Wild Geese November 25, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Ponder This, poetry.Tags: geese, individual worth, Spirit
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Just wanted to share this poem with you: 
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver published by Atlantic Monthly Press
Paradoxes November 22, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: airport, Beijing, cars, China, people, subway
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I’ve been back from China for about 6 days now, and although the jet lag is over, the desire to share all I experienced lingers strongly. It’s hard to get a handle on it, and put words to the many things I saw. I should have kept a diary — it’s quite a blur now, and I’m afraid I’m forgetting some impressions and insights already. Looking at the photos is bringing some things back, though!
Intricate crafstmanship on anything ancient; this is a fountain in the courtyard at the Lama Temple.
Land of Paradoxes
Beijing struck me as a city of paradoxes: modern alongside ancient, narrow back streets leading to wide, fast-flowing freeways, thousands of bicycles and a few double-decked buses, modern, fashionable people and wrinkly elders, wonderfully fresh food and plastic packaging, skyscrapers and little green parks, miles and miles of hedges along the highway meridians. The only thing with no paradox is people everywhere! There are people performing jobs that we would never think of in Canada, such as bathroom attendant and freeway-edge landscapers, and a lot more garbage-pickers than we have. It seems to me that the combination of the communist government and huge population means that they can get an awful lot done in a short period of time — like building a subway — by mobilizing all those people.
Communism and capitalism collide in China. Or perhaps I should say “co-exist.” While the government is communist, which involves controlling the people and industry, the country is also capitalist. It’s kind of strange. Or not… there are glossy shopping centres, malls, restaurants, you-name-it, just like you might see in any city in North America. The air quality is very poor; reports from before the Olympics were not exaggerated. The picture above shows the International Terminal building, just before our plane landed, and the sky was orange. Not to be judgmental; The biggest Canadian cities, with one-fifth the number of people living in them, have their share of smog too – only everyone in Beijing calls it “fog.” There’s no question it’s not fog – the relative humidity was nowhere near 100%. And there was a yellow dust on all the parked cars in the mornings!
I mentioned the subway… here’s a picture of the new subway, built for the
New Beijing subway
Olympics. It’s pretty snazzy, with glass all along the subway tunnel, to prevent people from jumping (or falling) in front of the train. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, they didn’t account for the crowds and pushing, because people have died when they were pushed so much and caught between those double-doors. Both sets close, train starts moving… it’s not pretty. I thought maybe they had sensors installed so the train couldn’t move if there was anyone trapped, but our Beijing friends said nope, they didn’t think of that. Or maybe just thought it would never happen. There was one occasion when we were the last people to try and squish on a train, so we decided to wait for the next one. It was equally crowded, but at least we were first to get on.
In addition to parking lots for cars, there were bicycle parking areas too! I didn’t see any underground parkades, nor did I see any above ground parkades. I guess they don’t need them yet; owning a vehicle is expensive, and the average person simply can’t afford one. Foreigners with good jobs probably could, but then they’d have to get a Beijing driver’s license… a daunting thought! Lots of people take cabs, public transit, walk or ride bicycles, or a variation on a bicycle! I saw quite a few converted into a cart with lots of cargo tied on, and I also saw strange three-wheeled trucks, with one in the front and two and an almost-normal box in the back. Narrower, maybe. There were a few different mini-vans, some narrower than ours, and not even one single pick-up truck.
View from the 23rd floor, towards a shopping centre
Sights, Smells and Sounds November 11, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: China, clothing, subway, taxis, traffic
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What a whirlwind trip we are having! I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already, with only 2 full days of travel left! We haven’t seen the Great Wall yet, but we’ve seen the “Great Firewall!” Yes, many webpages, blogs, Facebook and YouTube are blocked in China. I guess the government doesn’t like the content, so they have somehow blocked all people from accessing these pages anywhere in China (we, of course, have a way around it). Don’t tell anyone, k?
