The Random Adventure Crew

Let's face it, there's an economic downturn and this is not the year for safari in the Serengeti or scuba-diving in Costa Rica. So there's never been a better time to discover plenty of fun, random adventures here in our own backyard. Last night Marie and I made a last-minute trip to the horse-races: good friends, $3 beer and the hope that your toonie bet will pay big?

I ask you, what could be more fun?

(Speaking of bets, I would wager that last night marked the first time anyone had decided to take cello lessons while playing the ponies. M & M, you guys are awesome!)

(pictures are blurry but fun)

Can't wait to see where we end up next! We take suggestions - I'd love to hear about some of your favourite Fredericton / New Brunswick adventures.

In the meantime, I'm off to Digby for a lovely Maritime wedding. I get to spend this sunny summer day sailing across the only Canadian "wonder" in the running for the New Seven Wonders of Nature : the Bay of Fundy. Can't wait!

xo

Here comes the sun.

The sun finally came out today. Finally. So Henry and I spent most of this evening here. Reading (me) and people-watching (Henry).

We were never being boring

I'm always baffled by people who complain about feeling bored. As a friend of mine says, complaining of being bored is really just admitting you're so boring you're not even capable of entertaining yourself.

There has been little danger of feeling bored around here lately. Quite the opposite. If anything I am in danger of being so busy having adventures that I don't have the opportunity to write about them.

First there was the Cultural Expressions Festival at Officers Square celebrating Fredericton's growing diversity - two days of impressive performances and delicious food!

Then across the street to Regent Street Wharf to enjoy a lovely Saturday sail on the river. The fact that we were on a converted lobster boat made this island girl feel right at home.

Sunday night brought our first attempt at seeing Bard in the Barracks production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Odell Park. See how happy and dry we all look? We are so ready to see some Shakespeare in the park... Mmhmmm...

As we were making our way to "A wood near Athens" for the start of Act II, we were caught in a Midsummer Night's Downpour... Show was cancelled and we were drenched but happy.

Tuesday night we fared better. Luke ruined a pair of Italian driving shoes, I fell in mud and my hair smelled like bug repellent but it was worth it. The Bard in the Barracks company delivered an entertaining and imaginative interpretation. I'll never see the woods in Odell the same way.

Wednesday was Canada Day. And for the first time in 15 years, I was in a parade. I joined dozens of members of Fredericton's arts community for 'Art on the Move' in celebration of the city's designation as a 2009 Cultural Capital of Canada.

Lori was one of the organizers. Here she is putting Leon's football socks to good use.

As you can see, Luke could barely contain his excitement.

Fun vantage point on the parade and really fantastic to see so many people turn out to celebrate.

My favourite part of the parade happened after it was over when a spontaneous multicultural drum circle broke out in the parking lot.

So that's just a little of what's been going on plus gallery-hopping at the Culture Crawl... hearing this guy ... and making these. The weather's been dismal but Summer 2009 is still off to a terrific start.

Come On, Get Happy

It's been grey and rainy and windy for about five days now. The weather is starting to get to me. And everyone else. Seems like time for a list of things that are making the weather a little more bearable:

• Mint Juleps - Mint, bourbon & a hint of sugar - classic, retro and potent.


• Friday night music - who knew that a local coffee shop in an office building was bringing in great singer-songwriters? Not me until recently. On Friday we saw Owen Steel and Lovestorm - both fantastic. And now I really, really want a ukelele.


• Saturday breakfast - made this strawberry-citrus salad and this sausage, fontina & bell-pepper strata for my parents and grandparents. Delish!


• Doc Watson's recording of "All About You" - I was playing a Doc Watson album while my grandfather was visiting. He seemed confused, "What are you doing playing this kind of music?" But you can't hear this song and not smile.


• Community talent shows - the latest zany adventure for Luke and me. It cannot be described. It can only be experienced. I will say this: Marysville has produced some very ardent entertainers.


• NPR - have discovered that their web-site has tons of great free music and concerts. That and Obama almost make me want to give up universal health care. Almost.


• Goofiness.

Well, I can hear that it's raining again so I'm off to watch Jimmy Stewart spar with Margaret Sullavan in The Shop Around the Corner.

Ladies Who Lunch

The only real downside about leaving my old job is that I don't get to see these lovely girls every day. There was a time when we could gather each morning in M-A's office and discuss headlines and lovelives over coffee. But things change and now our catch-up sessions are less frequent but more meaningful.

Today we opted for lunch in the sunshine in Officer's Square. And we all had the same reaction: "We've worked mere blocks away for years - why didn't we come here before today?!"

I love the sort of things that make you say those sort of things.
And so - hopefully! - a new ritual is born.

In the meantime, some summery shots from the heart of my little town.

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

Oops.

The pause between posts was not supposed to be that long. I planned to write something on Sunday night about the shiny happy people here in this photo but I got distracted by this (yay!) and this (ew!).

I have some other posts I'm mulling but for now a few thoughts...


Two months ago I started a new job. For the first time in nearly decade I was going to a brand new office, with brand new co-workers, new responsibilities and a new schedule. It was a big, much-needed change. The 10 years, I'd spent at my last job were an incredible experience that offered unique opportunities and brought amazing people into my life. But it was time for a change.


There couldn't have been a better time. During my first days on the new job spring was just beginning to hit full force. Everything was new in the world. It was the perfect time for a fresh start not only in work but in life.

So I've turned off the TV and picked up my books, I've started this blog to help open my eyes to the interesting things around me and I'm letting go of bad habits and making more time for people who inspire and energize me. Because, as my friend Lori often says, how we spend our days is, after all, how we spend our lives.

Our Little Corner of the World - The Owl's Nest

ser*en*dip*i*ty ~ noun: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also: an instance of this

I love order. My library is divided up by genre... the literature shelves are arranged chronologically. (Yes, I considered doing it by author. Chabon and Chaucer could live nicely beside one another but I prefer to see the evolution of literature at a glance). This website is my new guilty pleasure. And if I could create a card catalogue and make my friends sign out the books they borrow without seeming totally insane, I would.

I love order. But I also love the Owl's Nest.

I can't get enough of Fredericton's sprawling used bookstore. Confine yourself to the front room, where the classics and fiction sections generally abide by alphabetical order, and you might fool yourself into thinking it not so different from any other book store. But keep going. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, things get curiouser and curiouser as the store goes on... and on... I think I'd been going there for well over a year before I discovered the second floor room straight out of Funny Face (complete with rolling ladder but minus Fred Astaire).

While I occasionally make a quick stop with a particular book in mind, the Owl's Nest is best experienced on a Saturday afternoon, preferably rainy, when you have no where else to be. Meandering in and out of rooms, navigating around piles of books, these are the moments that yield the best discoveries. I've come home with favourite childhood classics to pass on to the children in my life and out-of-print books for boys I loved. I've unearthed a long-forgotten volume of James Thurber's memoirs of his New Yorker years and a whimsically illustrated 1951 guide to Paris with a preface by Jean Cocteau. Just today I picked up a 1946 Penguin edition of Shaw's Plays Pleasant; a great find for the iconic Penguin cover design alone.

The Owl's Nest isn't for everyone. Those who don't like dust, boxes or the occasional cat strolling past should probably stick with Chapters. This is not a place designed for efficiency but for exploration. It's a place for people who, every so often, like to let go of order and surrender to serendipity.

GG