There are two things I really enjoy about living in this part of Canada. The first is the four distinct seasons. The second thing is the hardwood forests. For myself, the best way to experience each season in its’ fullest is to immerse myself in these woods. During those times I’ll go for a run. Or hug some trees. Or I’ll take some photos. Often it is a combination of all three. Every season is so special to me. Whether it is the zingy, fresh green leaves of spring, the cooling effect of the trees dense foliage on a hot summer day, the brilliant orange, red and yellows of autumn or being among ..read more

It can be said it was a long awaited wedding. The big day for my daughter Naomi’s wedding in Otaki, New Zealand was originally set for January 9, 2021. But there was a thing called COVID, New Zealand was in lockdown. And the wedding was postponed until January 2022. There were still a lot of border restrictions, which meant wedding attempt number two was also postponed. Between February and May 2022, the New Zealand Government gradually eased border restrictions, public gathering limits, and vaccine mandate requirements. Meanwhile, while the travel restrictions were in place, Naomi ended up st ..read more

Last week I arrived home from spending a couple of weeks in New Zealand. There are a lot of people who have this beautiful little country in the far South Pacific on their bucket list. Particularly for the outdoor enthusiast, there is so much to experience. Even if a person had several months to spare, he or she would never come close to taking it all in. There is so much packaged into that spectacular little country. My last time in New Zealand was in 2016 to spend time with my daughter Naomi. Went to her grad from teacher’s college. As well as adventuring together. Such as hiking/climbing in ..read more

It was a bittersweet moment when our final monarch butterfly of the season emerged from its chrysalis from within the pollinator garden of my wife and I. It’s been a very interesting year. Each day for the entire month of July I was checking each leaf on each milkweed plant for monarch eggs in my pollinator garden. Female monarchs lay one to three eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. This is repeated until it visits many, many milkweed plants and hundreds of eggs are laid over a wide area. There is a worm-like larva grows inside the egg. When it is ready, the larva chews a small hole in t ..read more

My wife and I together derive a lot of joy and satisfaction from our pollinator garden. Everyday there are amazing new discoveries. We love seeing the change of different varieties of flowers blooming throughout the season. As well, of the thrill of witnessing many happy insects that have made our garden either their home or waystation. There however has been a prickly issue between us this past summer. It is to do with a native Pasture Thistle plant that is growing alongside the walkway heading to the house. When people walk by it, there is a chance they could get scratched. My wife would lik ..read more

I’m sure you have heard the idiom that “Every picture tells a story”. It means that “what has really happened in a situation is clear because of the way that someone or something looks”. My friendly search engine Artificial Intelligence assistant also suggests that “every experience in life contributes to the story of our lives”. This makes a lot of sense to me. The phrase was actually popularized by a song and album of the same name by Rod Stewart way back in 1971. Every picture tells a story. I remember as a mere 13 year old boy quietly listening in my bedroom to Rod Stewart and many other R ..read more

It is always fascinating how some things might take a lifetime to connect the dots. Though I don’t take it too seriously, I’ve dabbled in collecting stamps (philately) for 55 years. It all started when I was 10 years old. As a child our morning cereal always consisted of oatmeal. Except on weekends when we were allowed box cereal. One cereal I chose was Muffets. They were like a shredded wheat, and didn’t have a lot of flavor. But I liked it most for the little toys or trinkets that were enclosed. Much like those Cracker Jack boxes. One year during the 1960’s the prize was stamps. Each Muffet ..read more

After such a long day running up and down those challenging hills of Horseshoe Highlands and Copeland Forest in the all day cold, drizzly rain in the 2023 Pick Your Poison trail race, 58 year old 50k Pick Your Poison 5 time finisher Joe Smith remarked to me at the finish line, “Carl, they got to be making this course harder. Because we can’t be getting any older”. Pick Your Poison logo. Image source. https://www.pickyourpoison.ca/ This year was the 13th year Pick Your Poison was held. It was my 6th time finishing the 50k distance. I’ll be turning 65 in a couple of months, and it really seems l ..read more

When Kathy, the race director of the new trail race series North of 89 verbally gave us group of runners course directions for the OUTrace Spring Warm Up Fun Run, it all seemed pretty straight forward. At all the road junctions turn left. Except when you get on County Road 9, it is then a right turn. There will be 4 stakes with pink surveyors ribbon at those road junctions. All the trail running sections we will be following the Bruce Trail, which are marked by white blazes. OUTrace for Ontario Ultra and Trail Running Series. The last and only time I ran this Spring Warm Up for the Ontario Ult ..read more

It is hard to believe that 2023 will be my 10th year of running. It started out in 2013 for my health and to lower my blood pressure and my cholesterol. My goal of a half marathon that first year was brutal. How on earth was I ever going to finish it. Well somehow I did, and from then on running became a part of my life. Celebration after my completing 1st half marathon In 2014 I started this blog, and at the end of each year I would write a year end recap. My first year end post was called Running Into 2015. Then I just continued the trend. There was Running Into 2016. There was Running Into ..read more