impact of visitors by building walkways and asking visitors not to stray from the paths, nor to remove foliage or animals natural to the area. Although the waters look inviting, the beautiful turquoise hue is due to a dangerous algae in the waters which could, if it continues to take over the oxygen, suffocate the entire lake. Although, naturally, this process usually takes 1000′s of years, before the strict visitor guidelines were put in place, the process had been sped up to the point it may have taken only a few decades. Now it may be preserved for several generations to come.

Enjoying the View from the Trail

If you’re ever in the area it is a unique and fascinating, not to mention breathtaking, place to visit. There is also, along the trail, an old Mica mine which was dug and mined around the turn of last century. Pieces of Mica surround the deep gorge where the mine used to exist. My son found this part very interesting. So, there are lots to see! Strap on your hiking shoes, bring your camera, and look forward to a great journey and to learn a little history of the area along the way.

Our Little Friend the Chipmunk

A Summer of Canadian History

MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre

Summer vacation is fast approaching and the kids are at the age where boredom arises very quickly, especially for my 9-year-old. Years ago, when the kids were smaller, I was very good at planning days around naps. We went on outings to parks and museums, we had structured times for snacks and crafts and, for the most part, the day went very smoothly until the suicide hour (dinner prep time)…of which no stay-at-home parent has much control. That daily catastrophe seems to have lessened with time, happily, but the need for structure, is still relevant…especially for me. As much as I love the freedom of summer, I also have difficulty moving from a structured school year to a completely open calendar. Now lest you think I am one of these parents who schedules their children to death. No, I am not. I definitely believe in the advantages of free play. But there is only an advantage to it if the kids are engaged and not complaining of boredom or not spending all of their time in front of a screen. So, I have decided to take summer by the reigns and ride it out with a theme in mind. Canadian History.

Children’s Museum – The Canadian Museum of Civilization

It may actually be more appropriately named, Ontario History, as Canada is such a huge country with a diverse history, it would take us multiple summers to skim the surface. But, whatever, I’m not putting out a bloody brochure so I shall digress no further. Luckily, Ottawa is a great place to be if you want to delve into the history of the country, the province, and the city. The first place I always think of when someone says they want to know more about Canadian History, is the Canadian Museum of Civilization. My kids love the Children’s Museum, which is a section of the Museum of Civilization. This year, I may, however, encourage them to explore beyond the Children’s Museum. As good as it is for kids, there are so many interesting things in the main museum that give excellent insight into our history. Not only does the museum cover our pioneer past, they have in-depth exhibits on aboriginal history and arctic exploration.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

The Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canada Museum of Science and Technology, the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, the Canada Agriculture Museum and the Canadian War Museum are all national museums to which we have access, not to mention Parliament Hill and the Governor General’s Estate. I’m sure we will visit each one but I would like to go beyond the big names and search out the smaller places too that focus on local history. Places like Pinhey’s Point Historic Site, Billings Estate Museum, and the Bytown Museum have quaint charm as well as being great resources for history. A nicely compiled list of Ottawa and area museums to visit can be found here if you are interested. (I should also mention that cemeteries are another great way to absorb local and national history while enjoying the lovely grounds. See my post here on Canada’s National Cemetery here in Ottawa.)

The Mill at Black Creek Pioneer Village

Of course, moving beyond Ottawa, the variety of museums and historical sites is so numerous, I wouldn’t even try to mention them all here. But I will tell you of a few places I have visited that I would highly recommend. About an hour south of Ottawa is the beautiful Upper Canada Village located just outside of Morrisburg. Here you can see and experience the way pioneers lived and take part in fun events like carriage rides, old-fashioned weddings, and bi-plane rides. Further West is Kingston’s Fort Henry. There you can explore the fort as well as get an idea of what living there would have been like in the mid-1800′s. Like Upper Canada Village, it is situated overlooking the beautiful St. Lawrence river and also hosts exciting events like the sunset ceremonies and a military tatoo. Even further West is another museum hub…Toronto. A couple of my favourite places to visit there are the Royal Ontario Museum and Black Creek Pioneer Village. The ROM focuses on natural and world history where as Black Creek focuses on local pioneer history. Black Creek, like Upper Canada Village, as well as being educational, is just a beautiful place to walk in and spend the day. Toronto also has Casa Loma and historic Fort York (which I haven’t been to yet), and even more numerous other places than Ottawa.

