Historical Tour of Romance

I asked Amber out just over 17 years ago. She accepted my invitation to go for a hot drink at Kavaccinos in Lacombe and our relationship sprouted, budded and blossomed from that night in September. We decided to take the kids to this coffee shop and share some memories.

I was super nervous to ask her out. So nervous that I had to go to Lakeview Hall twice in the attempt - the first time she was in the lobby with a group of people which completely unnerved me. the second time I phoned the wrong Amber from the dorm lobby (I didn't know her last name) first and then finally got her on the phone. I borrowed my sister's car and took her out. I had no idea then what kind of joy would come from this euphoric date.

The coffee and food were better than I remember. Spending time with Amber gets sweeter everyday though.



We met at CUC which is changing its name from Canadian University College to Burman University (a move I fully endorse). I was on the welcoming team of upperclassmen when Amber arrived as a freshman. She caught my eye when she joined my jellybean group where we played a dumb name game. I emerged from Freshmen Orientation completely smitten. I had to ask her out just to put my mind at ease so I could continue with my studies.



After our initial date, we went on walks around the lakes at CUC. We took the kids down the hill behind the dorm to the path beside Lake Barnett.



Our first kiss was on one of these walks. I ended up kissing Amber's teeth because she was smiling so big. We've managed to improve on that one since.



One of the moments when I have sensed God's presence most profoundly was in the week or two following the beginning of our relationship. I was on my way to early morning classes walking up College Avenue when I was overwhelmed with how God had blessed me with this remarkable companion.

30 Years Later

Zaakistan 2013

January

Sick Day. Snow Day. Gaming weekend in Canmore. Concerts: Living with Lions, Whitehorse. Semester 1 ends: Math 10C, Math 20-2, Multi-Media

February

Dragonfly Cohousing Social Media Blitz. Man Scouts Beer Tasting. Demitor Visit in Edmonton. Peter turned 80 in High River. Semester 2 begins: Calculus, Math 30-2, Multi-Media. 

March

Mother-in-law visit. Turned 37. Fundraising Beer Tasting. Visit to South Africa: Waldrons, Seed of Hope, Game Reserve.

April

Visit to Malawi: World Renew, Kamanzi, Lake Malawi, Participatory Rural Apraisal. Morning stroll in Amsterdam. Daughter turned 6. Sister-in-law visit. Weekend in Radium with friends. Budget cuts at work.

May

Son learns to ride a bicycle. Dragonfly Cohousing Groundbreaking. Minhas Brewery Tour. Book Sale. Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Mumford and Sons. Graduation. 

June

Calgary is flooded/Exams cancelled. Dragonfly Cohousing grinds to a halt due to construction bids coming in way over budget. Ultimate Frisbee (go Vicious Circles). Allan Family Reunion in Canmore. Bladder Infection.

July

Despicable Me 2 with kids. Son turns 8. Camping and hiking in Banff with friends (sickness). Anniversary Ride to Rocky Mtn House with sister. Montreal: Sister/Brother-in-law, Shakespeare in the Park, Biodôme/Botanical Gardens/Insectarium/Planetarium, Microbrew visits, Alouettes, BBQ.

August

VIA Rail NB: Papa/Step-Mother, Memere, Fern/Gail, Beach, Pugwash Campmeeting, Canoeing, 13th Anniversary, Dieppe Kite Festival, Plovers, Building a Geodesic Dome, Visit to Sackville, Mémere turns 87. Camping at Little Bow with Friends. Visit to Vulcan. Meadery tour.

September

Semester 1 begins: Math 10C, Math 30-1, Math 30-2. Camping in Rocky Mtn House with family and friends. Tennis with friends. Dragonfly Cohousing hires a new project manager. FallCon 26. Peter's Memorial Service. Kids begin homeschool. Beer Tasting.

October

Corn Maze with Dragonfly. Re-Design Workshops. Mom's Birthday. Reflektor is Released. Family Visit to Red Deer. Beer Tasting. Cystoscopy. Nenshi Re-Elected. Teachers Conference.

November

Glenbow Museum. Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Banff Mtn Film Fest. Wife turns 35. First Batch of Beer. K-12 Unsolved Conference in Banff. Visit Demitors in Westlock. Old Fashioned Family Portrait. Grey Cup Party.

