Lady Amelia

Amelia's Birdcabin.

Amelia wants to build a birdcabin.

She buys some cedar, decor wood, wood glue, glue-anything-kinda-glue and nails.

Martin, her colleage, helps too. He supplies the asphalt, saw table and staining paint.

She gets her hammer, ruler, and pencil from her tool bag.

She pulls out her paint brushes and burning pen from her art box.

Amelia takes pictures of what she wants to build. Martin and her build it together. He gives her directions and she puts the cabin together.

She gives the cabin a name, Pioneers, and hangs it up under the balcony.

Martin wishes he could be a bird so that he could be the first to live in the cabin.

We are friends. This 'lil wee frog sits on my new pea plant at Blue Hood Valley Girl Farm. He showed up a week ago and never left. The frog as a spirit animal or totem reminds me of the transient nature in our lives.

As symbol of transition and transformation, this spirit animal supports us in times of change. Life is change. COVID-19 encourages us to embrace uncertainty.

There were days that I wondered if this was the same 'lil frog I let run free in the wild three months ago. When I found him, I was in love. I was heartbroken when he decided to leave to explore the rainforest (aka my backyard). He was so tiny and too perfect for a predator to eat for lunch!

Today, I gently rubbed my index finger along his back while he was sleeping on my pea plant. He open his eyes, winked at me, and went back to sleep! I whispered "It is you! The one that left and came back!" He kept his eyes closed and grew a big green smile.

The frog is symbolic of mysteries and ancient wisdom.

Blue Hood Valley Girl Farm. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought shock, confusion, anxiety, disbelief and an array of opinions on what people were up against. For me, I had an eight-week long visit with Anxiety.

Anxiety made me question my own breathing habits and even dared me to avoid people. I experienced a racing heart, inability to concentrate, shakiness, sweating, and difficulty swallowing. I did not feel like talking to anyone in a mask. It was too much effort. This was not all bad. My boyfriend taught me how to use a drill so that I could build my very own flower plantar box.

In the beginning, I was so afraid of getting started. After getting all the supplies that I needed (ie drill, 1 1/4 bit, screws, cedar, soil, seeds, bulbs, safety gear, and a garden sowing kit), it took me about 7 days to muster up the motivation, energy and drive to learn how to use the motorized wood cutter. Anxiety got in the way.

To overcome Anxiety, I accepted what I was feeling, got more prepared, developed a routine, proceeded to measure & cut and drilled all the screws to hold the wood together without YouTube and Anxiety's help.

While I was engraving the box with a hot burning pen, I began to relax and breathe normally again. The building project turned into an art project with a name "Blue Hood Valley Girl Farm" that came with a cowled woman logo. To break it down, "Blue Hood" is my favorite raincoat. "Valley Girl" is me. And, "Farm" belongs to my lilies and dahlias. I am a hoodie girl. I love wearing a hood.

I spent three hours staining the wood followed by another hour of preparing the box for planting bulbs and seeds. To prepare the box, I placed some garbage bags (with lots of holes) on the bottom and covered it with rocks and soil. If there was something that I enjoyed most, it would have to be digging holes, planting bulbs/seeds, covering it up with soil, and whispering a few magic words. The final task would be watering and waiting for the new arrivals.

In one week, one lily bulb took the stage. Anxiety was gone. COVID-19 pandemic stayed 6 feet away from me. My secret admirers and devoted fans snuggled up against me. I felt so proud of my efforts to be able to do something different. That is, to build an plantar box for my lilies and dahlias.

Blue Hood Valley Girl. We all know her. She’s the girl who says “no” every four seconds while paying the gas attendent as quickly as possible to avoid buying non-essential items.

She is not interested in ordering a grande retro iced sugar-free vanilla latte with soy milk nor does she want to take a chance on purchasing lottery tickets or car wash services on a rainy day.

She is the girl who utters the word "yes" every time she is asked to work hard and delay instant gratification. With the right amount of patience and appropriate delivery of instructions, she can drywall, mud, and sand an office and home.

Her voice draws attention to itself: Its pitch is abnormally high, and her statements sound like questions. She is the Blue Hood Valley Girl.

