Report from the 'Peg

My time in Winnipeg is flying by! It is a delightful trip down memory lane; family, friends and the old familiar places crammed with memories accumulated during my 45 years of prairie life. The beautiful women in the along-side photo are me, my Mom, my sister Jan and her daughter Trista.

• Winnipeggers will all know the jingle "look for the little red roof" an ad for the popular Salisbury House local restaurant chain. Last week, as I tucked into a cheese nip (the Sals version of a burger loaded with greasy fried onions) I was transported back to the hot summer nights of the 60s. Reminiscing about the uncountable teenage hours I spent hanging out at Sals, I could picture many old friends strolling through the door, including Neil Young who was also a Sals regular. Obviously, he's not in town now or I'm sure he would have been there. After all, it was Saturday night in the 'Peg!

• For those I haven't previously entertained with this story..... it is a fact that Neil and I were friends back in the day when he was just a local boy with a big dream, playing Saturday night dances at River Heights Community Club. One summer night, Neil and the guitar from which he was seemingly inseparable came over to my house. As we sat in the basement rec room - him playing the guitar while singing "House of the Rising Sun" and me oblivious to the enormity of the event, the magic was suddenly interrupted by my mother's voice loudly shouting, "Stop that caterwalling!" I guess it comes as no surprise that Neil never again came to my house.

• Twenty-plus years later the world-famous Neil returned to Winnipeg for the hundredth anniversary of his alma mater, Kelvin High School. At the dinner, most people were too cool to approach him for an autograph. I knew my children would never forgive me if I didn't at least try so with some trepedation I approached his table, pen in hand, opening with the clever comment, "You probably don't remember me but......" Raising his hand in a gesture for silence, he took the pen and scribbled on the paper placemat, "Of course I remember you, Barb. Neil Young."

• I don't suppose Neil Young gets as much mileage out of those two little stories as I do and perhaps he doesn't tell them as often but I never miss an opportunity to brag about that long-ago association.
  
  
• Right now, the most popular band in Winnipeg is the canker-worm tree-band. As quickly as the foliage is unfurling on the trees, it will soon be munched off by a billion or so tiny worms that will strip the trees back to their post-winter nakedness. Although tree-bands are supposed to slow the worm infestation I suspect the worms haven't yet seen the memo. The trees will refoliate, likely about the same time as a billion or so mosquitoes will rise up from stagnant water pools to block out the sun. It remains no mystery to me why I moved away!
  
  
  
• Morgan and Terri have a beautiful two storey, 80+ year old house close to the Red River which is slowly receding from near-disaster flood level.
• My assigned room on the second floor overlooks the trees, gardens and fish pond in the back yard. The other day as we sipped our morning coffee, I had good news and bad news to report. The good news was that the security lights do indeed light-up the back yard when motion is sensed. The bad news was that when I sprang from my bed to spot what action had triggered the lights, two satisfied-looking, robust raccoons were smugly waddling away from the fish pond into which three-year old koi had just been transferred from their indoor winter tank. Only one resident, clearly a good hider, remains in the pond.

Signing off from 'skeeter-peg.

There's a reason they call it "winter-peg"

• After the month at home in Victoria whizzed by, I boarded a 6 a.m. Greyhound bus on Wednesday, May 6th to start my seven-week WestCan tour.

• The ferry ride between Paradise (aka Vancouver Island) and the continent was no better than okay since BC Ferries seems to have got on-board the health-food craze and eliminated their on-board equivalent to an Egg McMuffin. After a quick bus change at the Vancouver bus depot, I spent another 6-plus hours in transit. As the bus crested the Coquihalla highway, I noted freshly fallen snow along the roadside and a few flurries in the air. I was so glad to NOT be driving a motorhome!
  
  
• The four days in Kamloops with my friend Margo flew by and 6 a.m. Monday, May 11th found me down at the Via Rail station waiting for the eastbound train. It has been 25 years since I last travelled by train and, with few modifications (such as the toilets no longer draining directly onto the tracks), it is obvious the same passenger cars are still in use. It was fantastic to travel through Canada's Rocky Mountains gazing in all directions from inside a dome car or the dining car where I shared table space with fellow-travellers and lapped up the luxury of good food, linen tablecloths, and friendly servers who made it look easy to carry a cup of coffee the length of a speeding train car (whereas I could barely manage a sip from the cup without spilling.)
  