So, we couldn’t go to the Great Wall the other day because the highway we wanted to take to get to that section of the Wall was closed, due to limited visibility due to “fog.” This is what people call the smog, because it makes them feel better. But, it didn’t seem like the air was moist, like it is with fog, but with a healthy temperature inversion, the pollution was staying close to the ground and bringing the visibility down. I would say the visibility was about a mile for a couple of days, maybe a little less (and have I mentioned I have training in weather observation?). So, we went to a tailor on Saturday instead, and ordered some clothing to be made — I am very excited! I am having a Chinese dress made, and a shirt, and Darren is getting a shirt and a “zoot suit.” Zoot suits are what serious swing-dancers wear — it is going to be great! Yesterday we went for our first fitting of the clothing, and saw some beautiful dress coats made of wool and cashmere, so we decided to order coats as well! Somewhere, there is a small group of ladies sewing madly for us, so we can pick it all up on Friday. I have to go back tomorrow for a second fitting, but Darren should be good to go. What an opportunity for us to have hand-made tailored clothes, really great quality, made by a friend of a friend!
What else have we done? We went to the Ancient Observatory, which was neat. It was a collection of metal instruments on top of a huge stone structure, which was actually a part of the original city wall, and some stone and metal sundials on the ground, in a little park. There were some indoor displays, which we enjoyed thoroughly due to them being inside heated buildings! It was a cold day, and we were starting to be pretty chilled. It’s been quite cool here (-6 C to +17 C on the hottest day) and if I don’t wear my long johns, it’s pretty chilly — especially now, since the inversion is gone, it’s clear and cool (but the cleaner air is worth it).
Beijing is a funny place, in many ways! Some areas are completely modern, western, and familiar: Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC, shopping centres with all the typical stores (although I don’t necessarily recognize the chains, as many are European), shiny glass buildings, skyscrapers, subways, cars, buses, etc. I saw a double-decker transit bus yesterday — pretty crazy! I’ve been squeezed into subway cars, when I thought it was full and then 6 more people got on! It’s crowded a lot in places like subways and busy streets with shopping nearby, but I’ve also walked down quiet back streets with very few people. There are taxis everywhere! I don’t think we’ve ever waited more than 5 minutes to catch one. The taxi drivers are not very talkative, but some say “bye bye” when we get out. Darren can speak a bit of Chinese, enough to hold a simple conversation, give the taxi driver directions, or talk to the seamstress or whatever. The traffic here is nuts (it reminds me of Montreal, only worse!) and the taxi drivers are right in there making it worse! Gads. Lanes are a suggestion, and for some drivers, speed limits a dare. Pedestrians are everywhere, crossing against the light all the time, standing between lanes, dodging cars, leaping in front or behind, it’s madness! One time, we went through a tunnel of people, standing 3 or 4 deep along both sides of the curved lane we were turning left in, leaning in to see when the traffic would end and they could continue across. It’s tricky to stay together, yet it’s dangerous to hold hands in case one person needs to leap out of the way!
I promised to tell you about the toilets. Sheesh! Most are not “sit-down” toilets like we are used to. They are squatting toilets, which means a shallow ceramic bowl set into the floor, which you put one foot on each side of and then squat down and do what you have to do. I don’t like them. I can do it if I can’t find a sitting toilet, but I don’t like it. The bathrooms are pretty smelly too, especially the men’s (which I can smell when I walk by) — I guess they can’t aim very well! (They have ordinary urinals as well as the squatting toilets.) The only good thing is that no skin touches anything.
That’s all for now… Sorry for the picture-less blogs, I’ll do some photo blogs once I get home. I’ll write more later, when I have time!
