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Christian Morrison and Julie Gibb April 9, 2018

interior of van after

our vanagon interior

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Striving to live a meaningful, creative, vital and generous life sometimes on wheels. www.folksblogen.com
When you’re contemplating flying the coop... Of When you’re contemplating flying the coop... Of course that means predetermining that we would not be contributing to the spread of Covid-19! #whereshallwego #whichway #directionunknown #covid19 #vantravels
Our last tent camping trip was seven years ago. Ev Our last tent camping trip was seven years ago. Every year we went camping with our nephew and niece, sometimes my sister and brother-in-law, dad, friends, the kid’s friends. This time though it was just us, Jake and Duff. We camped at Oastler Lake Provincial Park where we could swim right from our lakeside campsite. We either got used to the sound of the train horn through the night or we were just too tired to care and incorporated the sound into our dreams. Christian only recently developed the photos he took on that trip with his old Hasselblad. I think it’s time to head up that way again. This time in our van. #camping #ontario #oastlerlakeprovincialpark #tentcamping #sevenyearsago #campingwithournephew #hasselblad #
And tonight the sun chased most of the greys away! And tonight the sun chased most of the greys away! And it seemed as if we were suddenly viewing everything through rose coloured glasses. #sunset #afterthegrey #rosecolouredglasses #fireysky #detroitriver #amherstburg
Maybe not fifty but certainly many shades of gray Maybe not fifty but certainly many shades of gray today. And a little thunder, a little lightening and at times plenty of wind. Sometimes a good old fashioned thunderstorm is just what you need. #summerstorm #thunderstorm #shadesofgray #layersofclouds #detroitriver #amherstburg
Trees inspire. Faux bois. We love the imitation. N Trees inspire. Faux bois. We love the imitation. Not as much as the real thing. Of course. Mississippi was where we first learned about the history behind these headstones carved to look like tree stumps. The small details reflect the Woodman’s personality. They indicate that the deceased was a member of the Freemason brotherhood or Woodmen of the World. There are (or were) a lot of Freemasons and Woodmen out there. #fauxbois #headstone #woodsmenoftheworld #trees #treesinspire #natureinspires #rosehillcemetery
The first place we ever travelled together was Pri The first place we ever travelled together was Prince Edward Island. We started our first business together in 1990. We bought our first house in 1993. We got married in 1997, 23 years ago today. Because we wanted to. Each of these choices may seem pretty unremarkable. However, last night we were walking Duff through the Navy Yard and we stopped to exchange pleasantries with a man with whom we’ve known as an acquaintance for almost two years. Except for the first time we exchanged names and learned a whole lot of his life story. We learned that he left Iraq in his early 20s, was granted asylum in Detroit until Saddam Hussein decided he wanted every 20 something young man returned to Iraq to fight in the war he was waging with Iran. And so the USA deported him! There is a whole lot more of his story that follows but skipping ahead he has lived in this town for 15 years and been in a relationship with a woman from Mexico for the last 3 years. This woman was educated as a lawyer in Mexico but works as a migrant worker in Leamington. She hates her job! The employer treats the workers as badly as all of the stories you’ve heard. The living conditions are as bad as all of the stories you’ve heard. They want to get married but it’s not as easy as it was for us. Nothing in their life is easy. We’re not saying everything in our life has been easy but by comparison. . .!! They aren’t asking for it but they need help. We want to help them. We’re imagining a world where everyone can choose where they live, what work they do, can marry if they wish, and not be the pawn of governments. #anniversary #celebrating23years #lifechoices #canada #asylumseekers #migrantworkers #pei #greenwichbeach #freedom
