Scrivner

On a clear day, can you really see forever?  No, but you can see up to 150 kilometres unassisted claim the folks at the Calgary Tower.  Sitting 160 metres (525 feet) above ground, there is much to be seen from the observation deck – and perhaps you might find some version of forever up there. 

            Take yourself on a field trip and explore this city from a different perspective.  Let’s see if you can find these items:

Looking North:

*Centre Street Bridge – site of the gangster movie Prime Cut (1972) starring Gene Hackman and some other people who are not so famous.

            *Chinatown – home of some of the best rice vermicelli around.

            *Bow River – because of being glacier fed, its blue-green hue is unique.  Something you can’t tell from up close.

            *Calgary International Airport – way out there, bring your binoculars.

            *LRT/C-Train – probably the best way to get to the Tower as (you will see) there is no parking metres to be found for miles.  Bing-bong.

            *City Hall – where you won’t see a secret passageway inside leading to an unused LRT tunnel.  But you will see the building.

            *Municipal Building – this very prominent tiered structure looks like a triangular set of steps.  Stairway to taxes, anyone?

            *Performing Arts Centre  - where they perform like arts…and stuff. 

            *Calgary Public Library – they’re very serious about not taking the coffee inside you just purchased at the coffee shop connected to the building (security at front doors and everything).  The Tower, on the other hand, is coffee-in-hand friendly.

            *Police HQ – another place that doesn’t mind one holding a Chai Latte, unless they’re in cuffs, of course.

            *Olympic Plaza – flooded for splashing in summer and skating in winter, just call it Calgary’s giant bathtub.

Looking East:

            *CP Rail – watch the trains head toward Saskatchewan and hum a little Stompin’ Tom Connors to yourself.  No one will mind.  Really.

            *Calgary Zoo – local folklore has it that Dinny the Dinosaur was painted bright green with the surplus bridge paint.  But not so bright that you can make him out from here.

            *City Transit Bus Barn – contrary to popular opinion they don’t hold rodeos on Thursday evenings, not even the occasional petting zoo.

            *Saddledome – the architecture of the building speaks for itself.  Ride ‘em, er… colossal-sized cowboy?

Looking South:

            *Talisman Centre – or the thing that looks like a big circus tent.  No, it’s not a car lot.

            *Chinook Mall – the gigantic beetle crawling down the side of the building is not visible from here but can still give you the shivers.

            *Glenmore Reservoir and Dam – which used to be the site of a popular picnic area.  The tables don’t float.

            *Rocky Mountains – pointy.

            *The Red Mile  - 17^th Avenue just doesn’t look the same in the daytime/non-hockey-game nights with everyone keeping their shirts on but still a sight.

Looking West:

            *Palliser Hotel – Gene Hackman in Prime Cut again.

            *Banker’s Hall – visit the Tower during office hours and see bankers at work.

            *Knox United Church – the tiny stone building with huge stained glass windows dwarfed by the skyscrapers.  That’s the one.

            *University of Calgary Campus – you can’t see the 1984 time capsule buried in Scurfield Hall under a stairwell…but you can imagine.

            *Alberta College of Art and Design – with famous graduates – my sister-in-law, Wendy, being one.

            *Jubilee Auditorium  - another place where taking the C-train is probably your best bet.

            *McMahon Stadium – there was an old Tonight Show joke around here once but was cancelled due to lack of laughter.

Unexpected Sights in the Gift Shop:

            *Pepper mills in the shape of the Calgary Tower – elevator not included.

            *Pens that have water and tiny floating towers in them – purchase your very own Tower and get great penmanship all at once.

            *Maple syrup in bottles in the shape of…. – a definite theme in the gift shop

People you might meet on the Observation Deck:

            *Families that would like you to take their photo – which rarely turns out if they are standing against the window – too much light behind them.  It’s true.

            *People looking east and humming Stompin’ Tom Connors – see above.

            *Window washers – they don’t like to be distracted.

            *People looking for change – to plug into the pay-binoculars.

            *Little kids looking for a step up – windows begin at about 4 feet off the ground, but kids love to sit on the window ledge and scare their parents by banging on the glass.

            *Tourists carrying pepper mills in the shape of… – couldn’t resist.

            Hope your field trip to the Calgary Tower is full of fun and surprises and a few of these listed items!  For more ‘serious’ facts about the Tower, including admission and hours of operation, visit www.CalgaryTower.com.