Fort William Historical Park

Finally, I can’t not mention Thunder Bay’s Fort William Historical Park. It is one of my most favourite historical sites in all of Ontario. It’s a pity it’s so far away but if you’re ever in the area, do not…I mean it…DO NOT miss it! It’s not like the forts we have here in Southern Ontario, made of stone and full of tunnels and trenches. It is laid out more like a pioneer village and surrounded with a massive log fence. It has a huge courtyard, numerous buildings, a farm, canons, canoe rides, and lots of hands-on activities and other fun and exciting events throughout the summer. I shall not go further into what Northern Ontario has to offer in the way of history as I’m not that knowledgeable. If a reader is from the area and wants to make some suggestions, I’d be delighted to read them. If not, there are online resources like this one which list museums and museum events according to locale.

Also, before I conclude, something that I discovered while doing research for the is post I must pass along to all the parents out there. If your child is attending an Ontario school you can sign up at Ontario Fun Pass and get free passes for many of the museums and historical parks around the province. Go get them here!

Here’s to a fun and adventurous summer that I hope will prove to also be educational. Enjoy the sunshine and free spirit of summer!

(For all those readers not from the area, thanks for reading and if you ever visit, you’ll have a good head start on what to see! )

The Golden Hour

Actually, I’m not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I’m not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren’t cooks. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Essentially, yes, I agree with Monsieur Cartier-Bresson although I would not dare to equate my abilities to his at all. I enjoy photography to be sure, and I have a good eye for composition, but I have no patience for developing or fiddling around in Photoshop. I appreciate both endeavours, their challenges and rewards, but I just cannot find any attraction to standing around in the dark for hours and dipping paper into chemicals or nudging brightness and contrast levels up and down ad nauseam. Nope, my idea of photography begins and ends at my front porch. Once I’ve returned home from a photographic adventure, I love going through the shots and picking out the one or two that really stand out – if I’m lucky enough to have one or two – and yes, if it’s necessary, I’ll do some tweaking, but that’s the extent of my “developing”. Purist would say, I’m sure, that that is the epitome of digital imaging and the downfall of photographic excellence – all play and no work – but for us laymen, why can’t we just have fun?

And fun is what I had last evening. For a long time I’ve been frustrated with my camera because I couldn’t use the macro feature at all. Finally, I decided to look up the issue on my camera maker’s website. I discovered that my problems with macro were a combination of a problem with the camera and my misuse of my lenses. The problem with camera was easily fixed by upgrading the firmware. The problem with me took a bit of further reading to correct, but it, too, was fixed. I did not know that I couldn’t use my zoom lens to take macro shots. Uh huh…ya…laugh…but it’s true. A zoom lens won’t focus on anything closer than about 4 feet. Of course, I was having the same problem with my wide-angle lens…but, much to my delight, NO MORE! So, I took my camera and went for a walk during the “golden hour” and golden it was! The sun was at such a level as to provide a warm glow – thus described as golden – which accentuates the richness of nature instead of flattening it as does the harsh mid-day sunlight. You can also find this beautiful, golden light in the early morning too, by the way.

I considered my jaunt successful and the proof of my success is in the photo below. You may not all be impressed with the image (I’ve already been informed by one onlooker that it does nothing for them) but that’s the thing about photography, it’s very subjective. I think the reason I chose this photo out of the batch to show you was a) the colours – I love the glow in the background, b) the way in which I took the photo was to hold the camera just above ground level and not to use the viewfinder – I was essentially blind and lucky the shot turned out so well, and c) the detail in the dandelion which illustrated to me that my camera is quite capable of going macro – that alone to me is a very exciting turn of events! And no, this shot has not been altered at all. I will put my other choices from this evening up on Flickr later today so if you’re interested in seeing them, check over there. If you wish to give your opinion on the shot below or on photography, please feel free. I’d love to hear from you.

I mean, LOOK AT THIS DETAIL!

Every walk into nature is worthwhile even if you never get a perfect shot. Enjoy your day.