 December

Son gets his Yellow Belt in karate. Re-Design Workshop. Hobbit 2 Premiere showing. Snow Day and a half. Power Out Day. Beer Tasting. Second Batch of Beer. Friend goes missing in Belize. Christmas in Calgary. Nutcracker. New Years Eve Fondue with Family in Red Deer.

Regrets & Pride

I was challenged a couple months ago to consider my regrets. Rather quickly several major regrets came to mind.  Reflecting on my greatest regrettable actions I encounter a disturbing revelation: I have really regretted doing things that primarily made me look bad. Sadly, even when those regrets have involved hurting another person, the reason I regret it is because it tarnishes my reputation, not because of the harm I caused others.

I'll offer a couple examples:

On a band tour back in grade 10, we were passing through Perth Andover, NB where one of our band members lived (I attended a boarding school) and we were to pick him up. A vehicle took the exit off the highway while the other 3 vehicles waited on the shoulder. After some time, I heard our driver lament that this was taking a long time. I perked up and suggested we go to his house; I knew where he lived and it was just a couple kms up the road. Our entire caravan of vans then followed my directions and drove down the road. Very quickly, the vehicle with the Perth resident inside it passed us going the other way. Unfortunately, there were no good places to turn around for at least a km and even then it took quite a while to get everything turned around. In the end we ended up losing 10-15 minutes extending our already delayed trip unnecessarily. Our band conductor had some stern words for me. I was, and still am, embarrassed by that decision, which in hindsight still suggests the best of intentions and really didn't cause much disruption. My embarrassment remains.

In 2002 I was assigned to grade 8 and 9 language arts. There were several difficult students (and parents) and to multiply my frustration it was my first year teaching and I was teaching outside of my subject area. On the last day of regular classes, I showed my options class a movie - Back to the Future. Most of the class watched with enjoyment, but two of my students loudly mocked the film and essentially ruined it for everyone. I ended up speaking to them quite harshly and held one of them against the wall because of his outright defiance (I didn't harm him). I had to eat humble pie by apologizing to him and his father a couple days later along with a talk from my vice-principal. This event haunts me as perhaps the one thing that would really attack my character if I ever became a public figure in politics or otherwise. Note that I have little concern as to how this might have affected the student - which is terrible as I was in a position of authority and should never have treated him this way.

So I think an important step moving forward is to acknowledge this rather disconcerting emphasis on my own self-importance and hold others in high esteem.

I can identify four major "aha!" moments for me recognizing the value of the other:

1996: Working as a student missionary in the Marshall Islands and being asked by an uncle of a toddler to be her primary care giver. This broke my heart.

2000: Working as a youth pastor and discovering that a youth is more important than the lesson I was trying to teach to them.

2005: Receiving an email the morning my son was born which included the Hasidic saying:  "When a child walks down the road, a company of angels goes before him proclaiming, 'Make way for the image of the Holy One.'"

2009: Listening to a sermon on Anger where my pastor explained that he had no right to be angry with another person. It was an issue of pride raising him above another to demean them.

 It's a journey and I'm still on it. While most issues of faith have been cerebral, I am slowly realizing their applications in my life.

Zaakistan Radio Programming (Episode 001 - Childhood Songs)

[if I were to have my own, self-produced radio show... ]

Good afternoon, this is Radio Zaakistan. I'm your host, Zaak Robichaud. To open this series I'm going to steer you through my early childhood in music and if you listen long enough you'll hear how Joni Mitchell got me bit by a guard dog and why I decided to play the French Horn. As the father of two young children, I marvel at their fascination with music and in particular I wonder what songs they will associate with their childhood when they are adults. As babies, they each had their own goodnight song, but they have all but outgrown those. My son identifies my favourite bands, Arcade Fire and U2, as his favourite bands too. And then he tells us he likes electronic dance music like Katy Perry or LMFAO when it comes on the radio. I'm a little alarmed.