Over the past few decades, the speech pattern of young, upper-middle-class white girls from the Cowichan Valley has evolved into a full-blown accent, or even a dialect. You can hear it all over the English-Deaf speaking world: Valley-deaf-speak. People are drawn to it. But have you ever asked yourself why it sounds so adorable?

An accent is more than how a person talks. It’s also a marker of social identity. The way you speak can say a lot about where you come from, where you grew up, and, perhaps most important, how much traditional academic education you’ve received. But many of the assumptions we make about people based on their accents are wrong.

Valley-deaf-speak is special because it’s the first accent made popular by mainstream media.

The mainstreaming of this accent took off at the beginning of the 21st century. People born deaf who’d become educated and wealthy thanks to new technology devices wanted to assert their new status by looking and sounding the part. They began to adopt non-rhotic pronunciation, dropping the Rs from most words (“cah” instead of “car”), making Us sound like Os ("soop" instead of "soup"), dropping Whs ("oops" instead of "whoops"). This speech pattern spreaded across almost all of Canada. It is a modified staple of the standard British accent, which is taught in most English-Deaf speech classes in non-deaf Canadian schools. It’s the accent you may have heard over loudspeakers across Great Slave Lake in Yellowknife, NWT. It’s also the accent you have heard on Shaw Spotlight television on Vancouver Island to convey that the speaker is highly educated.

Port McNeill, North Vancouver Island. Many people have this almost collective dream of living by the sea. Yet, not all dreamers take the risk of changing the usual, safe daily life and watching the ships go by.

I am a chiropractor, trainer and producer. Real people with real stories matters to me. Port McNeill has plenty of it - the horizon opens wide up. In some way this feeling that you can see far and wide transfers to other parts of my life as well. Once I started spending my free time in Port McNeill, I felt my quality of life improving.

Here, I have no guilt when I spend long hours walking along the northern coast. One moment, I can be by the sea or in the woods, and another - working at the computer or participating in video calls. These long and guilt-free breaks in nature help my mind get the rest it needs. That is a true luxury I could not afford in the city. What is important - the quiet life did improve the quality of my work.

Fort Rodd Hill Lighthouse. Peace of Mind. Seeing a sea lighthouse means that there is a trip that I plan to take will take place very soon.

I foresee that there will be no problems with the travel process and I will have an opportunity to develop stronger relationships with new and existing connections.

The trip will give me a lot which may include some changes in my character. I will probably see myself become more mature and peaceful. The journey will feed my inner world very well. I will most likely feel very rested and happy.

A lighthouse symbolizes various things, such as overcoming challenges and adversity or guidance. It is most commonly used to symbolize a way forward and help in navigating through the world.

Vision of Love. I've realized a dream and I visualized the love that came to be. I feel so certain. I'm so thankful that I've received the answer that the universe has sent down to me.

I have been treated kindly. Oh, sweet destiny! I'll be eternally grateful only if I can continue to hold what is so close to me. Knowing what I needed the most will find me eventually.

I had a vision of love and this is was all that it turned out to be.

Ladysmith Christmas.

We were both in college when I first saw you

I close my eyes, and the flashback starts

I'm standing there

In the chiropractic technique classroom

See the lights, see the students, the tables

See you make your way through the crowd

And say, "Hello, I am a senior."

Little did I know

That you were Romeo, you were smiling

And my friends said, "Do not get too close"

Romeo, it has been sixteen years

Take me somewhere we can be alone

All there's left to do is go to Ladysmith

You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

It's a Christmas love story baby just say "Yes"

So I sneak out to see you

So open your eyes

Lets drive through the Christmas town

'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter

And my friends said, "Do not get too close"

But the signs brought me closer to you

Oh, oh

I got tired of following the signs

Wondering if you were ever going to show up

My faith in you was fading

When I saw you again, you kissed me

Oh oh

And said "Welcome home Amelia"

I am falling in love and that's all I really know

It's a Christmas love story baby just say 'Yes'"

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

Because we were both young when I first saw you

Canadian Mosaic. Tim Van Horn, the director at Canadian Mosaic, took this picture on May 28, 2012. This photo reminds me of the day I took Ivey, my 1-year-old weimarner, out for a dog walk at Roxboro Park in Calgary, Alberta. The photo taken was a few days after I had finished the Golden Triangle, a 3-day bike tour in the mountains and the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon. I was cold, tired, and in pain.

