Month: September 2020

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Your Backyard Holiday

Hail Brave Hearts

Survive we must! In this blistering heat of summer with the quiet lakes to ourselves. The calm, the serene, the peace, the solitude. An unusual turn of the times. In this fine scenario of beach, less is more. Fewer beach goers to take over the sand, fewer families to splash and play in the water, fewer pets to avoid. Instead, it’s all for us. The Canadian holiday tourist is the new normal.

During a season which is constantly full of international guests filling every room for rent in the community, the chance for a Canadian summer holiday has been hard to come by for some. Last minute cancellations are rare.

The highways are quiet, we own the road. Drive to those scenic locations, there’s no one in sight. Easily find a table at the restaurant, there’s room for us. It has it’s beauty. We have our own special places to explore, unhindered. It has it’s beast. Finance.  It has another beast.  The bustling, busy beach scene is anything but quiet.  Our thoughts that this is for us is true, but so many of us!  

The quiet, the solitude, the peaceful Canadian get away, so special, so serene, so back to nature, so much to ourselves.  The jam packed tourist industry is all us.  All us!  The rush to save our relaxing and serene holidaying selves drives us to vacation madness on Canadian beaches.  Every inch is claimed.  Save us almighty dollar.  Spend your money at home this year.  The economic crisis of a pandemic virus has curtailed all of our luxurious international travel.  The resort haven of an idylic tropical getaway, forsaken for the vast remoteness of our own Canadian dreamland.  

https://www.parklandcounty.com/en/index.aspx

The food is divine.  Culinary delights abound.  There are endless opportunities for the sports enthusiast.  We meet and exceed international standards in so many ways.  Run  the trails, climb those mountains, paddle the lakes.  This year has been a pasttime of recreation and leisure, for those who were able to go out.  The great Canadian get away has been a pleasure, right outside your own back door.

A drive along a remote country road to a surprising little shop in nowhere.  A clean, immaculate hamlet way off the beaten path with surprising prosperity.  The endless recreation of lakes, parks and adventure.  The thrill of discovery of the history of this land, of who we are, who settled this place, who comes here.  The discovery of diversity, a mixture of agriculture beside industry, of recreation beside a bustling city, of unique culture  and diverse peoples all occupying the same land. The mixture of wilderness and sport, of wildlands and human populations.  This is us.  We planned it this way.  We planned this fun and enjoyment, we planned for the relaxation, we planned this unusual adventure.  A drive along a dusty gravel road to a restaurant in an unheard of village.  The pleasure of the local cuisine and the local people.  There are so many places to go, so many roads to travel, rails to ride, people to visit.  To spend our hard earned dollars in this magnificent country that has so many delightful treats for us to find.  

The pandemic has given many of us time.  Time to explore.  Discover it for yourselves.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 26, 2020

 

 

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Pandemic Bliss

Hail Brave hearts

Joy to you, with this awful isolation. Joy to you, to overcome perils. The hardship of disease brings a new life of solitude and self exploration. Change and be healthy. All obstacles can be overcome. This is a time to refresh, rejuvenate, recharge and become new. Take advantage of this crisis and the gift that it gives us, we may never pass this way again.

Look forward to those long days of learning a new skill, or to improve the old ones. The time that it takes to reinvent and refurbish a dowdy room or area. Plant a new garden, try new seeds, adventure into the known by unexplored worlds outside your doorstep. A chance to be a tourist in your own country. Those old familiar trails, which should be vacant, are full of Canadians travelling. We climb a familiar scramble to a peak just outside of town. Usually this one is lightly travelled, since it’s somewhat obscure, but today it’s full of people. The parking lot is full, the trail is full. It’s unusual to see this.

The earnest quest for adventure takes us to new destinations annually.  We strive to fulfill the ambition of discovery, of learning, of knowledge of this world and the fabulous fortune that it holds for us.  The fortune of personal development, of personal achievement, of conquering new lands by tourism, adventure, eco tourism and insightful gain.  The path to follow is new to each of us.  A daring land of plenty to explore just outside out borders.  The world is full of wonder and grateful hearts eagerly plundered the wilds of this planet, always seeking more.  Our human endevour is to know it all.  Each step on an unknown path is the thrill and excitement of discovery.  So many kilometers to travel, so many peaks to climb, the essential fun filled holiday is a yearly dream come true.

Now to the reality of disease and pandemic perish.  Open your parks and swing on the swings, stay home and build new dreams.  The fortunate can venture into the wilds of Canadian parks and enjoy the stimulation of an adventure in this awesome land.  So many kilometers to travel, so many paths to walk.  The never ending landscape of discovery in this fine land, became the national dream of Canadian holiday seekers this year.  Back to action packed fun, wherever it may be.  What is new to us is old to us, but new again.  Every square kilometer travelled?  Oh such awesome human to have done so much.  So much time to explore, so much money to spend, so much curiosity and initiative.  It’s immense.  It’s WOW!  What a fortune to spend.  Especially in other lands.  

Work and work and work, you mighty relentless souls.  Build your estates, compound it annually and spend and spend and spend it all, frolicking around the world.  Have a good time, enjoy yourselves, squander it all away.  Until this mighty pandemic hit, now it’s a Canadian holiday you say?  We’ll buy ourselves a trailer now and pay the camping fees and praise ourselves immensely for surviving the disease.

As we open up this country with caution to continue to  wear our masks, we breath for the days of flu season and to put the pandemic in our past.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 2, 2020