Not unlike my children, I first heard the music my parents listened to. There are two songs that I associate with my earliest preschool years deep in the woods of New Brunswick. From Seals and Crofts in 1975, this is 

Wayland the Rabbit

I had to phone my mother to get that title as it wasn't as clear in my mind as the next song I'm going to play for you. Loggins and Messina's song about Winnie the Pooh and his friends got heavy cassette play in our log house. From the 1972 album "Sittin' In," this is 

House at Pooh Corner

When I hear "... back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh," I'm transported back to the pines around my house, back to being a carefree 5-year-old.


Like a lot of people in the 1970s, my parents were hippies. There was a lot of leftist politics, drugs, talk about spirituality and religion and it carried over into popular music. One of the musicians that got a lot of play as my parents newly explored Christianity was Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn. I remember asking my father what a star field was after hearing this song and listening to his explanation. This is 

Lord of the Starfields

When my father picked up his guitar, or any guitar really, the first thing he would play was a Neil Young bass riff. He would gaze intently at the listener, expecting them to enter the groove. That groove was 

Hey hey, My my (Into the Black)

It's funny what you remember. I think he still plays that riff when he picks up a guitar.


Being rather isolated, not just in the woods, but in our faith, our location in the province, in our political views, I was often shocked that we had anything in common with the outside world. As a six-year-old, I went on an errand with my father one late afternoon to Richibucto to look for a used car part at Vautour's Auto Used Parts. My father asked me if I wanted to come in, I declined in favour of listening to the radio. After 15 minutes a song came on that I recognized. Amazed, I wanted to tell papa that a song we knew was on the radio so I left the car and tried to enter the business the way my father had. It was locked. I decided to walk around the building as I knew that all the car carcasses were back there. As I approached the rear of the building I saw two men look up as they released a german shepherd guard dog on a line. The german shepherd saw me too and immediately ran towards me. Unknowingly, as I ran away, I was following the line the dog was tied to and so I was an easy target. He nipped my but and mangled my elbow pretty decently by the time the mechanics got to me to pull the dog off of me. It could have been a lot worse and I still think of it every time I hear Joni Mitchell sing

Big Yellow Taxi

One of the biggest changes in my childhood was the move from New Brunswick to Alberta when I was nine years old. We played this Gordon Lightfoot song in our used station wagon in Northern Ontario as we journeyed west. This is 

Alberta Bound

Much of the music in our family's collection was on dubbed cassettes that were copied from our friends' collections. This meant that as a tape was put into the player I often didn't know who the band was or what the name of the song was, let along have access to the lyrics. I did know that I loved this one instrumental from French traditional band Malicorne. The use of medieval instruments had me intrigued as to how it could be played by me and my elementary friends. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to play the different parts and I even shared it with my grade 5 social studies class at some point thinking it was traditional French Canadian music (it isn't).

Branle de la haie

I spent grades 4-6 on a small Christian college campus as my father studied to become a pastor. My family usually didn't miss the monthly musical guests at the Sunday at Seven and Date at Eight series each year. The musical guests were often small chamber groups or classical or folk soloists. It was unique formative part of my life as I learned to appreciate music outside of my parents preferred genres. One of the bands that had a particularly profound effect on me was Danny Greenspoon's band The Romaniac Brothers. They delivered a comedic performance as the four musicians took on fictional characters which were Romanian brothers separated at birth. They all had exotic names (Zoltan Flamingo Romaniac for instance). Some of their songs were original (ie. Let's all go to Moose Jaw), but most were adaptations to classics like the film theme from Amarcord or The Rolling Stones' Paint it Black. I was so entertained that I was moved to spend my paper route earnings on their cassette album Ethno-fusion. I recently checked in with Danny Greenspoon and learned that the album is no longer available since the original tracks are lost and it was never digitized. So, from my cassette player, this is 

The Ecstasy of the Martyr

I regularly visited the Lacombe Public Library with my family. The image of the stacks of vinyl records remains with me today and I remember browsing through them and taking so many of them home. Keeping with family tradition, I would dub many of them onto cassette using our Emerson record and cassette player. One album got heavy play in my bedroom. It was Brass in Berlin with the Canadian Brass playing baroque classics with a brass quintet from Berlin. I was learning to play the french horn in grade 6 hearing some of these songs for the first time brought tears to my eyes. Half of the album comes from J.S. Bach and I was in love. I ultimately bought the album on CD once it was released when I was in high school. The opening track on the album with soaring horns is

Pachelbel's Canon in D

With money in my pocket as a 12-year old, I was now ready to start buying my own music. I found my first tape at a Kresge's in Red Deer, Alberta. I must have paid close to $12 for The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits back in 1988. Side B was far more interesting to me with tracks like Come Together, Hello Goodbye, and Penny Lane, but my favourite track was this stand alone single. I had entered the world of Rock 'n Roll, a few decades late, but I had arrived and I wasn't going to leave. 