The Golden Triangle followed a clockwise route consisting of three approximately equal distance days. About 250 riders participated in this event and rode 300 kilometers. The weather changed drastically from a snow blizzard, sky winds, heavy rains to sunny blue skies. It was purely an active business social event for me. After cycling 100K per day, I would set up a medical tent and treat the athletes. Many athletes continued to see me in clinic after the ride was completed.

Whether you know Calgary or not, the Scotiabank 42.2 Calgary Marathon route would have made you blush and smile because of the western hospitality. It was my first marathon running with Ivey, my 1-year-old weimaraner. We made it to the 10K mark without any issues. It all changed when I tripped over her leash and my right knee hit the pavement. I power walked and hobbled for the remaining 30K. I never blushed or smiled once.

Since I lived next door to the finish line, I skipped the finish line and went home to look after my knee. At the time, picking up a medal was not that important. I was in too much pain. Sometimes I wonder if it would have made a difference to cross the finish line regardless of my screaming knee. My home was only 0.2km away. If there was someone rooting for me at the end, I would have probably pushed myself harder to make it to the very end. I desperately wanted to hear someone cheer me on.

While hanging out with Ivey at Roxboro Park on May 28th 2012, Tim was taking pictures. He asked me if I wanted to have my picture taken for his Canadian Mosaic project. I agreed. It was the first and last time I saw him. Little did I know that we would connect again in the future. Seven years later, his name popped up on my Facebook feed. Apparently, Tim made connections with the same people that I met on my journey in Alberta and Northwest Territories.

The Manly Man. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself by making an egg with swiss cheese benedict for breakfast, showing his strength by lifting a 1100lbs trailer, swatting wild spiders with cobwebs out of the way, and raising his 106lb woman over his shoulders. I am not sure whether or not it is watching him perform domestic duties or getting a sneak peak of his defined herculean muscles catches my attention. I will have to admit, The Manly Man is definitely well-built eye candy!

In 48 hours, I learned a few things about The Manly Man:

1) Protect what is yours. This means a man should always take care of his friends and family, as well as protect them against physical harm.

2) Give respect where it is due. This means treat others with common decency, but reserve respect and admiration for those that have earned it.

3) Do your best. Always. No matter what a man does, he does it to the best of his ability.

While growing up, I have always wanted to date someone stable and knew what he wanted. Someone inter-independent (independent and team player). A modern manly man. I signed up for online dating five years ago and learned that no one is really interested in a serious monogamous relationship anymore. If you try to talk to someone at a coffee shop or at an event, they look at you as if you have three heads. You are suppose "shop" and see multiple people simultaneously and keep it casual. No one wanted to get serious.

I met The Manly Man almost sixteen years ago. He was nice. One could even describe his hair to be like bear's fur, mind as being whip-smart, and physique in full bloom. He appeared to be someone that I could enjoy being with. His energy was comforting. He just seemed normal and was fun to interact with. He never asked me out. We were both stressed out with our professional studies and did not exercise the possibility of dating.

Recently, our paths crossed again. He asked me to accompany him on a road trip. He wanted to show me some of his favorite places on the island as well as share his vision for the future. I wore my new rain boots. It was a beach date, so I did not want to be overdressed, but I wanted to impress The Manly Man, especially if we were going to stay in a cabin by the ocean.

It was all uphill from the time we started the drive to our destination to the time we got home. The Manly Man impressed me. He showed me all of the capabilities of what makes a man manly. He was a rough diamond. It was unbelievable! I could not tell if he was reading my mind or someone was feeding him lines. His vision was very similar to mine. Who he was on the beach date was the same guy the I met sixteen years earlier in college. He was right in front of me and I did not even know it!

So, I asked him to be my date at the Fairmont Empress Pride and Prejudice Spring Ball in April 2020. I knew that I would be seeing The Manly Man again.