We took Duff to Holiday Beach this afternoon for a We took Duff to Holiday Beach this afternoon for a swim. There were several families in the park having picnics and barbequing. As we were walking to the beach a couple of boys who couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 years old approached us asking if Duff was friendly and if they could pet him. We said yes to both questions. Before we knew it there were at least 5 or 6 boys petting Duff. Once he had his fill of swimming we made our way inland. Again, a couple of the boys approached us. They were intrigued as much by our retractable leash as Duff and asked if they could walk him and hold the leash. Duff was walked by about 10 different little boys. We talked to the boys as they took turns walking Duff and holding his leash. We were told that dogs are not allowed to live in their houses but that they can build separate houses for them. An older boy was sent over to tell the younger boys that they were not to touch MacDuff. Apparently touching dogs is also not allowed in ‘their country.’ We asked them what country they were referring to and they answered, Syria. The older boy described the horrors of war which brought them to Canada. They have lived in Canada for four years already and love it here. As we were leaving the park I recalled my mom’s happy childhood memories of weekend picnics to spots like Holiday Beach with her extended Serbian family. It made me think that in some ways at least the life of a first generation Canadian is the same. Fleeing war, hardship, searching and hoping for a better life for your children and celebrating what is most important, family and friends, while breaking bread together under the open sky. #firstgenerationcanadians #familypicnics #extendedfamily #syrianboys #syriancanadians #canada #serbiancanadians #holidaybeach
The banks of the Detroit River were inhabited by t The banks of the Detroit River were inhabited by the indigenous people of North America for 10,000 years before European explorers set foot here. The island opposite the town of Amherstburg in the Detroit River was once known as Etiowiteendannenti, meaning ‘a peopled island of white woods guarding the entrance.’ The name of the island changed once in the hands of French missionaries to Bois Blanc Island. Of course the British couldn’t be bothered to call it by the French name and started calling it Bob-Lo. Once it was taken from the Huron people and it’s military and missionary uses had been exhausted the British sold it. An island which was a regular summer encampment for up to 500 indigenous families was sold to Colonel Arthur Rankin for $40. In 1898 it became a commons to residents of the town where they grazed their cattle and picnicked in the summer before eventually becoming a public resort and then an amusement park. The amusement park closed in 1993 and the island became a gated residential community with an inaccessible national historic site on the south end of the island. There is currently a home on the island listed for sale for $3.6 million. And THAT is colonization. #localhistory #etiowiteendannenti #apeopledislandofwhitewoodsguardingtheentrance #boisblanc #boblo #bobloisland #huron #amherstburg #detroitriver #nationalhistoricsite #colonization
Having already passed the pre-screening and armed Having already passed the pre-screening and armed with a negative Covid-19 test result, a mask, a normal temperature check, hand sanitizer and the on and off aid of a baby monitor I visited my 81 year-old father living in a long term care home for the second time yesterday. Me, standing in the scorching sun on the edge of a concrete parking lot, about 20 feet away, a fence separating us. He, slumped in a wheelchair, never once opening his eyes or lifting his head. There were responses that made me believe he could hear me, perhaps recognize my voice. Singular word responses, a nod here or there, a mmhmm now and then. I was determined to use the full 30 minute visit simply so that he could be outside for just the second time in over 100 days. And so, I talked. A one way conversation doesn’t feel natural. It makes me feel self-conscious. I said to my dad at one point, ‘since you’re not opening your eyes how about imagining that we are walking through the Navy Yard Park together?!’ He replied, that time, ‘okay.’ And so I described everything we were passing and seeing and smelling as we made our way through the park, along the Detroit River. He made noises that made me think he was seeing / experiencing what I was seeing / experiencing. We also visited Holiday Beach, the John R Park Homestead. We drove through the county together and passed rows of sweet corn growing in the fields and felt the hot breeze coming in through the open windows of the van. I described future picnic locations and what we would eat. It’s amazing how much you can do and see in just half an hour. I’ll have to start planning our next visit. Maybe...we’ll travel out of the country?! #armchairtraveller #longtermcarevisit #meandmydad #covid19 #amherstburg #ontario #detroitriver #letsexplore #virtualtravel #alzheimersdisease #dementia #confinementsyndrome
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