De-Nesting Diaries: Thursday, February 28th

The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it. -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704) 

Archetype

Noun:
1. The original pattern or model of something; prototype.
2. An ideal or typical example of something.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek arche- (first, original) + -type (model, mold). Earliest documented use: 1605. 

Hi, Patrick.

I wonder if you remember Eyob, who worked at the Curriculum Lab . . . it must have been over 30 years ago, since he was there before I left for  Halifax, and that was in 1982.

I'm not sure about you, but I got to know him outside work as well (invited him over a few times, etc.) and we kept in touch for awhile, including corresponding when he worked in Sudan for some years after leaving UBC. The last time I saw him was around 1993, as he came over for brunch along with some other guests. By that time he was married and the father of a baby son - a bit younger than my oldest niece, Anna, who had just started to walk (and turned 21 last week). That's how I know that it must have been 1993.

Well, fast-forward . . . I don't know if you are aware that I am now the Head of the Children's Library down at Central. As such, I recently received an invitation to the launch of a new program at the immigrant and refugee services society, MOSAIC. It was signed by Eyob Naizghi, Executive Director.

I attended the event on Friday morning. At first I couldn't see Eyob anywhere . . . but then he came in, and it was a like a movie moment. As soon as he saw me, he looked stunned and happy. Afterwards, he invited me to his office and we spent some time catching up. He now has a daughter as well; also, he and his wife adopted a niece from Ethiopia who had been orphaned when her parents died from illness. She's the youngest of their 3 children and is 16. They have a small house in New Westminster.

I recall how he was when we first met him - he seemed almost shell-shocked, quiet and uncertain, and of course, he had disabilities to cope with . . . his missing arm and eye. WHAT A CHANGE! He is confident, articulate, interacts easily with all of his colleagues. He
was dressed in a spiffy suit. From talking to him, it was clear that he has a good handle on the work that MOSAIC is doing and the administrative and funding challenges. His children are doing well - the older two are at SFU.

The previous time that I saw him, he had a glass eye and a prosthesis for his arm. He no longer wears the prosthesis though - at least, he wasn't on Friday morning. I didn't ask why.

I was very happy to see him - it affirmed the good connection we had all those years ago. I guess the world has just been moving a bit too fast but I hope we stay in touch.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in Eyob's story and how he has thrived. . . .All the best, Janet
 
Hi Janet!

Happy New Year!  Lovely to hear from you and learn the wonderful news about Eyob! Thanks for thinking about letting me know. I'd love to see him and his family and perhaps e can arrange a meal at our place at some point in the not too, too distant future! Reason I say this is that we are just back from being away for two months. Funnily enough, a Curriculum Lab connection as you will read if you persist! (AM only giving an "overview" or I'd never finish message!)

With respect to our holiday, we left Vancouver Wednesday, December 12th, to stay overnight in Portland with close friends, Marilyn and Michael. Next day drove to Healdsburg for three nights of fun-filled, wine-soaked adventures. Then into Berkeley with very good friends, Nancy and David. Two nights there and then we drove south to LA to spend Christmas with Ayn and Los Horridos, our grandsons, Pierre and Alexander, 23 and 22 respectively. Chloë, Clarisse and Dusty flew down a day or so before Christmas. From Christmas Day until January 10th we were house/cat sitting for Ayn's cousin, Rick, who has a gorgeous home in Simi Valley. He and his family spent holidays in Bora Bora to celebrate his 60th.

On the morning of the 10th we set off for Mesa where we spent the night with good friends, Sandy and Arv, from Falcon Lake, who winter in Arizona. Then on to Dallas to stay with friends, Randy and Ruth, formerly living in San Antonio, now there since last June. Then on to New Orleans for a week. We rented an apartment, in the Lower Garden District on Magazine, for a week with friends Lynne, (Lynne Lighthall, a faculty member at SLAIS and Cora Lee's classmate there, a year behind me.), and Peter, from Naramata. We then returned to Dallas for the weekend and on January 28th we flew to Sint Maarten.

In mid-November we had a visit from Rhoda Benson, in town from Cape Breton, to visit her eldest daughter, Dinao, who is taking an Art Therapy course here! As you might recall, I met Rhoda when I worked at the Curric Lab and she was a Student Assistant, back in the late '70's! Before you met her and Ron in Lesotho!!! Anyway, we invited her for dinner with Dinao, a very talented painter now. Over the course of the evening Rhoda mentioned that she and Ron would be spending three months in Saint Maarten/Saint Martin, beginning in January. (This is the third year they have done this.) Ron has been teaching there at the American University of the Caribbean, (a private medical university), and they have a two-bedroom place provided. She invited us to visit! And we accepted!

