Across Canada, Chewy’s last trip

July 14, 2016July 13, 2016 / Greg / 1 Comment

After moving myself to Saskatoon to take a new job in early April, I returned to the Maritimes to pick up my wife and our dog for a 4,000km, seven day car trek from her family’s home outside of Fredericton, NB to Saskatchewan. I had missed my wife and dog something fierce for the six weeks. When I left them in Halifax at the end of March, before leaving our home to catch an early morning flight, I made sure to say a special goodbye to Chewy. He was suffering with some health issues, and I wasn’t sure I would ever see him again. Fast forward six weeks and a number of vet trips later, Chewy was there for me in New Brunswick.

The night I surprised him with my return, he jumped on the sofa beside me and laid down on top of me. Our dog likes to be close, but not too close, so I could tell he really missed me. And the next morning, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight, even camping outside a bathroom up a steep flight of stairs to make sure he could be close. On this early morning, he had no idea the adventure he was in for…

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Touring Victoria’s public art

July 15, 2015July 15, 2015 / Greg / 1 Comment

Victoria has a very compact and walkable downtown. Using the incredibly helpful Public Art Inventory website, I created a walking tour of Victoria that would take me past many of the public art installations around the centre of the city. The travel gods were also nice enough to give me two perfectly sunny days for my urban exploring. Map in hand, I started off close to my hotel near Victoria’s Chinatown. The first piece that caught my eye was the striking “Red Dragon” by Ping Tsing at the corner of Pandora and Government.

About a block and a half north on Government just outside the Chinatown gates was “Dragon Dance” by Robert Amos. This mural was painted by children from the Chinese Public School and commemorated the 150th anniversary of Victoria’s Chinatown – the oldest Chinatown in Canada.

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Mile Zero

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015 / Greg / 3 Comments

I usually write about my trips and experiences somewhat sequentially once I return home. But for one experience, I’m making an exception. I’m writing the bulk of this sitting in the lobby of the Fairmont in Victoria, but truth be told, I know I won’t finish writing it sitting here. I’m already blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay, and I don’t need a lobby of cruise ship passengers wondering why there’s a guy over in the corner crying into his iPad.

On this last day in Victoria, I headed out for a morning of urban and public art exploring. One of the last pieces of art on my walk was the sculpture of Terry Fox. It’s located at mile zero, the end of the Trans-Canada Highway. In a country like Canada, that in and of itself would be something to visit. But as I looked at the sculpture of Terry Fox I started to think about his Marathon of Hope and what it would have been like for him to make it to his point. Mile Zero. The entire way across Canada.