A Home to Call Your Own

Be you brave and true of heart,

Let honor guide you as you roam,

Let no concern betray your quest,

For that home to call your own.

The moon and sky must kiss the stars,

The shores caressed by sea and foam,

Let your gentle spirit guide you,

T'wards that home

to call your own.

If the wandering path seems far,

together we will find that home

I live in Deep Cove, South Vancouver Island and my hero lives in Port McNeill, North Vancouver Island.

Last weekend, I drove up the island to hop on the Christmas Train with him. He worked as a doctor and wanted to take me on a hike, show me his favorite man store (Home Depot), and go for a ride on the Christmas Train. He bought us hot chocolate and train tickets. **Note: For all the single ladies reading this blog, you do not look for Mr. Right or Equal at a hardware store. Instead, you look for him in your social circle and go to the hardware store with him. If not, grow your social circle until you find him.**

After we took our seats, he put his arm around me and told me that he rode the Christmas Train a few years ago. It was around the same time that I decided to quit my job firing guns, robbing banks, and hopping on and off trains for entertainment purposes. He was amused when I told him that I was a retired gunfighter entertainer. I even had a small acting role on "Hell on Wheels", a famous Western TV show.

When the train slowed down and came to a full stop, he was sitting there smiling at me, and I looked back at him and said, “It was about time we took the Christmas Train together.” He recited the most beautiful poem, he wrote himself. I was in a semi-shocked-stage-fright-kind of stupor. I heard the poem, but didn’t REALLY hear it. I did grasp those magic words; “Will you be my..." To be continued.

Friday the 13th at Butchart Gardens Ice Rink. Exactly 10 years ago, I was driving my SUV in a snow blizzard on the Trans-Canada Highway from Red Deer, AB to Cochrane, AB, Canada.

I promised my boss that I would attend his 2009 Staff Xmas party and there was no turning back. My cellphone needed to be recharged and I was suffering from a major headache. So, my communication and concentration abilities were highly diminished. It was hard to not notice the high volume of vehicles stuck in the snow banks.

I knew that I could have easily turned around and notify my boss that I was not going to make it. Instead, I kept driving. I wanted to keep a promise that I made no matter how bad the road conditions were. I felt obligated and thought it was my duty to at least show up. I ignored the negative feelings that I was experiencing at the time. Well, I almost died.

While driving, I slipped acrossed the median and crossed over to the otherside. I saw two oncoming semis heading in my direction. My body literally froze. The SUV slipped back into the median and stopped in 6 feet of snow. My heart was pounding like bongo drums.

I remember letting go of the wheel and shifting from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive. Miraculously, the SUV climbed out of 6 feet of snow. I carried on driving on the highway towards Cochrane, AB.

Five hours later, I was at my boss's doorstep. The party was cancelled and there was only one out-of-town guest. It was my ex-boyfriend. I felt numb and emotionless. I wanted to go home and forget the whole thing ever happened.

Fast forward to December Friday the 13th, 2019. I went to another Staff Xmas party. Instead of driving, I decided to carpool. There was a full moon and the stars were out. Everyone showed up at local restaurant, participated a gift exchange, and checked out the holiday lights at Butchart Gardens. It was amazing! No blizzard, no ex-boyfriend and no near-death driving experience.

For the first time in 10 years, I felt lucky. I made it to a Staff Xmas party and checked off another item from my LIFE bucket list. That is, to skate in one of the most beautiful gardens in the world.

Ivey meets Santa for the first time in 8 years. For me, it has been over 20 years since I had my picture taken with Santa. I can only imagine what Ivey must be thinking. If she could write a letter and get it mailed to the North Pole, it would say something close to this:

Dear Santa Paws,

For Christmas, please bring me squeaky toys and treats. No green striped pajamas. I repeat no green striped pajamas! I am not a an elf. I am me.

A Charlie Brown Christmas. I never thought it was such a bad big tree. It is not bad at all, REALLY. Maybe, it just needs lots of love.

Sunshine Weimaraner. There are things we can learn from having a dog. Have a happy attitude. Take delight in simple things. Show passion with gusto. Protect those you love. Loyality is virtue. Play is good. Be yourself. Love unconditionally. Always walk on the sunny side of the street.