There is something special about February that makes the rest of Canada envious of Albertans.  If you have guessed Cupid in a cowboy hat, you are a few days too early.  If you opted for Bald Pride Day, you are too late…sorry, Dad.  The statutory holiday that falls on the third Monday in February, every February since 1990, is called Family Day.  A day to honour the pioneer spirit and the importance of family, whatever shape or form your family may take.

 

           Family Day will be a special one for Terri Jackson this year when she’ll be reunited with her own family.  Jackson has recently moved to Calgary, leaving two daughters and two pre-school grandchildren in another province.  Hers is a common story for many Calgarians.  It seems as if almost every person living in this city of nearly one million citizens has been transplanted from other places.  What is uncommon is the deep level of commitment she has for her family.

            Jackson’s life has been littered with extremes.  Having a father who treated her with the utmost respect and unconditional love instilled a sense of maturity in her at a young age.  “I never remember him raising his voice to me in anger and certainly never was spanked.”  She uncomfortably compares him with her mother, with whom there was a very painful relationship.  When her father passed away Jackson was in her young teen years.  She felt it painful to continue being a part of her family.  Even so, Jackson refuses to express any negativity about her childhood.  She says she owes her new life to her husband, Charlie, and to finding God.  “It is only because of my beliefs that I can forgive my mother,” she says.

            “Because of my childhood, I was very scared to start a family of my own,” says Jackson when, only nine months after getting married, Charlie and Terri were surprised to discover they were expecting a child.  “When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, being a good mother became almost an obsession with me.”  She pauses and adds resolutely,  “I was determined to be a good mother…and to give my kids what I had so longed for in a mom.”

            The more Jackson felt the new life growing inside her, the more excited she became.  “There was an undercurrent of pure joy at the thought of being a mother I didn’t even know was there,” she says, smiling at the memory.  Jackson knew that this was a turning point in her life.  She made the decision, along with the full support of her husband, Charlie, to become a stay-at-home-mother.  “Although we really needed the money, I didn’t want to have to depend on others to baby-sit.  For ten years we lived meagrely…too meagrely at times.  Charlie took work–building fences, painting houses, and doing any odd job he could find to get us through.  It really made us think about what was important in our lives.  We had to make choices.  I could go to work and earn money to buy a washing machine or go to the Laundromat and make it a fun outing.  My family became my passion and my career.  I think we made the right decision.”

            After baby girl, Lena, was born, her sister, Valerie, arrived shortly.  They fast became each other’s best friends.  “That’s not to say they didn’t fight,” laughs Jackson,  “They could have it out with the best of them.”

 And what did they do for fun besides wrestle?  “Anything that didn’t cost money,” quips Jackson.  “The girls grew up outside in nature,” she says.  “We went for a walk or a bike ride nearly every day, if not twice a day, and tobogganing in the winter.  I invested one dollar for a giant roll of paper from the local newspaper and let the girls colour until their hearts were content.  We never could afford to eat out, so a huge treat was to get a 25 cent ice cream from McDonald’s.”

Jackson says that she believes that families should be ‘inclusive’, not exclusive.  “There were always neighbourhood kids over at my house.  In fact, they would knock at the door and ask to play with me!”  Jackson thinks that instilling her daughters with a heart for the poor was the reason her home was a popular hangout.  “Valerie and Lena would spread a blanket on the floor and load it up with canned goods.  They pretended it was an airplane and they were taking it to Africa to feed the children.”  She says it was a game that other kids were fascinated by.  “No matter how poor we were, Charlie and I wanted them to know that there are families more in need than us.”  Being in a neighbourhood surrounded by people on social assistance, that theme struck home with a lot of the children.

Jackson recalls an especially hard time for the family.  “It was Lena’s fourth birthday and I didn’t even have enough ingredients in the house to make her a birthday cake, much less buy her a present.  A wonderful lady from my church called me up, out of the blue, and insisted on throwing Lena a birthday party.  She supplied the games, the napkins, the invitations, the cake, and the lunch with all the trimmings.  Everything with a clown theme!  It was a very humbling experience.  That’s why I think that we have to include our friends as part of our family, too.”

After spending nearly a year apart from her children and grandchildren, Jackson still is faithful in maintaining constant contact.  “I try to send the grandkids a small package nearly every week.  I’ve made many trips to the Dollar Store.  We call each other very often, and Charlie and I have spent more time on the road this year travelling to see them than we care to admit.  When they’ve been able to come see us here, we put everything on hold to spend time with them.”