Back to Life

Winter is such a drag. Granted, some Canadians cope with it marvelously, skiing, skating, snowshoeing, etc., but the rest of us (most people I know) just hide inside until it’s all over. Generally, the months between the end of October and the end of April, are too cold, too icy, too windy, and too damp for one to really enjoy anything out-of-doors. Certainly April, which is classified as a spring month, can produce some lovely weather: days when we are so happy to wear shoes and light jackets. But April is untrustworthy as it can whip up a snowstorm faster than you can say false hope.

An Iris fighting the long grasses. I think this one is winning.

But May, May is the month where hope abounds. Temperatures reach the 20 degree mark (Celsius), and, if we’re lucky, climb as high as 25. Fruit trees blossom, tulips, flox, daffodils, hyacinths and other lovely spring flowers brighten gardens everywhere. Emerald grasses and newly sprouted leaves wash the city in a halo of freshness and new life. People come out of their homes, pasty white skin poking out of t-shirts and shorts, and walk, run, cycle, and garden. Oh yes! Lots and lots of gardening. In fact, it’s almost like an obsession. People can’t wait to get their hands in the yet cool earth and they flock to the local garden centre even before the official gardening weekend of Queen Victoria’s birthday.

I tell ya! I couldn’t wait! For everything spring! I hit the ground running. Literally. I resumed the jogging I started last summer and abruptly ended as soon as the kids went back to school in September. God knows why. An extra, what will remain undisclosed, number of pounds was added to my body during the ensuing winter months. Now I basically have to start all over again. Oh well, serves me right. I did, however, discover that gardening burns more calories in an hour than walking does and is less hard on the body than running. Although I enjoy running, it doesn’t give me the sense of accomplishment that I get from gardening. The rewards of gardening are much more immediate as well and, being a true product of my instant gratification generation, this appeals to me!

That’s me! Pullin’ weeds. (flip flops…bad choice after a new pedi)

I used to be an avid gardener and one would think this would remain a constant. Oddly enough, though, after having children, my interest in the garden waned to almost non-existent. Perhaps I was just too busy but one can only use that excuse for so long. No. It was more that I looked upon it as work and nothing more. I still appreciated other people’s gardens and even the fruits of my own – the ones that managed to overcome the weeds. This year, however, my feeling is completely different. I have a renewed interest and some new ideas to rejuvenate the areas that are old and a burst of energy to de-weed the areas that are overrun with the little long-rooted bastards. Who knows, maybe I never outgrew my love of playing in the mud but there’s something so satisfying about cultivating the earth and bringing beauty to one’s surroundings. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have a collection of photos to show you what’s growing.

So whether you’re a gardener or just thrive in the warmer weather, to all my fellow Canadians, a happy Victoria Day weekend, and to the rest of the world, enjoy life to the fullest and do whatever you love! We are finally out of hibernation and back to life!

Easter Weekend

Hello all you wonderful readers! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. For those of you who celebrated Easter, a belated Happy Easter. Whether you’re a believer or not, Easter always turns out to be a lovely time for family, food, and fun. My family tends to focus on the traditions of Easter more as a celebration of spring. We decorate eggs, organize and execute the chocolate egg hunt, and eat…a lot.

This year we were fortunate enough to go to the cottage for the weekend. The temperature hovered around 14 C (57 F), which, under cloudy conditions can feel damp and cold. But we had wall to wall sunshine! I don’t think I stopped smiling from the moment I got there until I had to pack to leave (which always makes me grumpy but that’s a good story for another post).

One of the most satisfying things about going to the cottage, besides the obvious, is that my kids turn from screen (tv, Wii, computer, Nintendo) magnets to outdoor and card game enthusiasts. Their imaginations burst forth like the first spring flowers, full of colour and inspiration. I could sit all day (on the deck, in the sun, with a drink and a good book in my hand) and just watch them and listen to their banter.

Sunday morning the sun glistened like starlight off of the waters as they lapped at the shore in the small bay. I stood on the deck, clutching myself against the north wind, and sighed deeply. Nothing but fresh, cool air filled my lungs. Across the lake snow was still resting upon the banks indicating that the water was still quite frigid, but it was a brilliant blue, like shimmery denim (if there were ever such a thing). It was that kind of blue that brought back memories of summer. I felt the sun on my face, then, and I knew I’d be back again soon.