Off the Tourist Track November 7, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: Beijing, fish, food, tea
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There’s so much to say about what I’ve seen so far, it’s hard to know where to start. We’ve been here 3 full days and we’ve done some tourist things, but also visited some friends. I’ve drank no less than 35 cups of tea — most very small — and had 5 incredible meals. Last night, we went for “hot pot.” There’s a franchise restaurant that has a long counter top that winds its way through the room. There are holes in the counter in front of where each person sits, where the pot goes. Underneath, there is a shelf where the hot plates sit — this place must have a huge power bill! Anyways, you choose what broth you want (I chose “hot and sweet”) and then what types of meat or vegetables you want. Then, you drop them into the simmering broth, fish them out a few minutes later (depending on what it is) and enjoy! Yum. We also went for Korean barbeque, where there’s a hole in the centre of the table too. A man brings red-hot coals in a metal pail, and drop it into the hole, which is then covered by grates of various descriptions where the meat you have ordered is cooked. I think usually they bring all the stuff and let you do it yourself, but since we were foreigners, the waitress stayed and did it for us. She was very cute (all the waitresses are!), feeding us pieces of meat as they were done. We also went for “real Chinese” food, which was awesome! It was sort of tucked between and in several buildings, and on our way down the back-alley-like entryway, we passed a room full of huge aquariums and some really huge fish! I was officially in heaven at the first taste of curry lamb, and the chrysanthemum tea washed things down nicely! Oh, I could go on and on… I’ve also seen live fish, just slightly smaller than their aquariums, at the grocery store, along with live shrimp. I stood among a group of elderly Chinese ladies waiting to order breakfast food at a counter, and was surprised at the amount of deep-fried food. And they have many types of breads/pasta/flat bread/pastries. I’m an eggs-for-breakfast kind of person and I haven’t had them once (although Darren did have a sort of omelette which I will have to try next time).
We went to a tiny tea house and art gallery that a friend of Darren owns, which was nice. We chatted about what life is like in China, and sipped tiny cup after tiny cup of tea. I loved the lychee black tea, which was sweet and delicious. They all were, except this one very strong Mongolian one (I think), which made my lips pucker and everyone laugh. It was nice to sit and just be, watching people walk by.
Well, we are going to the Great Wall today, and everyone is almost ready, so I will have to leave my description of the back roads and taxi drivers for another day. Oh, yes, and the bathrooms too. And Tiananmen Square!
First Day in Beijing November 6, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: Beijing, culture, jetlag, temple
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We had a good trip, quite uneventful and the plane ride was not even that painfully long. I thought it was brutal, but I napped a little, watched a move, knitted a little, and ate. We had 2 meals (the flight was 11 hrs) and we were pretty tired when we got here, but it was all good. The airport terminal buildings are amazing — from the outisde, they look like prehistoric shelled creatures, and inside they are big, airy and just wow. Before we saw the first custons/immigration person, we had to fill in a short questionnaire on our health, which we gave to a person who quickly looked it over and then stamped it. Then we walked past the “fever cameras” which are infrared and will show if someone has a fever and lied about their health. Pretty neat — I looked back at the display screen and the people were all orange (no fevers). In fact, I was kinda hoping there would be any really bad coughers on the plane, and there weren’t any near us, anyway!
Going through customs was completely uneventful, except for waiting for the luggage which took a long time. We actually went from the international terminal building to the other terminal using a VERY fast subway, so I suspected we might wait a while for the bags. We got there very fast, especially with no fussing at customs.
Then, the ride to the friend we’re staying with. Our friend picked us up at the airport, but had decided it was just simpler to take a cab. So, we did. What fun! The guy would have been right at home in Montreal — fast, no signaling, crazy lane changes, scooting around people, just a hoot. But he was very alert, and I have no problem with fast driving when everyone’s paying attention. This was all on freeways, almost right to where we are staying. Whereas today, when we took a cab back “home,” the driver was nuts! And there were bicycles, cargo-bicycles, pedestrians everywhere, and its amazing we didn’t hit anyone. We had some fun crossing roads today too, as we walked around, but no close calls!!
W went to a Buddhist temple, the Lama temple and a Confucian temple, both pretty close together. It was nice — the buddhist one was crowded and full of golden buddha statues and other statues, and had some amazing painted ceilings and roofwork. The Confusian one was right beside the Imperial college, and both were not crowded at all, had old trees, an Imperial throne room with a moat around it, and lots of stela (or stele) which are huge stone monoliths with writing on them. There was a huge cavernous room with hundreds of them standing, like an ancient library, with writing on both sides of them, beautiful, carved characters. And they were small — like 2 cm high — and I think the tourist sign said there were something like 600,000 characters and it took 12 years to carve them all. Marble, amazing. It made sense, actually, that the Confucian temple area had lots of emphasis on knowledge or widsom, and less on symbolism or mythology.
