Summer? Winter? I am totally confused...

Today I need to vent a little bit. The picture I uploaded today comes from the recent past - March 9th, 2008. It was the biggest snowstorm in one day we had out in Mississauga since we moved there. I am using my snowblower which I bought the year before...and man, there is no going back once you own one.

My reason for posting this one today is because of the crappy weather we have been having around the GTA this summer. I mean - its supposed to be in the low 30's, but we are lucky to hit 22 degrees. Even at that...the wind is cool...so you dont really feel like its summer...its more like fall or early spring.

My tomato plants are doing poorly, I don't have a tan...and worst of all...when I ride my motorcycle I have to wear a jacket. When will the craziness end!?

Finally - looking at this picture makes me miss my big red truck. While I am happy with the diesel Grand Cherokee...I do miss the truck's imposing size on the road. Now I am just another one of the many cars/SUV's on the highway.

If anyone has pull with the powers that be....can you please request that we get a bit more heat this summer?

STAY THIRSTY!

Todays picture is an "artsy" B&W shot I took when I was backpacking through Turkey in late July, 1988. The reason for todays picture is because through Facebook - one of my friends Paulo uploaded a pic he came across (see the end of this post). I was really taken with it - so much so that it is now the background for my desktop.

The region that is being displayed here is called Cappadocia (you can check out the wiki article here). The rock formations you see in these photos are called "fairy chimneys". A really neat geological formation that is the result of years of erosion. The entire landscape is dotted with these features - quite amazing. What is perhaps even more amazing is the fact that the region is littered with cave complexes from a variety of periods - the most significant and largest of which date to the 1st and 2nd C. AD. I had the opportunity to tour one of these "underground cities" - complete with stables, kitchens, defense systems, etc.

One particular event I recall from my visit to Cappadocia occurred while having apple tea in one of the rest houses in a tiny village. It was around noontime and everything was quiet until I heard an odd tune coming from the mineret (tower associated with a mosque). It wasn't the call to prayer...I know what that sounds like...this was oddly familiar. After a few seconds I recognized it...it was the same tune that Via Rail uses to begin its PA announcements at all of its rail stations. Try as I might to find a copy of the tune online to include with this post - I couldn't find one. But the next time any of you are travelling the Via Rail system...you'll know what I mean. What came next was someone yelling in the speaker (obviously in Turkish...which I don't understand at all). I asked the local server what the person was saying and he told me "oh...that's just so and so (insert Mohammad or Mehmet here) calling so and so (insert Mohammad or Mehmet here) for their lunch." I was flabergasted....I thought the minnerets were only to be used for religious purposes...but apparently in Cappadocia...they do double duty. A kind of Turkish - "I think I hear your mother calling you...." kind of thing.

STAY THIRSTY

Blackwater Trio and WLU

When: November 2007
Where: The Manulife Financial Sportsplex
Who: Blackwater Trio (Fred Hale, Janet Hale and Ken Munshaw)
Why: Fundraiser for K-W Junior Ringette

Ok - so this picture will take a bit of explaining to do. The reason why I have put it up is two-fold. First - Blackwater Trio is a great local band and I went to University with these guys. Second - its our 20th year reunion from our undergrad days at Wilfrid Laurier University and its a tradition that Blackwater Trio plays on the Saturday night at the campus pub.

My friend Terry (see previous post) has been bugging me to make sure we get tickets to see them play - so I did that today (great deal at $10 each) - so he is happy - but it made me think about the band members some more, hence why I put the picture up.

Its not a great picture...cheap digital cameras don't handle the dark very well..but you can clearly see both Janet and Fred ripping out the tunes on stage. I went to school with both of them - they are great people. Fred worked in Residence with me in my last year and thats how I came to know him. Janet was in the same year as me and hung out with a lot of the same friends...she had/has a beautiful voice and can sing a variety of genres - from opera to funk (though I have never heard her sing funk actually...I am sure she could do it!)

I am just back from vacation so my mind is a bit "frayed" coming back to all this email.

STAY THIRSTY!

Vacation and Camping

Today we are off for our annual summer family vacation - which over the past few years has meant "camping"! This is a picture of Emma cooking up some popcorn from our camping trip - Labour Day weekend (September 9th) 2006. We decided to go camping near to home at Bronte Creek Provincal Park. It was Emma's first time sleeping in a tent all on her own and she loved it.

What I remember from that weekend is that the weather was particularly uncooperative as were the local teenagers who decided to stage an all night piss-up next to our campsite. For the first time ever, I had to call the Provincal Police to come in and kick them out - which of course they didn't do...but gave them a strong warning - duh! welcome to Canada.