Which is why this Family Day will be so important for the Jackson’s in 2004.  Lena, their oldest daughter and single mother to their two grandchildren, will be coming to Calgary permanently.  Until she finds work, Lena and the kids will be staying in the Jackson home.  “I’m going to have to remember how to cook for five again, instead of just two!”  jokes Terri Jackson.  Some of that cooking Jackson plans to do outdoors on Family Day when she takes the grandchildren for a hike in the mountains, followed by a wiener roast over an open fire pit.

Does she realize that Family Day is in February?

She smiles.   “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Genealogy. It’s a scary word for most, conjuring images of hours spent in the dusty cellars of a city records office, squinting at microfilm with miniscule fonts. Not anymore. Today, more and more people are researching their family’s history on-line.

But before you get too ambitious, understand the first rule of genealogy: start with what you know. It is best to begin with your self. After all, in genealogy, discovering the past is realizing the present—namely you.

Take Charles Nienkirchen, for example. He is a professor of Christian history and spirituality at the Nazerene University College. His last name, literally translated, is “new church.” One might think he would be a man merely interested in dates and places, but not so. His father was 50 years old when Nienkirchen was born—a large generation gap, to say the least. When his father passed away in 1984, Charles’s interest in genealogy sprouted. He felt he needed to discover where he “fit” in the world and found researching his family’s roots was a good place to start. And start he did, with very little information.

“There were many dead ends and trails that led nowhere in the beginning,” says Nienkirchen, “But I am a person who is passionate about passion. When I do something, it’s wholeheartedly.”

Nienkirchen’s passion for researching his roots has, at times, supersceded all else.  He remembers his wife feeling like a “genealogy widow.” “I would spend two or three nights a week solely researching. And at that time, surfing the Web wasn’t as common or as helpful as it is today. I spent a lot of money on stamps and for copies of documents.”   

Nienkirchen says he wouldn’t consider himself to be the most organized person but describes himself as a “closet scrapbooker.” His material ranges from a carefully arranged and protected documents binder, a curio cabinet filled with all types of boyhood treasures, to a beautifully laminated booklet his young children made when they all went to visit long lost relatives.

Fortunately for Nienkirchen, his search for long-lost family was successful. “I uncovered one crucial document that told me everything I wanted to know about where my family came from. It was my grandfather’s application for naturalization, so that he could receive a Canadian pension. The document told me the region of Germany he hailed from—the missing piece of the puzzle for me.”

Nienkirchen and family went to Mecklenburg, Germany in 1989, at the time of the fall of the Iron Curtain, with hopes of finding more clues. The clue they found was Heinz Nienkirchen, Charles’s fifth cousin on his father’s side of the family.

“I am not a Nazi! I play music!” blurted Heinz, fearful that Hitler’s transgressions was representative of Germany as a whole.  Heinz was a member of the German army but never fired a gun. Communication with his newfound relatives was not a problem as Heinz had learned English when he was a POW in England. He often said this was the best thing to come of the war. It was also true Heinz was quite the musician. He played the cello, the piano, the accordion and the trombone. He also conducted numerous orchestras. Coincidentally, Nienkirchen and family are also very musical.

So fruitful was their meeting (it was the first contact between relatives on either side of the Atlantic in over 100 years) that Nienkirchen, along with the support of Canadian uncles and aunts, brought Heinz over to Pembroke, Ontario the next year for a visit. The pair even made an appearance in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper for their incredible story.

At their first meeting, Charles noted that the physical similarities between his deceased father and Heinz were amazing. That fact hit home with Nienkirchen when Heinz came to Canada.

“He seemed to take up an immediate attraction for my mother.” Nienkirchen pauses. “She was a little uncomfortable with that,” he adds bashfully. Which leads to the question, is romance part of our genetic make-up?

Sadly, Heinz passed away not too long after his visit to Canada. “I’m glad that we could bring him some joy in his last years,” says Nienkirchen.

Heinz’s wife passed away shortly before the cousin’s initial reunion. He never remarried. Having no children, Heinz immediately took to Nienkirchen as if he was his own child. “Meeting Heinz and bringing him to Canada was truly one of the highlights in my life,” says Charles. “There seems to be a rare moment in time when everything comes together. For me, there was a usually relaxed atmosphere that preceded the wall coming down in East Berlin that happened to coincide with our travel plans. Without that, none of this story would have been possible.”