Paperback Writer

That concludes today's program. Thank you for listening to what I was listening to from 1978-1988 and what formed my earliest musical tastes. I'll be back again with other playlists.

On Stage: The Hobbit

Richard Grafton, a theatre mastermind and teacher at my school, directed a production of Tolkien's The Hobbit (play by Kim Selody) for the students back in February. He sent out an all call to the teachers to see if anyone was interested in being Smaug - the dragon. I eagerly volunteered.

What a blast to be a part of! I didn't have many lines and I was off stage inside a huge duct tape head, so I only had to emote with my voice. It also meant that I didn't have to go to many rehearsals, though a couple more may have done me good as I was still learning my lines the day of the first show.

The four shows we put on over 2 days went super. I was very impressed with how organized and professional the crew was - mostly made up of jr. high and elementary students (with a handful of 10th graders).

I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was in grade 7. It moved me deeply. I dreamed of making the film and I even designed an 18 hole miniature golf course following the various scenes from The Hobbit.

2001-2010 Decade in Review

2001: Shave my head for the first time, work as a youth pastor at Red Willow Community Church in St Albert AB (Events: Just Shoot Me, Gerta's Eclipse, and fall retreat in Nordegg), canoe the Mackenzie River in NT, camp at Elk Island National Park, attend plays at the Citadel Theatre, travel to Halifax NS for Peter's wedding and Cormier Village NB after a 7 year absence, wake up to news of attack on twin towers on radio, spend Christmas in Smithers BC.

2002: Amber graduates from U of A, church trip to Guatemala and touring afterward, Pépère passes away, continue pastoring at Red Willow leading prayer meetings, leading worship with Kurt and getting kids to YC, substitute teach and then teach language arts and media part time for Edmonton Public Schools, camp at Elk Island, travel to Hope BC for Tey's wedding and Moscow ID for Bethany's wedding, Christmas in Lacombe AB.

2003: Finish my first year teaching at Winterburn School, Amber teaches for six months in Calgary, taken temporarily by Quixtar, cycle across Canada (5858 km) with 8 friends/family, move to Montreal QC and teach science and math at Greaves Adventist Academy, attend the Lord of the Rings trilogy screening at the Paramount Montreal, spend Christmas in NB.

2004: Travel to VT, CT, MA, and NY in the spring, sponsor school yearbook, begin Zaakistan blog, eat very well at various parties in Montreal, run through NDG, friend Stephanie passes away, teach summer session, buy first iPod, drive across North America with stops in NB, MI, WI, and SK, move to Spruce Grove AB to teach music, band and math at Living Waters Christian Academy, impregnate Amber, take Spanish classes, put on school Chrismas concert, host family Christmas.

2005: Put on school spring concert at LWCA, mail out support letters to work in Guatemala, Amber gets huge, enjoy 4 couples friends meals, begin playing Settlers of Catan, Blaise is born, pack up and move to Red Deer, travel with baby to Hazelton BC, Squamish BC, Moscow ID, Montreal QC, Cormier Village NB, move to Tactic Guatemala with Impact Ministries to manage the child sponsorship program, produce promotional material, and guide short term teams, deliver relief supplies to Lake Atitlan following landslide devastation, sell Ester Buck, buy Kia Rio, travel to Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Antigua, and Copán Honduras.

2006: New school opens in Chicoy, we are robbed while at church, move to house at KM 185, complete first film, turn 30 years of age, visited by Saison, Mom, Papa and Red Willow team, travel to El Salvador, Honduras, Lake Atitlan and Tikal, hike the falls at Chilascó and Pacaya volcano, produce promo video, database, website and slideshows for Impact Ministries, listen to Stanley Cup Edmonton Oiler playoff run online, Amber gets pregnant, screen Strength and Honour: Cycling Canada Coast to Coast at the Montreal International Film Festival, travel to Montreal QC, Cormier Village NB, then Christmas in AB and BC with family.