Wonderful, wonderful time for ten days then back to Dallas for another weekend and then home, basically re-tracing most of the stops we'd made earlier. Arrived home on Sunday, February 17th and it has been a very, very busy time ever since as we are in the process of de-nesting Chloë back to the loft on Wall Street! We had been planning to give the tenant notice of this fact when he gave us notice in late December, after Chloë was back from LA. This has worked out reasonably well as Dusty is here to help with a number of the things we wish to do before she actually moves furniture: new flooring in upstairs bedroom area, new in house vacuum and some painting. A host of other smaller tasks, as I'm sure you can imagine!

Into this mix is the fact that cousins from Manitoba arrived but three days after we made it home. They were skiing in Fernie, about three hours from Calgary. They drove from the ski resort on Wednesday morning to leave their car at the airport and then fly to Vancouver. They stayed with us until early Saturday morning when they flew back to Calgary and then the long drive back to Kenton, near the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border. We were delighted to have them visit but as often happens, right in the middle of just returning from holidays ourselves and Chloë's move. Cora Lee is looking forward to setting up her study in the "spare" room and Chloë, of course, is pleased about going to be back in the loft.

Exciting news for her is that she landed a three-day-a-week, contract job with Aunt Leah's, a non-profit organization that works with youth at risk. We sold Christmas trees for them before we left for LA. (Have done so for last six or seven years.) Aside from giving her a chance to break into the type of work she would like to do she will be able to keep working at GIB, although that side of things will need to be arranged once she starts at AL on March 4th. As I scribe, she is attending her second full day of orientation/training. Started yesterday and will finish on Friday, to start in earnest on Monday!

All this by way of explaining why it has taken me some time to reply. No excuses but plenty of reasons. Anyway, do send along best wishes to Eyob if you do have occasion to chat and mention that we'd certainly like to get together. Looking ahead a bit, sometime after mid-March is when we expect to have finished work on the loft, (Again, into the mix, Dusty has just had very, very successful cataract surgery, (He now has 20/20 vision and doesn't need glasses! He's 92!), so has to be careful about getting anything in his eyes until given the nod by his doctor.), and moved Chloë back there. Even if we can't arrange to see Eyob and family then, we'd still like to catch up with you and your travels, work, etc.

Let me know what your schedule looks like and we'll plan accordingly. Fond regards from Cora Lee. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Mullet Beach, one of the loveliest beaches on the island, but a ten minute walk from AUC; view from our balcony;  dinner on the beach at Karakter; Ron and I, shot taken by one of the children at an local orphanage. Along with some of the med students form AUC we took them to a local beach for a Saturday outing. Rhoda brought a watermelon and Ron sliced it up; Maho Beach towards sunset. Located right at the end of the airport's runway it is a favourite place for locals and tourists to watch planes land and take-off and enjoy spectacular sunsets. Ron modelling some of the shirts I left behind. I usually travel with this intention. Last time it was Jaimie, in London, who took a number. Part of the process of simplifying/de-cluttering my life. First offer was to one of the cleaning staff responsible for our suite. Funnily enough even though I said that she could have any or all she ended up choosing but one, the most worn of the lot. Rhoda in the kitchen/dining area.

Pat,

     Can you and Corinne bring some appetizers on Saturday? 6 to 6:30 if possible. Ray

 
Hi Raymond!

We'd be delighted to bring appetizers. Will there be the six of us or more? Let me know and we'll plan accordingly.

Jut returned from West Point Cycles. As you know, I took my bike in on Tuesday to let them have a look at it, specifically about the chain slippage:
 

We have completed your work order (022613172812) at West Point Cycles - West 10th Ave. Please stop by at your earliest convenience.

++++++++++++++++

chain lubed and derailer adjusted. test ridden. rear brake pads replaced as the wear indicator was on the rim.

Total: $17.91

Pleased that it was only the de-railer which needed attention. Couldn't believe that I'd worn out another chain! Though that the grinding noise I heard when I put the brakes on was grit on my tires! Shows how much I know or rather, how much I don't! Common sense, of course, but will certainly have to pay more attention than just to the chain and tires. Saw that MEC had some bike maintenance clinics coming up but timing just isn't right at the moment. 

Anyway, had a friendly chat with Andrea and she is off to Majorca tomorrow for a week of cycling there! Going with Andrew, a chap who works there. I don't believe I know him, or at least by name. Told her we had ridden yesterday. After I left you chaps I continued on to Camosun and climbed the hill, past St George's and then back to 41st. Back up through Wesbook Village and then down to 41st to take 16th to Tolmie, then looped back  on 11th to Blanca and  and then back to MD. Bit of a dipsy doodle up to Main Mall by the Rose Garden to have 63 K on the clock by the time I was at the bottom of the Foreshore Hill. Bit of a head wind as I made for Heartbreak Terrace but nothing like the day before so I felt pretty good.