  
  
  
• The pointy tops of the grey mountains are covered with snow that never melts and and more could be seen falling in the distance. There was time for a quick walk-about in the Jasper resort which appeared to be in transition from a town full of skiers to a town full of back-packers and hikers. (I took lots of photos and will post them when I figure out how to do it on someone else's computer.)

• By daybreak on Tuesday the train had descended through the Alberta foothills to the drastically contrasting terrain of Saskatchewan flatland where farmers are once again turning the soil in a patchwork of patterns and countless spindly legged calves are frolicking in muddy pastures.

• In the distance, a storm made its way across the horizon, looking like a thick, grey velvet theatre curtain stretching from heaven to earth. As it approached and eventually enveloped the train, there were cracks of thunder, streaks of lightening and then one bright flash followed by .....an eerie silence as the train glided to a full stop. Although trains are grounded in some fashion that protects passengers and prevents destruction, they are not immune to lightening strikes and in this case the result was a complete power shut-down, in the middle of no-where. As several train staff converged on the front of the train to start re-setting switches, a dining car steward made his way from car to car calling out the announcement, "The First Call for Dinner will be delayed."
  
  
• After the hour-plus unscheduled stop, the engineer pressed the pedal to the metal and we rocked and rolled our way toward Winnipeg, barely stopping to toss off passengers and their luggage at several smaller towns. Exhausted but happy to be with my friends, Morgan and Terri, we toasted my arrival and I then crashed into a warm bed.
  
  
• As the title of this post so clearly states, There's a reason they call it "winter-peg" and that reason is because - as I am winding down this 13th day of May a mere five weeks before the first official day of summer, the overnight forecast is a low of minus 6 C and ....you guessed it......snow. I just wish I'd packed my woolies!

What I did on my vacation from my vacation

• Like so many others, I take my home town for granted. Returning from my US tour with a fresh appreciation for Victoria, I have been ooo’ing and ahhh’ing at the beauty of springtime, the sights in the harbour, and the city’s attractions that draw tourists from all over the world.

Throughout the city the blossom cycle continues to drape city streets with rich pink flowers that are now interspersed with the pale green of unfurling leaves. As petals from the first round of cherry and apple blossoms drift to the ground, gathering in the gutter like a fresh pink snowfall, the late bloomers are bursting forth. It’s a tough life when you have to brush the petals off your car before driving away!

• Each year nearly a million people visit the 55 lush acres known as Butchart Gardens. The Garden is planned for uninterrupted bloom from March through to October, has spectacular lighting at Christmas and fireworks on summer Saturdays. Sadly, like so many Victorians, I only go there once every few years and only if I have visitors from elsewhere. Meandering through the Gardens is about as relaxing a walk as a person can take so, with my sweet daughter Jodi (visiting from Vancouver), I meandered through the Gardens, camera clicking like a first-time international visitor.

• Last weekend I took the ferry to Vancouver to spend a few days with my children. We had great fun; shopping, laughing, lunching, story-telling, wandering around downtown and several hours of virtual bowling. On the return ferry,I went to the advertising rack and picked up brochures for all of the Victoria tourist attractions that I might ever want to visit (bungy jumping, naked or otherwise, is not on the list). Upon returning to Victoria from my travels, my mission for the remainder of my time off is to visit each of the attractions; castles, gardens, museums, walking tours, etc. and I may even splurge for afternoon Tea at The Empress.

• Between visiting friends and overseeing the comings and goings in Victoria's Harbour, I've generally been happy and lazy for a whole month. Right now, I'm monitoring the arrival of a Canadian military submarine which has arrived from Halifax onboard a cargo ship.

• To my own surprise, I have even been enjoying the ordinarily annoying seagulls that screech me to wakefulness at sunrise. Many are huddling on rooftops all over town, hatching another brood of projectile-pooping scavengers.

• The days of the past month have flown by. It feels like I barely arrived home and I’m already focused on “the list” of what needs to be crammed into a suitcase for my WestCan Tour. Three more sleeps and I will be on my way!

• Stay tuned…..as the adventure continues.