| Road to Terra Nova 2007 |
| Candace and I walked around Cabot Tower to the Narrows side of the Hill to find Buddy on the bike contemplating biking down the trail. "Do you have a death wish?" I shouted from the top of the Hill. "No, but I have a suicide note," was his reply right before he sailed on down and miraculously didn't fall. A brave man, that one! After our adventures, I went 'home' and Jim set me up on the network with my laptop. Lillian and I went shopping at the supermarket and we had a most delicious BBQ supper. Meals are always delicious at Jim & Lillian’s. Always. I had a little chat with Rose, their next door neighbor. “So did you bring the down payment for the house up the street that’s for sale?” she asked. One of these days that answer is going to be “Why yes, I did!” Toward 11 PM we went down to Erin’s to see the Sons of Erin perform. It was my second time hearing them and I was not sorry I went. The place was packed and we stood by the door near the bar. Joy & Graham, Sandy & Liz, and Wayne Cook & his family were there. I looked around and saw a woman I remembered from last year and the year before but I wasn’t sure she’d remember me. It was Darrell’s sister. “Excuse me, you’re Carolyn, aren’t you?” I asked her. She answered in the affirmative and then said, “You’re from Philadelphia, right?” Could’ve floored me in the next instant when she said, “Your name is short and starts with an A?” Well, we talked for a bit and she said she’d give Darrell my regards, adding that he speaks of me fondly. Made my night. She introduced me to her friend Will who talked to me about their latest venture, Quidi Vidi Picnics. Carolyn runs the Epicurean Kitchen in St. John's on Cookstown Road. The picnic thing is a good concept – being down by the lake for those enjoying a walk who might want to have a picnic lunch. They employ local teenagers, giving them something to do in the summer months and a chance to learn how the working world works. We were supposed to go down there twice during my stay, but each time it rained. Next year we’ll try again. I hope they had a successful summer. The Sons of Erin did three sets while I was there and stopped well into the next morning. What a good time they had! And us too, of course. They were very well-received. Of course that might have something to do with Ralph, the owner, being in the band! After last call, we drove Sandy home up the steep hill behind the Delta. Whew! I'm glad I don't have to walk it! Sandy says there are 80 steps just at the Delta! Oy vey, can you imagine doing that in the wintertime? No way! August 11th, Saturday Saturday turned out to be a pretty laid back day. I was soooooooo tired from the flight day, the time change and the pub hours. I just sat and vegged all day. Edited my photos and was a homebody. I went down to Auntie Crae’s on Water St. looking for tea for Andi but they didn’t have what she wanted. So I guess I’ll have to get it up on Signal Hill. Big sacrifice to go up there, but someone has to do it! It was a pretty laid back day. I was tired from the past two days, not getting enough sleep yet, getting used to Jim-time. I talked to Vic on the phone and Candace online. Lillian went out for a walk and brought some gorgeous wildflowers back. I met Vince, who came over with new strings so Jim could restring his Takamine guitar and be ready for next weekend at Terra Nova. Jim doesn’t use DADGAD tuning, but something called BAGDAD. He demonstrated how easy it is to use. I couldn’t believe how he played Merrigan’s Reel from his Midnight Rover CD using only two-finger chords. Absolutely awesome! Then I went down the hill to Michele’s Bakery where I bought blueberry muffins, Newfoundland berry tarts and a chocolate éclair for Jim. We listened to some recordings of comedians and the baseball game between the Pirates (Jim’s current favorite team) and the San Francisco Giants. Pirates killed the Giants 13 to 3. I don’t mind listening to baseball, as my Dad had been a semi-pro ball player in his youth. A trip down to Erin’s Pub found Jim Joyce entertaining the troops there. He’s a pretty versatile performerI had first met Jim Joyce in Jim Fidler’s live chat called Fidler’s Green – we talked several times even when Jim F wasn’t there and I knew him to be a good person, but he’s a good musician too. I saw a guy sitting at a table who looked familiar and I asked the bartender who it was. He informed me it was Dave Anthony who'd be entertaining on Wednesdays for the next two weeks while he was here on vacation. As soon as he said the name, I recalled where I knew him from. Last November, Vic and I spent the weekend at a Pocono Mountain resort for the Scottish/Irish Festival there. I saw Scythian, the Searsons, Hadrian’s Wall and many others including Dave Anthony, whom Howard introduced me to. You can’t pin Dave down to one genre – he does them all – and he was well-received at the Festival. I went over and introduced myself, explaining where I had met him last year. He remembered the weekend fondly and told me some funny Howard stories. Wait till I see Howard again! And, of course, we got to bed way too late. Heh. Par for the course in Newfoundland. Sunday, August 12th Gypsy, handsome but merciless kitty, woke me at 9 AM to go out. Of course that was after he got his daily belly rub in! I picked Candace up and got coffee and a bagel for breakfast at Tim’s near her house. We decided to go to Cape Spear since we didn’t hit it the other day. Man, it’s nice to see Candace again! To think I hadn’t met her in person till last August when I picked her up and brought her to St. John’s to go to MUN. It feels like I’ve known her for a long time. She’s young enough to be my daughter and equally fun to roadtrip with. I already have four kids, what’s one more? She can be my honorary daughter-away-from-home. When we looked back at the city from the Cape Spear parking lot, I saw some weather coming in. It looked really threatening there, but it was perfect here! Felling quite spry today - I actually climbed all those steps to the old lighthouse at Cape Spear (there’s over 100 of them). I cannot tell you the last time I was able to do that. Of course, I had brought my camera but left the filmcard in the computer. Rats!!! Candace climbed up the back side of the Cape on the hiking trail, was greeted by Minke whales for her efforts and met me at the top. She showed me the old outhouse, positioned right over the cliff side. Great location as long as it stayed put! A lady at the lighthouse asked me to take her photo because “your camera looks like a good one and I figured you could take a decent photo.” LOL! Not willing to let the beautiful day go, we took Old Petty Harbour Road to Candace’s favorite outport. Candace climbed the rocks while I looked for shells and interesting rocks for Karen. I think Candace is part mountain goat, actually. She does this rock climbing thing with speed and agility. Candace found this really neat heart-shaped red rock which she gave to me to keep. We left Petty Harbour when it began to rain and the rain stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. After I dropped Candace off at her house, I found Jim at the table listening to a podcast from the Church of the Sub-Genius – The Hour of Slack. I cannot explain it. You have to see/hear it for yourself. Oh. My. Bob. They worship Bob, you know. Check it out. It’s hilarious! We also poked a little around the Second Life site. Jim's virtual character looks EXACTLY like him. Amazing! We drove out to Denver's in Manuels for Chicken and Chips for supper and watched the sun set over Conception Bay. Niiiiiice! Everything was delicious, of course and the company was great. When we got back, we watched Michael Moore's "Loose Change," about the 911 inconsistancies and we talked politics for a while. Jim loves a good debate. I got to talk to Vic on the radio. Woohoo! It was nice to hear his voice. I miss him already. Early to bed at 1:30 AM. What? So early? LOL! |
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| Sunset over Conception Bay |