Anyways - we love camping - it enables us to get out of the city and relax in the "wild". But there are various levels of camping. What you see here is something mid-range that most people can relate to. A propane portable BBQ, the ever-handy Coleman stove, tents, air mattress (inside the tent!), etc. This is vastly upgraded compared to camping in say - Algonquin Park and having to canoe in all of your gear. There you have to bring freeze-dried food, etc. I have never done that but someday I would like to give it a whirl.

Camping for us today, however, is about going down to Shalamar Lake campground where we keep our 5th Wheel trailer. It has air conditioning, a fridge, stove, toilet, and so much more. We sleep on a queen size bed - have a flat screen TV and sound system. Essentially - its our cottage but at a fraction of the price. I know its not really camping anymore...but really - what is camping other than an excuse to build a fire and sit around it telling stories. That's something that every human being around the planet can relate to I think. It returns us to our primal roots.

Stay Thirsty!

Antony and Cleopatra

I was reading the newspaper today and came across an article about how a couple lost their children in some sort of accident and they found comfort/love in the form of two dogs they had acquired soon after. So - I thought I would flip up a picture of the two cats we had for many years - Cleo (the black one) and Tony (the orange one).

We lost Cleo when we moved out to Mississauga - and then we lost Tony (our favourite) last summer. I am not a huge pet person - but I can totally see how people can get attached to animals (some more so than others). As to the medical benefits of having pets - of that I am certain - lonliness is one of the worst diseases we as humans face. We NEED each other in so many ways - and when that's not possible, certainly an animal "stand-in" will do.

But on the other hand - pets can be a real pain in the ass. My neighbours have this little dog they leave outside most of the day. Whenever I go outside the thing runs up to the fence and barks its head off...this makes working outside (which I have a lot to do today) very aggrevating.

This picture was taken around 1994 - we had just moved into our first home in Oshawa (you can tell its new - very little furniture and no paint on the walls). We loved that house, but it was just too far away from everything.

Ok - I am off to be a carpenter for the morning...wish me luck!

Big Shoes To Fill

Today my daughter graduates from Grade 7! I can't believe it - can she really be that old? It seems like just yesterday I was feeding her really gross baby food (green peas? yuck!) and changing diapers (I was pretty good...once I got the hang of it). All the same, this morning she left the house and I congratulated her on finishing Grade 7 with honours and distinction (she won 7 awards - academic and leadership based).

It got me to thinking though - expectations aside...what kind of shoes is she going to fill? (mind you...she has pretty big feet, so it shouldn't be a problem) I shy away from asking her what she is wanting to be when she grows up because everytime I do she says something silly like - "I want to be a singing archaeologist" - which as you can imagine could be a challenging combination. Nevertheless, as she gets older it is becoming clear that she is making some plans and setting goals for herself - that is what makes me proud! She is creating her own shoes to fill...not the ones that I have made for her - and that's the way it should be.

Ok - now on to the picture. This photo was taken sometime in late 1997 or early 1998 when we were living on Sussex Ave. in Toronto while I was in grad school. She is wearing her mothers shoes (and is a habit that she hasn't quite shaken as I hear discussions all the time about shoe borrowing around the house). On the floor you can see books - which isn't suprising since she is a voracious reader now...going through books like they are nothing. Though I do question her recent facination with vampires and warewolves...whatever happened to the Romans!!??

The years we lived on Sussex were some of the best for us...and while it was graduate student living...meagre bugdgets, long nights at the library and in the lab - it was all worth it.

We all have big shoes to fill - the expectations of our parents, our friends, our children...but most importantly - ourselves. The degree to which we are able to balance all of that and stay sane...is the degree to which we are truly satisfied and productive members of society.

Stay Thirsty....

I Am Mesha, Son of Chemosh...

Todays picture reflects two separate "pasts". This is a picture that I took of a replica (the original is in the Louvre in Paris - which I got to see in 2002 - see pic below) of the Mesha Stele (I'll get to that in a moment) sometime in the summer of 1988 at the British Museum (my first - and so far only visit there). The Mesha Stele or 'Moabite Stone' was originally constructed sometime in the 9th C. BCE by King Mesha of Moab and rediscovered in Dhiban in 1868. I am not going to recount the entire history of this inscription - for that you can check out the wikipedia article - its pretty good and relatively accurate.








I guess what is most striking about this first photo (1988) is that my reason for taking it was because I thought it was an interesting artifact...little did I know at that time that I would persue doctoral studies that focused almost entirely on the land of Moab (located in the modern day country of Jordan) - and spend 10 years excavating there.

I am sure as time goes by I will produce a significant number of images from my 'adventures' in Jordan - they continue and I hope to be in the field again next year. You can check out the website of the main project I have been involved with there - the Tell Madaba Archaeological Project if you are interested.