2007: Two new schools open in Purulhá and Mocohan, we achieve Guatemalan residency, deliver and install 90 ONIL stoves, endure 2 month cough, Acadia is born at home, visited by Will and LWCA team, hike up Purulhá mountain, continue to produce promo videos, guide teams and manage sponsorship program, buy and care for goats with René, join Facebook, Tactic is flooded, take course from Chalmers, deliver 640 pairs of shoes, April spends Christmas with us.

2008: Drive through Petén, Belize, and Quintana Roo to spend holiday with family in Playa del Carmen Mexico, visited by Salomé, Shane, Peter, Red Willow team, Alan and Justin, cycle to Salamá with Garth and Walter, travel to Rabinal, back country near Tactic and with group of friends to Rio Dulce, receive interviews with World Vision Mali and Bearspaw Christian School Calgary, move to AB, buy car and home, niece Abigail and nephew Kai are born, travel to Smithers and Hazelton BC for weddings, teach Bible, Spanish, PE and media at BCS, Amber's sisters live with us.

2009: Begin attending New Hope Church, continue teaching at BCS with math added to the subjects, drywall the basement, spend summer holidays in NB, NS, PEI, BC and AB, buy year passes to Calgary Zoo, attend Leonard Cohen and U2 concerts, start small group, Kylik, Alanna and Indigo winter with us, endure -58 C (with wind chill) in Edmonton, host big family Christmas.

2010: Join Whiskeyjack/Dragonfly Cohousing, begin playing Stone Age, attend Pastor John's book meetings, host Amber's family visit, watch the Vancouver Olympics, Camp with family in Rocky Mountain House, travel to Smithers BC, speak at Katepwa Baptist Camp in SK, celebrate 10 year wedding anniversary in Waterton Lakes National Park, attend several amazing concerts, start teaching Calculus and stop teaching Spanish, cycle to work, April visits from Syria, spend Christmas in Edmonton with my family.

I praise the faithful and ever present God for this blessed decade.

səˈska ch əˌwän

It still feels a little strange telling people that we spent a week vacation in Saskatchewan. We don't have any family there and we live 60 minutes from Banff.

The province does take its share of derision, second probably only to Newfoundland. The facts that it is so flat and boring and sparsely populated do not help it. Certainly the most charming thing that I knew about the province before visiting it last week was its curious collection of place names: Mozart, Cut Knife, Moose Jaw, Elbow, Eyebrow, Wartime, Shooter Hill, Forget, Antler, Climax, and Biggar ("New York is Big, but this is Biggar").

We visited the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on our last day in the province with the kids. Free admission and an encouragement to take as many pictures as we wanted were what the lady at the info counter told us.

I was exceedingly impressed with the place. Wonderful dioramas of the seven climatic areas in SK fantastically illustrated the provinces wildlife and vegetation.

Saskatchewan's history is rich with the meeting of western government with the native population. Many of treaties signed by Canada and First Nations were drawn up in Saskatchewan. Sadly, First Nations people remain second class citizens off the books, but the museum did a fine job capturing their spirit and way of life and presenting it in an admiring way.

Blaise was particularly impressed with the dinosaur exhibits. He's pictured where with a triceratops skull.

I have always admired the provinces social action tradition going back to Tommy Douglas (founder of universal healthcare in Canada) through the various left-leaning parties being elected to government (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the New Democratic Party have ruled 43 of the last 76 years). A consequence of this is Saskatchewan's high royalty rates on their vast petroleum reserves which restrained corporations from plundering it all as they did in Alberta.

I've visited quite a large swath of the province over the years, stopping to get my picture at the giant snowman in Kenaston in 1988, being a speaker in Quill Lake in the mid-90s, visiting friends in Saskatoon, attending a youth conference in Caronport, cycling through and spending nights in Gull Lake, Chaplin, Regina and Whitewood, and touring with the CUC Silverwinds and playing in North Battleford.

So, to you Saskatchewan, I lift high my glass.