Getting started in your own family genealogy project is a matter of talking to family members, recommends Nienkirchen “Most of the time, older folks just want someone to listen to their stories,” he says, “Though if your family has a lot of skeletons in the closet, there are ways of getting around that, too.”

Most genealogy books suggest getting every scrap of information on living ancestors, even if you think you know it all already. It is likely that, once you have gathered together documents for your immediate family, you will need to proceed further, sourcing out bits of information, whether it be emigration papers, a death certificate or contacting an adoption agency. Work on one generation at a time. Most importantly, keep the information together.

A file folder or a binder with dividers is an inexpensive way to start. Or, if using a keyboard is more comfortable, there are a few popular family tree computer programs on the market. The only drawback with using a program is that you may be tempted to not record everything faithfully. Write every source down, where it came from, book titles, and page numbers. This is one hobby made for pack rats! The library, of course, is a wealth of information. Keep even suspect information, as it may have a grain of truth to it.

There is a wealth of Web sites dedicated solely to the subject of genealogy, such as Rootsweb.com, or Familysearch.org. There is even a Web site that offers a free on-line crash course in six easy lessons, complete with on-line quizzes and printable worksheets found at Genealogy.about.com/library/lessons/blintro.htm.

As for Nienkirchen and his ancestral research? “I’ve put genealogy on the back burner for now,” says Nienkirchen. “I’m hoping that there is enough information here for one of my children to pick up where I left off—if they so chose. I find that, in virtually every family, there is one person that is the ‘caretaker of the stories.’ They keep the history alive for the others.”

Could that person be you?

It is approximated that more than 4 million people in North America are allergic to peanuts or their derivatives.  It is such a dangerous allergy that nearly every school and community food service has banned the use of any type of nut product within its boundaries.  But where does that leave a generation of parents who grew up on the staple of PB & J sandwiches?

            Joe St. Denis is all about improving that standard.  And when it comes to entrepreneuring an alternative approach to peanut butter, he’s your man.  NoNuts Golden Peabutter, yes ‘pea’ butter, is produced right here in Alberta’s own backyard and is dramatically changing the way people think about bread spreads.

            As the saying goes, necessity was indeed the mother of invention for St. Denis, born and raised here “for 57 years!” he notes.  When grain prices hit bottom in 1985, many farmers looked to raising alternative crops as a means of survival.  St. Denis started with fava beans and five acres of peas.  He was a pioneer in his field, no pun intended, and became somewhat of a teacher to other farmers here and around the world on the subject of growing and marketing pea crops.  In fact, while coming back from a business trip in Tunisia, the idea of Peabutter was formed.  St. Denis had a layover in Toronto and his first experience with the chickpea dish, hummus.  Most people would have simply enjoyed the food but for St. Denis the gears were already turning.

            He had discovered a variety of pea that turned brown, instead of green, when ripe. After three years of trial and error (and still learning, he admits), this special pea became the main ingredient in Peabutter.  When mixed with a bit of canola oil and icing sugar, the spread is exactly identical to its allergy reactive cousin, peanut butter, in both look and taste.  So much so that St. Denis recommends that “parents should include a note if their children take Peabutter sandwiches to school, just so no one gets in trouble.”  Currently, he is debating adding a food colour to make the spread more distinguishable from regular peanut butter.  “I’m not really keen on food dyes, though” he adds, relating keeping his product pure against the marketing failure of the green and purple Heinz ketchup.

            Creating public awareness is St. Denis’s number one challenge.  He knew he had a good sell, but he was being turned down time and again from the food manufacturers, seven in total.  And despite a unique product that definitely fulfills a need, St. Denis has never been able to receive funding from the provincial government.

That being said, when the going got tough, St. Denis got going…to the Farmer’s Market.  He struck out to become the manufacturer and marketer, financial backer and spokesman.  A regular one-man band, if you will.  He expresses a warning here, “Make sure that your family is one hundred percent behind you, because this type of a venture takes a toll on not only you, but your family and your bank account.”

            But the hard work is paying off, slowly but surely.  NoNuts Golden Peabutter won three out of four awards at the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors last year, including the prestigious titles of Best New Product and Best Innovation.  St. Denis also notes with pride in his voice that Peabutter just recently took home the Canadian Agriculture Food of Excellence award as well.  Other numerous awards are listed at www.peabutter.ca.  He has expanded Peabutter into eastern Canada and is looking forward to breaking into the United States market within the year. 

