How the west was reached and where it got us

If it really mattered to me that each experience that I had was recorded in this blog, well, the past couple weeks would set me back a fair bit. Here's what it looks like from the inside of the nutshell.

packed in NDG, ate at Au Pied du Cochon, bought out our lease, loaded the truck (ginormous thanks Aimée, Miranda, Cesar, and Patricio)(massive thanks to Etienne), heard about the unloading of the truck in Spruce Grove (stupendous thanks to Mike, Carl, "Pipes", and Paul), drove with Amber and the iPod to New Brunswick, relaxed with Papa and Memere, celebrated 400 years of Acadian civilization, drove accross the continent - 5550 km - to our new home (thanks to Pattie, Steve, Justin, Joanne, John, Mandy, and Ian), unpacked (thanks Dean and Saison), went to work and prepared new classroom and to teach music etc... for this coming Monday (thanks to entire staff at LWCA).

Yeah, I'm tired. And joyful.

Ballet and Beer or Dancing and Hops

I had such a wonderful time tonight. Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal put on a free performance of Minus One in Parc Lafontaine. Kevin stood in line for us and seven of us sat in the very centre of the stands and watched about ten different dances. It was amazingly choreographed with fabulous soundtracks. Amber and I stayed warm in a blanket on the aluminum bench.

Following the ballet, as planned, we skipped up to Kevin's. Danny and I spent $10 at the corner beer store and brought back five different beers to add to two Kevin had at his house. What ensued was the great beer tasting of 2004. My reviews should be considered with the fact that prior to this evening I had tasted only a handful of beers.

Exhibit A: La Fin du Monde (strong ale on lees, triple fermentation)
A very strong flavor, but without a bitter aftertaste. Our favorite from the start.

Exhibit B: St-Ambroise (oatmeal stout)
Super dark and heavy consistency. Heavy, but enjoyable aftertaste.

Exhibit C: La Bolduc (old style beer)
Enjoyable, easy beer to drink.

Exhibit D: Golding Indian Ale (ale, golding hop)
Very strong taste with heavy and rather bitter aftertaste.

Exhibit E: Dentergems Witbier (Belgian white beer, fermented in the bottle)
A beautiful beer with gentle taste. Quite refreshing.

Exhibit F: Griffon Rousse (red ale)
Quite a different flavour from the other beers, pleasant taste and beautiful colour.

Exhibit G: U (Unibroue pilsner)
Quite unexpected strong taste with light aftertaste.

Our drinking was pretty minimal as we were sharing bottles between 2 or 3 people. Kevin made some cheese on buns with cumin and pepper on top to give us something to soak up the beer. Neither of us got drunk, just light buzz. We talked developing world, renewable energy, homestarrunner, Simpsons, horror vs. thriller, and childhood memories. It was a good time. Cheers Kev!

Camping in the 21st Century

So we drive to Mont Tremblant after spending the night at a full facility campground. I just want to climb a mountain, but no one else in the park seems to want to. People can take an air car up the green ski slope mountain or pay $11 to hang out by the lake. I just want to hike in seclusion.

We find Mont St. Bernard and pay $3 each for some reason. The mountain is rugged and the paths well marked. We take the trail marked difficult, but I think it is only difficult for wheelchairs and maybe tricycles. The mountain's care taker has never been up the 45 minute path to the summit. At the top we stand on a rock and take double exposure photos.

The green. The blue. The hummingbird. The mushrooms. The moss. The deer tracks. The solace. The beautiful woman beside me.