Had decided I'd take a run at breaking my first hundred since being back so made for Science World and then Stanley Park. Not too, too many people about, walkers or cyclists, so I sped along, only having to dodge, thread past a number of cranky Canada geese a bit beyond the Aquatic Centre and then ring my bell to alert a clutch of Japanese tourists, clutching mammoth telephoto lens clad cameras, meandering all over the bike lane near Brockton Point Lighthouse. Smooth sailing after that and I whistled home with 105.33 K, over 5:47:37, AVG 18.1 KPH. This particular odometre doesn't seem to record MAX but I think I hit 51.7 KPH on the way down Prospect Point Hill. Of course, low AVG and protracted time was due to early part of ride with you and Whirlygig slowing me down!!!

Last night Cora Lee attended the VPL Board meeting to report on Friends. Came home with a bag of books she'd reserved. Clara is in 7th Heaven and I'm chuffed about four titles in particular:

Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski, a "former lecturer in Classical Studies at the University of Wroclaw". I don't think I've ever read any crime novels by a Polish author. In the Darkness by Karin Fossum, translated from the Norwegian. Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, translated from the Danish. Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez, translated from the French. Will start Death in Breslau tonight, I hope, as I'm almost finished Field Gray. You are welcome to borrow it if you care to do so, after Giorgio as he mentioned he'd like to read it yesterday, as we were making for Iona.

I've a dental appointment at 10:15am tomorrow morning. According to current forecast, "Rain at times heavy ending late in the morning then mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers." Not sure if you want to ride or not but let me know. I'm hoping to ride to office at Broadway and Macdonald so if things work out, I'd be well positioned to meet either you or Whirlygig, depending on who is interested/available.

See you between 6:00pm-6:30pm on Saturday, if not tomorrow. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Patricio,

I guess you probably wish you were still in a southern climate right about now!  Good to hear you’ve gotten out on the bike since you got back though.. I will have to get out before long and join you. I have gone an a few jaunts down the hill and back to the Fraser river and Deer lake to keep the legs in shape.

I / we have been very busy recently as I’ve had numerous contract work I’ve been doing here at my shop and we’ve been back and forth to the Sunshine Valley near Hope as we were interested in real estate up there. A friend from work who bought a house up there a few years ago has been urging me to come up and check it out so we did. We went up and rented a cabin in January and I went up to Manning Park skiing with the boys while Colleen and her sister stayed in the village and did some hiking with my friend Steve and his girlfriend.  We loved the place and decided to check out what was for sale online when we got home. We found a few places we wanted to check out and went back a few weeks ago to see them first hand. we looked at several but the first one we saw we absolutely loved. it backs right onto the Sumallo river and is a 3 bedroom 1-1/2 bathroom place with a beautiful old wood stove, a library, laundry, loft ,huge kitchen ( by our standards) and very cozy and inviting.

Well we liked it so much we put in an offer a few days ago, went back and forth a couple times on the price and wound up buying it yesterday!

Thought of you  and how much fun it will be having you guys up there for a weekend soon, we take possession on March 9th! so it could happen pretty soon.  Right now of course there’s still a lot of snow but come later in the spring there will be hiking, biking and there’s a nice lake to go canoeing or paddle boarding as well. Without further ado I present Casa Waldrona!

http://8625.eagent360.com/

Talk to you soon, Al

Hi Big Al and Marilyn!

Congratulations on your latest real estate deal! Place looks extraordinarily fabuloso so we are nothing but pleased for you both! Now all we have to do is figure out best way to cycle there!

Congratulations, once again, on Il Palazzo di Waldronia! 

PS: Not sure of your schedule but we will be at the loft on Saturday, putting in new flooring in bedroom area, so if you have time and interest you could pop by and talk to Chloë about desk. Not a big deal if you are busy but thought I'd mention it in case it works. Give you a chance to see specific space and hear what she has in mind, etc. Anyway, let me know and we can plan accordingly. Also need to arrange a meal so we can toast The Peleton's Home Away from Home!!!


P,

You were spotted driving up Highbury. Cobby, myself and Tia were walking Luna home. We now know where you were headed.

Glad your ride is back in order without digging too deep into the pocket. Chane loobed and de-raler ajusted.

I would like to ride tomorrow. I have a Chiro appointment at 11:45 and a lunch with my chilluns after that. I might be able to start at 2:30 if that is at all workable for you. Please go ahead if the timing does not fit. W

Pat,

    There will be 6 adults and Tia on Saturday night.

    I wouldn't mind attending bike maintenance at MEC if I can ever find the time.

    Wondering if you pushed an easier gear, it would reduce the stress on the chain? It might take you some time to adapt but most of the competitive riders have a very high cadence.

    Majorca is where Wiggins and Team Sky did their winter training last year in preparation for the Tour de France. It's a very popular tourist destination especially with the British. Andrea should enjoy herself there.

    I have lots of novels on the go but thanks anyway. Picked up Saturday by Ian MacEwan, this afternoon, on George's recommendation.

    Looks like we'll need a miracle to get in a dry ride tomorrow. I have to be home before 2 anyway. If it looks possible, I'll give you a shout. Ray