 “The real reward, though” he says humbly, “is the notes I get from parents of children with peanut allergies thanking me.  It’s wonderful to know that someone who couldn’t enjoy the simplicity of a peanut butter sandwich now can.”                               

The simple pleasures.  Sounds like a true Albertan.

“In Canada we are developing a pattern of life and I know something about one block of that pattern…I helped make it…”

            October is Canadian Woman’s History Month and what better way to celebrate than to realize one of the most influential people to ever grace the Wild West, Nellie McClung.  Born October 20, 1873, she epitomizes the prairie woman: hard working, determined, industrious, and passionate.  Her story includes the Depression, both World Wars and Prohibition.  Although she instigated many advancements in the welfare of women and children, she is best known for being one of the ‘Famous Five’ and the ‘Person’s Case’. 

“The women of Alberta have always been tireless in their in their pursuit of knowledge and human betterment.”

            Women were gaining ground at the turn of the last century.  Moving into the every aspect of the work force, two Albertan women had a profound effect on what was to become a pivotal change in the British North America (BNA) Act, section 24.  Judge Emily Murphy from Edmonton and Judge Alice Jamieson from Calgary were both challenged as to whether or not their rulings were valid because of a small clause that stated only persons could hold a certain positions of power, including the Senate.  That clause was understood to signify only male persons, an obstacle for the female Judges.  And that’s where McClung stepped in.

“To the province of Alberta belongs the credit for clearing up the vexed question of whether or not women are persons, according to the laws of the British Empire.”

            The Famous Five were assembled in Edmonton, including McClung, Judge Murphy, Irene Parlby, member of the Alberta Cabinet, Louise McKinney, an ex-MLA, and Henrietta Edwards, author of Laws Relating to Women.  The plan was to petition for an interpretation of the BNA Act in a well-crafted letter and send it off to Ottawa.  Their answer came a most unpleasant way nearly one year later.  Read in the newspaper: Supreme Court of Canada upholds the ruling that women are not Persons.

“Never retreat, never apologize – get the thing done and let them howl.”

            Down but never defeated the women assembled once more to change strategies.  Instead of the Supreme Court they decided to appeal to the Privy Council.  The only hurdle was that they had no money to pay a lawyer.  So, again, another letter was written, this time to the Prime Minister Mackenzie King asking for financial support.  Yes was the reply and their petition was taken before the Council.  More than two years after their initial movement, the Famous Five, as well as all Canadian women, were rewarded with the newspaper headline:  Privy Council Declares that Women are Persons!     McClung followed this up with a newsworthy story of her own:  Now that We are Persons.

“Chivalry is a poor substitute for justice, if one cannot have both.”

            McClung eventually married, having first picked out a reasonable perspective mother-in-law.  While raising small children, she rallied for the women’s right to vote in Manitoba.  Her parody play, “Why Men Should Have the Vote,” went a long way to sway the public opinion on the matter.  She left Manitou just before the bill was finally passed.  A free spirit, she called each province in Western Canada ‘home’ at some point, as well as being a guest lecturer across Canada and the U.S.

“For generations women have been thinking, and thought without expression is dynamic and gathers volume by repression.  Evolution when blocked and suppressed becomes revolution.” 

            But McClung didn’t stop there.  In her lifetime she carried the title of pioneer teacher, author of fifteen books, suffragist, social reformer, lecturer, and legislator.  Elected in Calgary as the Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1921, she spoke independently of her party and fought single-handedly for many social issues including free dental and medical care for school age children, married women’s property rights, mother’s allowances and old age pensions.  She was not re-elected in 1926.  It has been said that all of her occupations worked together to fuel the desire to improve the rights for Canadian women.  She has been called a crusader yet a practical leader.

“I want to leave something behind when I go; some small legacy of truth, some word that will shine in a dark place.”

A statue of McClung and the other ‘Famous Five’ grace Parliament Hill today.  As well she was honoured on the 8-cent stamp for her work in the ‘Person’s Case’ on its 100^th Anniversary.  This month wonder not about heroines in far off lands, we happen to have one in our own backyard.  Thank you, Nellie – your truth shines on.

Susan Pamela Eunice Emilson is a typical 13-year-old girl.  She likes to play the flute and hanging out with her friends, hates Math, loves pizza, and enjoys watching television when she has the time.  She insists that the TV show C.S.I. does not give her nightmares, although the sight of a needle in real life makes her want to throw up.  A normal girl doing normal things…except for those 80 page hand-written novels she produces on a regular basis.