After that, we went to the Beijing bookstore, which was quite an experience. Lots of people, me the only blonde. I mean, I only saw one other person whose hair came close to mine, and it was quite a sad bottle job. Neat. I have a huge nose! And big eyes, too! The bookstore was more like a library, not like a chapters. I found some photography books to peruse, since all the books were Chinese. Lots of people reading, but no chairs so people would sit on the floor. Security guards in the store, and walking around in the “square” outside. Security guards almost everywhere we went, actually, and bathroom attendants. I’ll talk about the bathrooms another time!
We rode the subway to get to the bookstore, which was good! A bit squishy, but no worse than riding the LRT after a concert (better because everyone was sober)! It was quite easy to find our way, even switching subway lines, but there were some interesting moments! Lots of escalators, many levels, sometimes we had to walk 5 minutes down a pedway to get to the next area. Fun, to be sure!
Well, I think I’ll leave it at that! I’ll try write again tomorrow, but we’ll see!
Note: This is 2 days late, due to internet restrictions in China. Did you know some websites are blocked? Wild.
The Big Far East Adventure October 31, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: China, food, travel
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Except it’s actually west… A long way west… We are going to China! We leave tomorrow, and I am uber-excited about what we will see and do while there. I will try and get on the net while I’m there and blog, but if not, expect a torrent of blogs later on in November! I am planning on taking several hundred pictures — I can’t wait! The weather’s cool there, maybe even snowy, but nothing compared to here, I expect. I have packed lots of sweaters and fleece so I am not cold while I am doing all sorts of fun, touristy things. Food! Amazing, unique food! The great wall! I mean, the Great Wall (with capital letters, you know)! I am so excited!
But for now, a little nap, hopefully my stomach will settle down (it’s queasy again), and then packing and hitting the road! Woo hoo!
Accidents and Angels October 24, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Travels.Tags: accident, angel, car, ditch, road trip
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Where does the time go?!? I know, it goes to working, knitting, housework, eating, yardwork, and a thousand other activities that fill the days… It’s interesting that I should think to put knitting second! I guess I’ve been doing a lot of that lately!
Coming home from Thanksgiving (yes, I’ve been meaning to blog since then), we had a little extra excitement. As we drove home, the road conditions were generally good, although we went through several show showers. I took the car off cruise control when I noticed the colour of the road change, suspecting it was icy. Sure enough, with traffic all around me, I started to skid. I tried to get it back under control, but with front-wheel drive, I got into a nasty oscillating skid, left, then right, left, and right. When I realized I was really going to lose it, I started braking, hoping to lose some speed before hitting the ditch. And hit the ditch we did, just missing a sign, skidding, bouncing, sideways down the slope, until we ended up facing the wrong way — but still right side up! — in about 6 inches of wet, loose snow. As we were skidding, it was wild the thoughts that ripped through my mind: “Oh, damn, a sign! Gotta miss the sign, gotta miss the sign! Oh, good, we’re gonna miss it. Oh, man, we’re going fast… don’t want to flip… nope, we’re not going to flip. Oh, whew! Wow, breathe… Oh, man, we’re going to have to call a tow truck…”
Eddie (our cat) was still laying on my lap, apparently unaware that this particular motion was not normal. What a guy!
We sat in the ditch, catching our breath and being thankful things were not worse. And then it got better: we saw a pick-up in the ditch behind us (but we were facing him, because we’d turned 180 degrees). The driver got out, locked his hubs and then drove out of the ditch. He came over to us, asked if we were okay, and offered to pull us out! He was a young guy, 25 yrs old or less, and said that he’d seen us losing control and had taken the ditch rather than hit us. That was awesome — and his helping us out was even better! So we got the rope out of the truck (it had been there for 3 years, never used), hooked it up to his truck and through 3 separate attempts, rigging the rope 2 different ways, with Darren pushing and me backing up, we made it out of the ditch. We were pretty scared that we might get hit on the side of the road while we worked, with the icy conditions and people driving waaaaay too fast. Most moved over to the far lane, though (we were on the divided highway about 20 km south of Valleyview).
We were so relieved. Our angel with the old, red pick-up just gave his name as “Dre.” Thanks, Dre, we appreciated your help that day!
I am surprised how many people read the “Emotional Jellyfish” post, yet didn’t leave any comments… I guess my readership is mostly strong, silent types. Enjoy the day!