Welcome Spring! Bring forth summer!

I’m Back: Titanic Undertaking

Hello faithful readers…if I have any left. My apologies for being gone so long but I needed the hiatus to get some clarity. While I was gone, I took a part-time job designing kitchens at The Home Depot, I joined the Humanist Association of Ottawa (so far have attending only one meeting), I maintained my usual parenting and domestic responsibilities, and grappled with a semblance of a social life. So I generally ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. No time for writing…or rather, no energy. Boy! Did I miss it. I also missed my kids which was the biggest part of my decision to quit my job and return to being the “woman of leisure” that I once was. Penniless but happy. Before you start sobbing at my tale of woe, let me tell you that I’m quite giddy at the prospect of returning to writing. I do have to warn you, however, that I’m taking a new focus. Close to Home. There are many things in the world that I would love to change but have no power to do so. There are many things, however, that I do have control over and these are things in my own life, things that affect me directly, my family, my friends, or my community. To be honest, I feel more empowered focusing here. So those of you who enjoyed my international political and humanitarian rants, I’m sorry, but hopefully you’ll find my new discussions interesting as well. The experts always say, write about what you know. Ok. Here I go!

Month of the Titanic

April 2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of the maiden voyage and the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It’s been all over the news as has the much-anticipated release of the 3D version of James Cameron’s 1997 epic “Titanic”. This is a particularly important event at our house. My son, who turns 9 on April 6th, has an avid interest in all things Titanic. It all started last year with a book called “Tonight on the Titanic“, one in the series of the Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osbourne. After reading the book, he had to know everything about the ship, the passengers, the sinking, and the wreck. Aside from buying him several books on the Titanic, taking him to see the model of it at our Museum of Science and Technology, looking up videos of recent dives to the wreck on YouTube, I decided that perhaps he should see some excerpts from the film. I looked everywhere for that movie and couldn’t find a copy on any shelf in any store. That’s when I discovered they had stopped selling the older version and it was going to be re-released for the anniversary. My son has been waiting a whole year for April 4th. Now I have to decide whether I’ll go with him, kleenex box in hand, or send him with his father to avoid the emotional cataclysm that, without a doubt, will ensue (on my part, not my son’s).

Luckily there are other events in the region that will allow me to maintain my emotional equilibrium, such as it is. Recently, on a community show called Regional Contact, I learned of a man named Rene Burgeron who happens to be a collector of articles from the Titanic and the White Star Line (the Titanic was one of 3 sister ships on the line). His vast collection, which includes various pieces of china unique to the White Star Line, a piece from the railing of the grand staircase, life jackets worn in the making of the James Cameron film, and styrofoam cups taken down on submarine excursions to the wreckage, will be on exhibit in Cornwall from April 9th to the 14th, 10am to 6pm at Bergeron Sleep Shop and Hot Tubs (located at 1005 First Street East). I’ll definitely be taking my son to see that as well as to the Museum of Science and Technology to see their presentation of Titanic Remembered where you can “Meet various experts, learn how an iceberg damaged the Titanic’s hull, and see how distress signals would have been sent at that time. Enjoy beautiful chamber music, build your own ship model and explore the science of icebergs.”

Last but not least, I will be putting my creative abilities to the test by making a birthday cake for my son in the shape of the Titanic. No, it won’t be half sunk, nor will there be small figures afloat in the waters, nor, as my cheeky friend suggested, will there be a half-naked Kate Winslett in the back of a car on the lower decks. It will be as close as I can get, cake-wise, to the ship as she left dock at Southampton – swiss rolls for smoke stacks, chocolate covered pretzels for the masts…well, you get the idea. This is when my true genius as domestic goddess will be either proved or terribly shattered. I figure, though, if the cake looks like hell, I can always claim I was aiming for a likeness of the wreck on the ocean floor. Wish me luck! Photos to follow…

If you have any plans to mark the anniversary of the Titanic or know of any local activities, I’d love to hear about them.

Thanks for dropping by.