            Emilson started writing when she was four years old, starting off with song writing and plays.  Her latest play, “A Mother’s Life”, was scheduled to perform at her own Junior High School when Emilson’s friend, a major character, had to back out.  Instead, the play was performed with characters played by stuffed animals and her little sister for a captivated audience of four…Emilson’s parents and grandparents.  “We did it for my Mom’s birthday.  I think she really enjoyed it.”  She gives me a shy smile, seeming a child one moment and an old soul the next.

            “Words are powerful,” she says solemnly.

            And words are what Emilson has to spare for her passion, which is writing mysteries in long fiction.  Her stories are filled with people with exotic names and littered with realistic dialogue.  “I’d like to make a career out of writing stories,” she says, “but even if I didn’t make any money at it, I’d still do it on the side.  And maybe own a farm with all types of animals.”  She makes a squeamish face.  “Not cows, though.”

            For a challenge, her father commissioned her to write a short story for a summer project.  “I made one but it was really hard.  There wasn’t enough space to give the characters time to develop and I didn’t like being restricted to only writing about one scene.”  Longer is equated with better in Emilson’s first experiences with publishing.  An E-Zine approved one of Emilson’s stories, Five In An Unknown World, on the condition that it is extended eight more chapters.  She promptly complied by not only meeting their expectations, but also writing 13 extra chapters.

            Emilson credits her little sister, Charissa, for being a motivation to keep the stories coming.  “She’ll always ask to read what I’m working on and then she’ll beg to know what happens next.  I have to keep going so she’ll leave me alone!”  She sighs.   Then she adds quickly and modestly, “My mom tells me I have a great gift.”

            When asked to list the special gifts of an outstanding kid, Emilson says, “Kind and patient.  Having a sense of humour makes you interesting.”  How would others describe Emilson?  “Nice, I hope.”  She thinks for a minute, “Maybe the boys wouldn’t say that.”

            Besides all that writing practice Emilson still likes to keep her skills sharp.  “I like to read a good author.  I find that I learn how to write from analyzing how the author puts the story together and the ideas that he or she may have.  I also like to think about things I might have changed or added to make it even a better story.”

            Emilson’s advice to wanna-be writers is to stay with it.  “I find that the story or the character gets really stale if I don’t write something on it everyday.  If I don’t work at the story constantly, I find it really hard to finish it.  I have a lot of uncompleted stuff.”

            But with more than a dozen completed stories and plays under her belt, Emilson seems well on her way.  A warning to all editors:  be on the watch for a rising star – goes by the name of Susan Emilson.

There was a chain link fence that ran around my property.  On one side lived the Hillmans, retired farmers.  Being quite a few years younger than them I always called them Mr. or Mrs. Hillman.  As much of being a term of respect it was also to hide the fact that I didn’t know for sure what Mrs. Hillman’s first name was.  It might have been Eva but I wanted to spare myself some embarrassment.  I did – for the seven years we lived next to one another I always called her Mrs. Hillman.  It went both ways, I was always Brittany to them. 

Because of Canada’s extraordinary long winters, spring was (and still is) a time to get reacquainted.  Mrs. Hillman was a superb gardener and would lean over the fence to let me know the names of mysterious perennials that would pop up from year to year.  She would point out pest plants and would look accusingly at my healthy, but seriously overgrown, daisies.  Since weeds were the things I grew best, I was reluctant to cut them back, even though they were stealthily trying to take command of her yard.  Mrs. Hillman, of course, grew everything well.  I believed she was the farmer that wrote the Farmer’s Almanac.

Mr. Hillman, or Art if you are a more informal and less easily embarrassed person, reminded me of the neighbour in Robert Frost’s popular poem “Mending Wall”.  He was a man of few words but what he said was worthy of remembering.  There is nothing I know today about being prepared instead of doing repairs that I don’t owe to him.  I try to apply his simple principle to my personal life as well as my electric lawn trimmer.

The fence, though, that was the important thing.  It kept my daisies from getting too wild and kept my kid’s soccer balls off of their perfectly manicured lawn.  The fence, too, kept them from coming over and moving the rake from the middle of the yard.  It kept the advice at just that; what they offered me I could leave at the fence.  There was too much of an age difference to pretend that we would ever be the best of friends but a formal relationship was made informal by the airiness of the chain link.  I agree, Mr. Frost, good fences do make good neighbours.

