The Old Coffee Pot And Us

After I came home from work tonight, I felt for a good cup of strong coffee. So I grabbed my old coffee pot to heat the water. And when I saw that coffee pot standing there on the cook stove, it came to me that this coffee pot means a whole lot more to me than just something to heat water in. This old coffee pot has been following our marriage over 27years. And it was on May 30 1987 that our friend and neighbour, Ivar Sølnes gave us the pot  as his wedding present. Since that date we have prepared hundreds and hundreds of gallons of coffee and coffee water in that pot. And except that the lid has lost its little top handle, the pot is just as good as it was back when it was new. It might not be as shiny as it once was, but not a dent and no damage has occurred to the pot. It’s made of stainless steel of an outstanding quality. It has seen all of our various places where we have lived during those 27 years. It has moved with us across the Atlantic Ocean and landed with the entire moving goods in Vancouver. The other day I had it sitting on the grate of the open fire pit and it got blackened a little on the outside. Tonight I was standing at the sink scrubbing off the sot and getting back a lot of its original shine. Tomorrow is May 30 again. And it’s not only our 27.wedding anniversary but it’s also 12 years ago that we as landed immigrants set foot on Canadian soil at the Calgary International Airport.  And like millions of earlier landed immigrants we were full of energy and hopes for a future in a new country. Even though we will be 5000kms apart tomorrow, our marriage which began in a little wooden church from around 1200 after Christ is stronger than ever before. Happy Anniversary Bea!

Doing The Camper Thing

You know what it is, right? The Camper Thing is having a campfire. And since I had to move from the Provincial Park at the Bow River, I moved back into Banff National Park. Chose an unserviced site, (since I was already used to it..) and when I arrived at my site, there was a pile of firewood from the previous occupant. So I chopped off a few small pieces to start the fire with and when it was going alright, I got out the pan with yesterday’s leftovers plus 2 nice Bavarian sausages to go with and had it all cooked on the open fire pit. I sure felt like I was on vacation. Rules are a bit more stringent here in the National Park. Generator use f.ex. is limited to a few morning hours and 2 hours between 5pm and 7pm. So I have to make do with that.  No internet whatsoever, of course.                                                  My new camp site Not too many campers here in the middle of the week, which makes for a real quiet neighbourhood. Most fancy rigs are in the hook-up areas, which are in a different part of the campground.   ELKS: They are just walking by graciously but yet rather big I asked for a sunny spot and the very nice lady at the front entrance found exactly what I was looking for. An open grassy patch stretches to both sides behind my trailer. Elks are numerous and they walk all over the place.  The few neighbours around have craned their necks to check out what the heck an ambulance is doing here pulling a large trailer. Over here I have actually plenty of trails to walk, if I feel for it. Mind you the entrance lady also talked about 2 small black bears which have been exploring the grounds this morning. Yeah…instead of rattlers we have bears around these parts. What would you prefer?  Me, I think the bears. Apparently the park is open for equine activities as I have already seen 2 beautiful ladies riding along. The last one even said HI to me.  Oh well….. I wonder why horseback riding seem to have become girl’s interest mainly.  I just think of my own niece, who is extremely interested in horsemanship. (aka. horseladyship) She was rather sad a couple of weeks ago when her beloved horse (it wasn’t hers, but she cared for it) suddenly died. Well, it was around 30yrs. old and that’s about what a horse has of life expectancy. I know it was like loosing a long-time friend for her. Meanwhile, she got a new horse to be friend with and I am more than happy over that on her behalf. Have a great 2.half of the week!

A Trip Across The Border - To B.C.

The Boss had thought I’d better take a trip across the border and into the BC-Mountains to get myself educated, in case I had to drive a group into Yoho National Park. Now, I Did know a few things and locations at Yoho, but my acquaintance with the park partially goes back 30 years, namely to the year 1984, when I stopped at the park on my way from Vancouver. The next visit was 20 years later in 2004 when I drove the Yoho Valley Road to see the Takkakaw Falls.   It was a drab kind of weather this morning, and when it started to rain across the BC-border I wasn’t surprised. I had now passed the Great Divide, with the Railroad’s Spiral Tunnel high up the slope and was on my way along the Yoho Valley Road to Takkakaw  Falls. However, the drive was stopped short before it really had begun. Either due to remaining snow, or a recent mud slide, the road was closed. Anyway, I had to turn around and head back to the Trans Canada Highway.   My next destination was the “Natural Bridge”, which is along the way to Emerald Lake. This natural rock bridge has been caused by the “Kicking Horse River’s relentless abrasion with gravel and sand following the river’s stream. Also a softer layer of limestone has made the river’s work possible. An interesting road-side information told the story about Ukrainian Citizens which had been rounded up by police and immigration to be detained under WWI. They were considered to be allies of Germany and had to perform hard labour. Many of the National Park Roads have originally been built by those detainees. The former campsite was located in today’s Yoho National Park. Following the road farther in I ended up at Emerald Lake.    Natural Bridges                                     Emerald Lake Back in 1984 I hiked around the entire lake with my cousin and his mother. This was the first time I saw the lake again after all those years. And while the lake itself has not changed, the Park Administration has set up a few buildings for the convenience of the many visitors. Today, the lake was still mostly covered with ice. A vendor who also rents out canoes, had hung out rain gear, which, in today’s wet weather, found interested customers.              Meanwhile, the clock showed almost 1pm and I had grown hungry. So, in the relative comfort of my van, I brought out my sandwiches and coffee. Ironically, as I was heading back east, the sky cleared for a while letting the sun light up the beautiful fresh spring-green of the forest. I am sure I will be going back here soon, hopefully under much nicer weather conditions.   Vermilion Lake with Mt. Rundle to the left The partly rainy day was now in need to be concluded with a few nice home-made oat cookies.    Thanks again for coming along!

Finally Some Warmer Weather

We are approaching the end of May and spring temps have been disappointing so far, to say the least. But yesterday we finally got a warm day and is this really the beginning of warmer weather? I have been cold most of the time and even on days when the sun was out I had to bundle up if my desire to be outside got the better of me. But flowers are showing up along the road ditches and with it my hopes are soaring. The slow flowing Bow River has now turned into a much wider fast moving river. It carries lots of sediments from the glaciers. But as long as the mountain run-off is not fed by more rain there should be no concerns for flooding. Over on Campobello Island, the weather hasn’t been much friendlier either. Cold spring weather is the rule rather than the exception in Canada. But for what it is good I am enjoying the current stream.