Believing the Best October 3, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Ponder This.Tags: assertive, attitude, autumn, ego, fall, frost, peace, peacemaker, shit-disturber
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There’s no question that autumn is upon us. It’s been quite cool here – daily high temperatures are not always in the double digits anymore – and we’ve been having the low cloud and fog that is characteristic of this time of year. Meteorologically speaking, it’s caused by the cool air above relatively warm water, and as the water evaporates, it immediately condenses… but enough science-talk. It’s mesmerizing, and some days the fog makes me feel like I’m living in Ireland, ah, but without the ocean, the lovely people, and the greenery. All of our leaves have changed colour and thanks to some gusty winds this week, many trees are even bare. I have missed a few beautiful scenes for a lack of camera, but I’ve stored them in my memory. Maybe sometime I’ll paint them. I can show you some pics I took 2 years ago.
We had a thick frost the other day, and I felt like digging in my heels and yelling “I’m not ready for this!” But, after a couple of days of brisk temps, I feel better. It’s amazing what a person can get used to, and how a slight change in attitude changes everything.
I was resting a little while ago, just thinking about events of the last few days. I’ve been a bit of a sh*t-disturber, or at best, very assertive. I stood up and spoke quite strongly at a local community consultation meeting about a decision our town council made recently. I was working with a group of other concerned citizens on a proposal, which the town shot down. We were shocked and not impressed. So I expressed that the best way I could, although I was quite tired and could have possibly done better. But I stood up and said something, which I hear is worth a lot (compared to the common Canadian way of complaining about things without ever addressing the people who could change it directly). In any case, it was stressful, my heart was pounding, but I guess it went okay.
My husband stood up and said a few things, too, but his spirit was quite different from mine as he spoke. He was a peacemaker, sometimes standing up to shed light on a situation, reminding people they can get involved, or thanking the town council for having the meeting. I’d say on the whole, he was more present and less-egoic than I was! (I blame being up too long, coming off of midnight shifts with only a 3 hour nap). Ah, just making excuses… sometimes being more tired makes me more present or gentle, but not that day.
I used to be a peacemaker; as the middle child, it was one of the roles in my family! Have I changed? Am I fundamentally different? Perhaps not; we have some sh*t-disturbing tendencies in my family… in a good way! I think I may have become more of a do-er – I get frustrated with talk-talk-talk and politicking. Let’s just jump in and do something about it! But I was like that in university too, so I guess I haven’t changed too much. I can certainly talk with the best of them, but before long, I need action! In any case, I would like to reconnect with the peacemaker in me (I know she’s still there) and only tip the boat when necessary.
The other thing I was thinking about just now as I was reflecting was how I need to keep believing the best. I’ve been a little jaded about things lately, and I don’t want to be. I want to, despite a few facts that might contradict, believe the best about people and situations around me. After all, there are 2 sides to everything, and I can choose to look at one side more than the other, and I choose the good. If Darren is slow to do the dishes, I still need to believe he will do them, rather than think that he’s stalling, trying to get me to do them, etc. Believe the best, right? So, this will be my mode of operating for the next while – and I’ll keep reminding myself if I need to (which of course I will)!
Have a great day everybody!
Emotional Jellyfish September 28, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Ponder This.Tags: awareness, emotions, feelings, jellyfish, life, ocean, present moment, relationships, tank
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I should warn you straight off — I am very tired from midnight shifts and should be in bed sleeping, but I have been wanting to blog and for whatever reason, I felt the urge to do it right now!
I think there are two basic ways to approach the world, in particular, when it comes to emotional issues. When someone you care about has to talk to you about something uncomfortable, or one of you has hurt the other, you can take one of two stances: become a tank, or become a jellyfish. Let me explain.
You can choose to become a tank (as in, indestructible vehicle of war, not vessel for holding liquids!). You can choose to put up your strongest armour so that you are completely un-touchable, un-hurtable, impermeable, etc. Nothing the other person says will sink in, and you have the ultimate in defenses. You also, if you choose to, can go on the offensive; you can hurl the weapons of hurtful words, bring up past issues, or simply bulldoze over the other person by totally disrespecting them, making decisions for them as if they were a child, or making huge, gigantic assumptions about them so you don’t have to really get to know them. And you can thrive in your denial and ignorance — after all, your view is only out one small window in one small direction. This is what it means to be a tank.