          The year is 1520.  All noblemen in Sweden have been executed, save one.  His name is Gustav Vasa and he is on the run from the Danish king, Christian the II. The mode of transportation:  two long slabs of pine, each weighing 12 pounds and one long pole.  The travel destination:  across the country to Norway, 90 Km away. Who will join the rebel forces and reclaim Sweden from the Danes? 

            The year is 1855.  An ad in the Sacramento Union newspaper reads:  People Lost to the World; Uncle Sam Needs a Mail Carrier.  The job benefits include a 300 kilometre and five-day round trip through the Sierra Mountains, crossing deep snow drifts, freezing winds, low flats and high passes.  As a bonus, add a 100-pound knapsack full of letters and packages addressed to gold miners living a state away. Many had gone before…and failed.  Would John Thompson on 10 foot; 25-pound ski-skates succeed where others had fallen?

            The year is 1965.  The place is Inuvik, Northwest Territories.  A ski troop veteran of WWII gives twin sisters, Shirley and Sharon Firth, a pair of cross-country skis. Two slight, Aboriginal girls fighting against prejudice and poverty become destined to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics.  Will they be able to overcome a twin’s sickness, the death of their mother, despair, rejection, and personal failures to take a medal at the Games?

            What unites these wildly different historical characters?  They are all cross-country skiers! 

            Cross-country skiing, also known as XC skiing, only experienced a renaissance as public sport in the last 30 years.  Before then, this type of skiing was purely functional and almost exclusively limited to the Scandinavian countries.  In fact, petroglyphs dating as far back as 2000 B.C. show Nordic people gliding ‘scooter style’ on top of a long plank of wood.  Of course, there have been some improvements since that time.

              Along with upgrading of basic equipment, skiing has adopted a terminology that makes a beginner cringe in fear.  But if you’re just starting out, don’t let terms like flex and binding, waxing and Telemark turns discourage you.  

            There is an age-old adage about skiing:  ‘If you can walk, you can ski’.  Lauzier suggests this may be misleading.  He adds to the saying, “Even disabled persons have the ability to ‘sit ski’ on the trails.”

            J.C. Lauzier is one of the Outdoor Centre’s experts at the University of Calgary.  A program coordinator for both river kayaking and XC skiing, Lauzier has been a XC skier for the last 25 years and an instructor for 16 of those years.    Although he won’t admit to being a ‘winter person,’ there is jubilation in the way he speaks about getting outdoors.  “I get such a release in getting out on skis and reconnecting with nature.  It helps me to leave all my city woes behind.”

            The U of C offers some of the most affordable prices around Calgary in programs for beginners and renting equipment.  Whether you want ‘just a taste’ with an introductory two-hour sampler course, or the ‘full meal deal’ with four hours of snow and ski activity in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, the instructors at the Outdoor Centre are more than willing to help you out.  The rates for renting ski equipment are also very reasonable and, of course, much less expensive than buying skis that will sit unused in the basement.  The Outdoor Centre carries all those little extras, too, like ‘pulks’ (tow sleds for toddlers), and ski racks for your car.

Whether you have your own equipment or are renting, dressing properly for winter weather is always crucial.  Lauzier recommends travelling in removable layers of light clothing, with the exclusion of cotton garments.  Cotton tends to retain moisture and the worst thing a skier can be (besides lost) is wet.  “You won’t need to spend any money on synthetic garments at this point as long as you pick ski areas that have warming huts or some kind of shelter,” Lauzier adds.  Sunglasses add protection against snow glare.  And, most importantly, don’t forget your hat!  40% of body heat is lost through the top of your head.

It’s time to hit the trails!  But where to go?  Local destinations abound.  “Shaganappi and Confederation Golf courses are groomed on a volunteer basis and offer easy to intermediate level trails,” says Lauzier.  “Also, almost any natural area within the city will have skier set trails.”  If, like Lauzier, you like to get away from the ‘city woes’ there are over 40 Km of easy to advanced trails at Bragg Creek and easy to moderate trails in Sandy McNabb near Turner Valley.  “Both are prone to Chinook winds, though, so you may have to travel a bit farther to Ribbon Creek in the Kananaskis Valley to find more consistent snow conditions,” advises Lauzier. 