Epic Hikes

Since I like to make lists and I was thinking of them when I was hiking the Blue Lakes on Monday, I thought I would draw up a list of some of the memorable hikes I've enjoyed over the years.

• Kootenay Plains, AB; 1987
• Wood Bison Trail, Elk Island, AB; 1987
• Siffleur Falls, AB; 1988, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2005
• Cape Blomidon, NS; 1992
• Mount Carleton, NB; 1992 & 1994
• Mount Washington, BC; 1995
• Cape Scott, BC; 1995
• Huftarøy, Norway; 1997
• Mont Salève, France; 1997
• Shoreline Trail, Elk Island, AB; 2001
• Moss Lake Trail, Elk Island, AB; 2002
• The Chief, BC; 2005
• Los Tablones, Guatemala; 2006
• Salto de Chilascó, Guatemala; 2006, 2007, 2008
• Mountain in Purulhá, Guatemala; 2007
• Blue Lakes, BC; 2010

My plan is to hike the Appalachian Trail with Blaise when he's 12/13 in 2018 as a rite of passage into manhood (for him, not me). This summer Amber and I are going to do a couple hikes in Waterton. One of my life goals is to summit mountains in 20 countries (so far I have Canada, Norway, and France). I'd also like to hike the West Coast Trail one day.

World Cup Memories

I've been really enjoying the FIFA World Cup Finals this summer even though the team I was cheering for (for no other reason than heritage) didn't make it out of their group.

My first exposure to the Soccer World Cup were on international stamps that I collected back in the mid-1980s. I remember thinking Brazil and Spain must have been the unbeatable teams since they had so many stamps dedicated to the World Cup.

When I lived in Edmonton, I got to attend the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship. It was the most compelling sports event I had ever attended. Since the tickets were so cheap, we went to four double-headers at Commonwealth Stadium. Every game was even more and more packed until the sold-out final game.

The Canadian team did super well too, beating the Brazilian team (who played so dirty - the coach would even go behind the Canadian goal keeper's net and harass her) in the semi-final and then losing a tense match against the United States in the final.

(scoring a penalty shot win against Brazil)

The previous two World Cups, I was in Guatemala where soccer is a religion. In 2002, I woke up in Guatemala City after flying in the night before to cheers from seminary students at Seteca. Brazil was playing Germany in the final and RRRRonaldo scored the two goooooaaaals for Brazil to win the cup.

In 2006 we were living in Tactic, Guatemala and we got to see the build up to the Cup Finals for the months leading to the month of madness. People bought up televisions like they had just been invented. People got cable. Stores had flat screens installed. It was a frenzy. Then the games started and any time a latino country was playing, there was no one on the street.

The 2006 final was awesome, though disappointing as I was cheering for France. Zinedine Zidane's headbutt at the end of the match will stand as one of the greatest moments in sports history for me.

Pugwash after 15 Years

I worked with six of these fine people years ago.

This past summer, I visited the summer camp that I spent summers '89, '90, '91, '92, and '94 at. The last three of those, I was a staff member where I counseled junior, teen and blind campers, taught silk screening, rang the bell, washed dishes (the only guy among several girls), snuck out at nights, learned video editing (thanks to Frank Spangler), played taps and reveille on the trumpet (when Peter would let me) made sand sculptures, canoed and kayaked, played guitar at campfires, participated in skits, led in water follies activities, taught computers (on really, really old Macs), cleaned cabins and bathrooms, and most profoundly made some great friendships.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Camp at Pugwash was a great place to grow up. I actually went on my first date there when I was a camper. A girl asked me out to the banquet. When I was a camper, my mom volunteered so I and my sisters got to hang out at the camp for 5 weeks.

It had been 15 years since I drove away from Pugwash in 1994 and moved to Alberta. It's remarkable how little the place has changed - I noticed there were fewer people, a few new buildings, and the rose bushes by frisbee golf hole 6 have been cut down, but other than that it hasn't changed a bit.

My son even found a girl to drag him around.

Logpile Lodge

On August 6, 2000 Amber and I were married in Smithers, BC. Our first night together as husband and wife was spent at the magnificent Logpile Lodge just a few minutes drive out of town.