Or you can choose to be a jellyfish. You can be free-floating, allowing the emotional situation to surround you, and be in it. You aren’t defensive in any way, simply accept what the other person says, while taking in the full surroundings, including the temperature of the water (the spirit the words are said in). You aren’t mortally wounded by what the other person says or does, it sort of just bounces off you. But you are not in denial either, and have incredible clarity, presence and focus. This is what it means to be a jellyfish.
Now you may be thinking “ah-ha! Jellyfish have tentacles that sting, how come you haven’t talked about that?!?” Well, yes, they do. But these are used to kill their food, and if you’re eating someone close to you, you need more help than my simple analogy can give! Or, we could say that even jellyfish have some form of defense, and also propulsion, so if you need to leave a situation that’s continually hurtful to you, to survive, do it. But you don’t actually have to be a tank to do it. You can be a jellyfish, and be in the reality of your situation, even if it’s something traumatic, and you will not die from it, but be stronger. Denial clouds your thinking, and it’s much better to just breathe deeply, stay present, and realize that you are surrounded and supported by a loving spiritual environment, like warm ocean waters. Get in the flow, breathe.
This analogy can work for life, work, or any conflict, difficult situation or relationship. Be a jellyfish, not a tank. You get to choose!
For an excellent podcast on the truth, denial and awareness, see Steve Pavlina’s page. Thanks, everybody.
Trade Show Fun September 22, 2009
Posted by tkneller in Ponder This.Tags: canoeing, fear, Flow North, kay, kayaking, maps, paddling, shyness, trade show
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Well, the trade show was this past weekend, and we survived! It was actually quite fun, although the rush and stress leading up to it wasn’t exactly. There were a bunch of little details that needed to be done (and several that were optional to be done) in order to have our booth ready, and I have been working many days in a row. I even got a headache, in part from all the work and not enough sleep. But, my chiropractor got me all into shape, so I am feeling better!
It was an interesting exercise in people-watching. I’m sure they were watching me, too… We had our big sign with the logo attached to a kayak paddle, and another one sitting on a small table, with large text saying what we are about. It seemed pretty straightforward to me! Some people, when they saw our booth, got a confused look on their faces, like they were thinking 
“I’ve never heard about this before!” So, I would say “if you haven’t heard of us, it’s because we’re new!” That seemed to clear it up. It’s such a small town, everyone kind of knows everyone, and certainly knows all the businesses around. So, that was one response.
Another one was a rapid “oh, you’ll never get me in a boat, I hate water” or “I’m terrified of water, so count me out.” Interesting. Now, kayaks have a reputation for being tippy, and many people are nervous about getting in them – or getting stuck in one! – but these people weren’t even open to the suggestion. If we had been talking about dinghys or flat-bottom boats, the response would have been the same. Too bad – they are letting their fear rule them and take away their fun! I wonder what other fears they are letting rule them…?
Another response was “I’m too old for that!” We didn’t hear that one a lot, mainly because High Level’s population is so young, and there weren’t many old people there!! And then we got to chatting with a white-haired fellow, who wanted to buy a kayak paddle just like the one we have. I said I could look into it and call him back. As we talked about other outdoor sports, he said he was passionate about cross-country skiing, which I also do. I confessed that I can’t “skate” ski – he said he just learned a little while ago, when he was 66! Wow! He was so funny, gesturing to Darren, saying “he’s too young to learn that!”
And the most common thing I noticed about people was how much they looked down. We had a few maps on our table, which was between us and the people visiting us, and people would invariably stare down at the table. Were our maps that interesting? They were nice, detailed topo maps of the rivers around here, but I think it was more about shyness or not knowing where to look…poor eye contact… did I have egg on my face? I don’t think so!
We met so many nice people, and saw many friends who said “I didn’t know you were doing this!!” It was a great time, and a nice relief to be done it! Still lots to do, to finish the business plan and work out many details! But, the website’s done – flownorth.ca – and at least some of the other stuff can wait!