Wherever you end up, skiing can be a time of solitude or social fun.  “I enjoy both the times I’m out for a solo experience or skiing with my family and friends,” says Lauzier,  “You can make it as sociable as you wish.  Usually a group of us will meet at a coffee shop for a quick brew and then head off to the mountains.  Lunch is a relaxing affair with everyone gathering along the way to build platform seating in the snow and then just kicking back.” 

Lauzier also enjoys the solitude of doing a fitness ski, as well he should.  XC skiing is the best sport to achieve toning for every major muscle group, according to the Canadian XC Ski Association.  As an added plus, XC skiing burns more calories per hour than any other sport.  Still need convincing?  “Physical fitness is only one of the health benefits of this sport.  Mental and spiritual aspects of our lives are also worked.  The beauty and symmetry of skiing is found in earning your elevation gain, in order to enjoy the rush of gravity,” theorizes Lauzier, “XC skiing can be used as a holistic means to increase our everyday health.”

But what ever happened to Vasa, Thompson and the Firths?

Only two men joined Gustav Vasa that night in Mora, Sweden when he made a plea for his country.  The three of them travelled to the Norwegian border to rally troops.  Those troops came back and eliminated the Danish rule.  The people were so impressed; they made Vasa their king. Presently, one of the most popular cross-country ski races is held in both Sweden and North America in King Vasa’s honour.  The Vasalopet, or literally ‘Vasa walks’, is attended by skiers from more than 20 countries worldwide.

            John “Snowshoe” Thompson became a legend to the people of Nevada and California.  He continued on making mail drops two to four times each month, for twenty winters.  People would leave their baking burning in the ovens just for the incredible sight of him rushing into town with their packages from loved ones and with Nevada’s first newspaper.  He did this all while dodging hungry wildlife, rescuing lost mountaineers, and despite appeals to U.S. legislature, never getting paid for his work.  Today, Thompson is considered the Father of Skiing in California.

            The twins, Shirley and Sharon Firth, overcame tragedy and prejudice to compete as Olympians but never did receive a medal.  They did make an unprecedented four consecutive appearances (from 1972 to 1984) at the Games, a total only equalled by Quebec’s speed skater, Gaetan Boucher.  They always knew when one twin finished racing; the other would also, but they have no regrets.  Sharon says, “I look back on the things I did through skiing and it’s always been happy moments, the positive things that carry through and make your life more exciting.” 

            Whether you a be a rebel king, an unpaid mail carrier, an Olympic contender, or just a novice looking for a fun winter activity, cross the gap of history and give skiing a try.  Tell J.C. Lauzier I sent you.

If you would like to find out more information on the University of Calgary’s XC Skiing Programs you can visit www.ucalgary.ca/opc or call 220-5038.  The Outdoor Centre also has brochures available at Safeway and Co-op stores.

Whoever said ‘all life is suffering’ certainly got it right.

Hey-o, faithful blog readers.  Obviously, I haven’t written anything for a few days.  You may have surmised correctly.  I did quit.

What are the reasons?  There are too many to name and none of the usual apply.  Here are the usual:

• Boredom
• Frustration, fear
• Lack of time
• Lack of energy
• Nothing to say (writer’s block)
• No way to say it (I call this expressive block.  like when you’re reaching for a word on the tip of your tongue.  A thesaurus, that friendly writer’s dinosaur, is always a good solution for this).

What to do if you’re caught by any of these:

• Take a break…with a deadline.  Eventually you will get back to the writing.  Just tell yourself when.
• Go for a walk.  You’ve listening to my theories on exercise stimulating the creative cortex.  I won’t bore you.
• Write something else.  If you are writing prose, write a poem.  If you are doing journalism work, write a poem.  Write a poem, write a poem.  I think that writing poetry is like going sailing as opposed to taking the speedboat out for a spin.  Just be lazy in the words.
• Lack of time and energy?  Turn off the TV for starters.  Then write a haiku.  Think of it as a crossword puzzle that has meaning.   Of course, use the corners of your day.  I commute on the train.  This helps, even when I can’t write anything down, I can just think about it.

So, if these aren’t options for me, what’s the deal?

Truth is, I don’t know.  I feel like doors are being shut and continue to shut in this area for me, even though I love to write.  I’m not really at the point where I want to write ‘just for fun’ anymore, even though it would be akin to chopping off my left hand to quit writing in entirety.

If I come up with any solutions, you’ll be the first to know.

Thanks for following me this far.  I will see you again in the future.  Adieu.