Exactly eight years later, Amber and I spent our anniversary at the same lodge. April watched our kids for the night. This time we were much more rested and we enjoyed the complimentary drink upon arrival and the fabulous view from the balcony. In the morning, as I was reading my Bible, a hummingbird buzzed above my head. I thought it was a dragonfly. Breakfast was amazing and incredibly filling - juice, coffee, muslix/yoghurt/fruit, fresh bread toast and jam, bacon, eggs, and roasted vegetables. I also ate half of Amber's waffles.



So Amber, it's been a pleasure being your husband these last eight years. You're a trooper!

Reliving Days 5-9

A couple days ago I had to pick up our vehicle in BC and drive it to Red Deer. The trip took me on much much of the road that I cycled five years ago when I crossed Canada. It was the first time back on this section and the memories just flooded back. I was amazed at how nothing on the road was unfamiliar; there was a preternatural knowledge of every hill and twist.

We had already finished the first four days of our journey, having conquered our doubts about traveling on the highway and then beating the Coquihala. On day 5 it was a sunny day and we rode from Kamloops to a look out (photo above) about 8 kms west of Sycamous. We fed on corn and rode the furthest any of us had ever ridden in one day. Will and Saison had their famous collision and Judy spilled apple sauce throughout the common area of the camper.

The next day was also beautiful. I rode with Eric, an Australian who was dating my cousin. We talked most of the morning. When Jess (my cousin) got back on her bike in the afternoon after giving her bad knee a rest all morning, he rode with her. I never did get a chance to ride alone with Jess - the only one from the whole group. 

We passed through Revelstoke where some of us had hoped to eat at a restaurant someone in Edmonton had recommended, but it was closed. Judy had severe sinus pain and spent some time addressing that. 

We set up camp in another pullout hoping to repeat what we had done the night before. Moments after setting up our tents and having just sat down to eat supper, a ranger came by and told us we must move to the campground some 18 kms up the road. We took the motorhome and backtracked the next morning. Most of us watched About Schmidt that night. I don't think they liked it. I did though.

On day 7 we climbed the Rogers Pass in the rain - one of our only rainy days. It was cold too. Will and I had a spat after I waited for him upon departure as we didn't want anyone riding alone at the tail and then he left me after 10 km. Our spat lasted until the Saskatchewan border and Saison took the brunt of it as she began riding almost exclusively with Will from that day on and she is my sister.

We proved ourselves again after reaching Golden, we climbed up to Yoho Nat'l Park on some incredibly steep road. 

Bernd and Kurt weren't able to meet up with the motorhome for lunch and so they arrived in Golden ahead of everyone else and were exhausted. Kurt thought Bernd had died.

We spent the night at a wonderful campground with a hot tub. Will and Landon went down to the river to do some mischief and Bernd gave them a shout pretending he was a ranger. They thought it was a ranger and bolted back to the campsite via an alternative route. We told them weeks later that it was only Bernd but they didn't believe us.

The next day we crossed the Alberta border and spent the night in Banff. The road was up and down, but nothing too severe and with the excitement of finishing B.C., everyone had a great ride. When we arrived in Banff, the feeling was electric - Landon and Kurt couldn't stop giggling. A man we met invited us to camp on his lawn (and livingroom). Some of our group thought he was strange, but I thought he was quite generous.

It took us nine days to reach Calgary. The last day was the most exhausting yet, not because of any major hills (there were some very long foothills), but because of the headwind, something we hadn't experienced yet. We were also exhausted from not having had a rest day yet - the first was in Calgary.

Amber hit the wall on this leg of the trip. I waited with her for quite a while under an overpass and while she struggled with her will to go on, I just stared at the mountains and couldn't believe we had gotten this far. 

It would be another 33 days of riding before we reached the Atlantic Ocean.

Zaporozh'ye, 1993

I am 17, one of 25 in the Canadian Youth for Ukraine (CYU) team. The first time I fly: Halifax-Toronto-Amsterdam-Kiev. I wake up with pen marks on my shirt and ears popping as we descend into Ukraine. We are fed borscht and fresh cucumbers at a church when we arrive. The train ride to Zaporozhye lasts 10 hours and rolls over gaps in the tracks every 1.5 seconds. We are told to watch our shoes so they aren't stolen, I hardly sleep the entire night.

A blond prostitute in a tight red dress frequents our hotel. She is middle aged and has bulges in all the wrong places. Our team plays Zoom-Schwartz-Pygliana and Rook in the lobby before and after devotionals. We travel on electric powered buses. Rush hour is bad because the coaches are stuffed with people with strong B.O. One time a girl from our group faints. Supper is at 9:30 PM each night after our evangelistic crusade. Breakfast is at 9:00 AM, lunch is at 2:00 PM at an awful cafeteria where cats with body sores stroll under our tables. The soup is weak. The cottage cheese patties are zingy. I familiarize myself with the Cyrillic alphabet. Lenin statues are everywhere.

I teach conversational English to a group of teenagers every morning at a cultural center by the Dnepr River. The girls in my class use egg whites to keep their bangs up and they wear the same clothes to class every day. Oksana is a beautiful brunette. Olga has dyed blond hair. I am a magnet for attention as I could be a ticket to Canada if I married one of them.



On Canada Day, we play volleyball by the river. I see my first Geiger counter and it beeps wildly around some people; we are downstream from Chernobyl. Our translators are Irish, Elena, Natasha, and Kostya. The girls are gorgeous and a few years older than I am. They all emigrate to the USA and Canada in the following years.

During our 1/2 days off, we are allowed to wander the industrial city. There are Michael Jackson bootleg tapes in the market. US dollars are preferred to the rapidly inflating Koupons, a temporary currency being used since the break-up of the Soviet Union. I buy huge chunks of sunflower seed halva and bags of fresh plums and cherries which give me stomach aches. Wesley and I play Paper-Rock-Scissors for a used dombra, a four stringed instrument native to central Asia. I win. I also buy a $15 button box, a couple wooden flutes, two paintings, and heaps of typical Ukrainian handicrafts including the matryoshka wooden dolls.

I get very sick. I rush out of a supper at a church and puke between rows of squash plants in a garden as a goat looks on. When I think I'm better I go to the cafeteria for lunch a couple days later. I get nauseous when I see the cats and smell the cottage cheese patties so I walk the 4 blocks back to the International Hotel, but I faint on the sidewalk by myself. I come to as two Ukrainians carry me into a government building. I've soiled myself.



A large brass band plays outside the lavish conference and performance center that we used for our crusade. My turn comes to do the special music at the nightly youth meetings. I play a piece on my classical guitar. A man has an epileptic seizure in the front row in the middle of my performance. At another meeting, a man interrupts the talk by shouting that we are preaching lies, that the leader of the Mary David church is the new Christ and is going to be crucified in a few months. Some strong men haul the young man out of the hall and kick him several times. He loses a large can of coffee which spills all over the floor. Some of the posters we have up in the city get defaced and our evangelist has 666 scratched onto his forehead. Another night, I preach the sermon. My topic is the Ten Commandments.

We visit a museum on an island in the river. A heavy metal band invites me and a friend to watch them practice. A church family has many of us over for an amazing lunch. Wesley buys a violin from a violin maker. We watch the city handball team practice. They are wearing very old and torn up tennis shoes. My friend's student invites us to meet his family. They live in a high rise apartment that has no elevator. The feed us kvaç soup, a weak local beer with some tiny squares of ham in it. Cars that look like Ladas are everywhere, but they are called Zaporozh'ye Cars. We see almost no other cars.

We take a holiday to Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov. All the women are in bikinis except for the girls on our team who are wearing one-piece bathing suits. One of our leaders' sons is on the team and he is very dark compared to his father; we call them Night and Day. I play lots of Rook.



300 people are baptized in the Dnepr river. They wear white lab coats over their bikinis. I'm not convinced they are all being baptized for the right reasons, but it is an awesome sight. Our team takes up a collection and we pay for a salary of an extra pastor for a year in the city to do follow-up for these baptisms.

Our last night in Zaporozh'ye, the meeting hall is packed. Backstage, a man I gave a package of guitar strings to gives me a huge tomato and an equally huge kiss on the cheek. Nearly all of my students have shown up to give me gifts ranging from traditionally painted handicrafts to Soviet era medals to a full sized Russian language atlas. Everyone returns to the train station as we depart the next morning.

I am humbled beyond words.