laser surgery report

Took the photo above a few minutes ago. Apparently a man is holding a woman hostage in front of Union Station, Toronto's main train station, a few blocks from our place (we've been hearing a lot of sirens in the past half hour). What's most eerie about the scene is that normally this area is packed with people hurrying to work. I hope it all works out with no one getting hurt. :-(

(Added later in the morning: Here's the Toronto Star coverage of the event.)

kites

Canada Goose kite at the cottage.


Many condolences to the friends and family of Iain Cain, who died a few days ago by his own hand. I never knew Iain well, but remember him as being friendly and gentle, full of good humour.

The photo above and below were taken at the cottage last week, when Jeff put together a Canada goose kite we picked up in Sedona. I was amazed at how real the thing looked when it was in the air, complete with wings that flapped in the wind.

There's something so magical about kites, isn't there? Flimsy bits of paper or plastic and wood suspended impossibly high, anchored to eager hands with a near-invisible strand.





Looking forward to visiting with Rand tomorrow.

Have a safe weekend, everyone.

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briar patch inn

Snoozing in our cabin. Photo by Jeff.


(continuation of trip report)

After my sister and her family flew back home, Jeff and I drove to the Briar Patch Inn, a bed & breakfast place near Sedona, at the base of the red rock mountains. Upon arriving, we immediately got to work on doing absolutely nothing (see photo above).

:-)

The setting was ideal: short drive from Sedona, nestled in a wooded valley beside Oak Creek. No phone or tv in our cabin; calls could be made from a payphone on the property. We had an air-conditioning unit, but chose to leave it off most of the time so we could hear the creek.

Here's the welcome note we found in our cabin when we arrived, along with a small box of worry dolls:





Here's what our cabin ("The Deckhouse") looked like inside:





View from the inside, looking out towards the deck:





View from the deck:





The cabin also had a kitchenette that included a sink, microwave and a fridge:





And a nicely appointed bathroom with a deep whirlpool tub:





My favourite activity those few days: sitting out on the deck with a book, listening to the sound of the creek and the wind in the trees. Also, lots of birds... apparently the area is a favorite of birdwatchers; I'd look up from by book from time to time and would inevitably glimpse a bird or two I've never encountered in Ontario. No mosquitoes, either!

The Inn property only has eighteen cabins, so no worries about noisy hordes. And lots of quiet spaces on the property in which to curl up with a good book:





Breakfast usually included a choice of most of the following: fresh home baked breads, quiche and muffins, granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, juices, oatmeal, hardboiled and soft-boiled eggs, coffee and herbal teas. We always took our breakfasts out to the patio beside the creek:





...and ate it while listening to live music provided by resident musicians, Allen and Maryanne Ames:



The music duo Lyra.


Jeff and I spent most of our two days in Sedona reading, napping, relaxing, but we also went back to the Lowell Observatory as well as checking out some of the shops and art galleries in Sedona. I even booked an in-cabin massage, and felt very decadent and spoiled.

When we got hungry between meals, we would wander along the path to the main cabin, which always had iced tea, herbal teas and coffee, cookies, crackers and fruit available. The main cabin also had a library with a wide variety of books; I borrowed a guide to the area's flora and fauna as well as "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. Started the latter book the first night we arrived, finished it the next day outside beside the creek.

I fell in love with the red rock formations in the area, like this one:





We also checked out some of the local restaurants:





And I gotta say, I could *never* get tired of those gorgeous Sedona sunsets:



Sunset view from the restaurant in above photo.


It was a wonderful way to wind down the trip. Jeff and I are both keen on going back to the Briar Patch Inn and booking the same cabin someday. I highly recommend this place for anyone seeking a quiet place of relaxation or a romantic hideaway.

More info:

Sedona tourist information

Briar Patch Inn

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canyons and telescopes

(continuation of trip report)

I took the photo above when Jeff and I decided to check out the Grand Canyon at sunrise. The high-res version is now my laptop desktop. :-) I was pretty surprised when Jeff suggested the early morning canyon visit since he is definitely not a morning person, figured he would bail at the last minute. But I was wrong, and when he woke me up at 5:00 a.m. (as I had asked) to see if I wanted to come along, there was no way I was going to say no. -I- was supposed to be the perky morning person, after all!



Sara and Jeff at a lookout point.


So we sat for a couple of hours, just watching the morning sunlight gradually spill over the rock, warming grey shadows into pale rose and sandy browns, breathing life into the canyon.

It's a morning I won't soon forget.



Me in front of the canyon at sunset. Photo by Ruth.


I'm not a hot weather person, so initially I wasn't crazy about visiting Arizona during its hottest season. What I found when I got there: while it was definitely HOT (it got up to 109 deg Fahrenheit in Phoenix during our visit), it wasn't the hell that I had been expecting, probably because of the lack of humidity. So little humidity, in fact, that after leaving the women's washroom in one hotel with wet hands because the hand dryer wasn't working, my hands were COMPLETELY DRY by the time I got outside less than a minute later.

Kinda freaky, but it inspired me to drink a lot more water. I think the person who came up with the "eight glasses of water a day" rule must have lived in Arizona.





Seeing the Grand Canyon was the highlight of this trip for me; sadly, my photos don't do justice to the incredible experience of seeing the canyon in real life. I was still blown away by the breathtaking view despite the cliche/tourist factor. Someday, I'd like to come back during cooler weather and plan a trek to the bottom.



My brother-in-law Kaarel.


In Flagstaff, we visited the Lowell Observatory, which is a privately owned astronomical research institution founded in 1894 by Boston mathematician Percival Lowell, best known for the discovery of Pluto as well as his theories about canals on Mars. Other noteworthy Lowell Observatory discoveries include evidence that the universe is expanding, discovery of the rings of Uranus, and the continuing search and discovery of numerous asteroids, near earth asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects, and extra-solar planets.

We had a chance to look at a double star and the M-5 cluster through the 24-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope which Lowell used to study Mars around the turn of the century. Sara and Annie used a small stool so they could look through the eyepiece of this telescope:





We also got to check out the telescope used to discover Pluto:





I had no idea that Pluto was named by an 11-year-old English girl. Those interested in finding help more about how Pluto was discovered should check out this link.

(tomorrow: cabin near Sedona!)

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las vegas, grand canyon

Luxor hotel at night.


Just got home from a 12-day trip to Nevada and Arizona, mostly spent with my sister and her family; I'll be posting photos over the next week or so.

Got home to a big pile of e-mail, so thanks for your patience while I catch up. Congrats to Andrea Dale, who has been invited to be Filk Guest of Honor at Context (Oct.1-3, 2004)! Amanda Snyder's birthday is today!

The photo at the top of the page is of our hotel in Las Vegas, The Luxor. Apparently the 42.3 billion candle power pillar of light can be seen from the space shuttle.

Here's one of the interior:





I took the above photo from a balcony hallway on the way to our room. Riding the elevator for the first time is a tad unsettling at first. The elevators go from the interior base to the tip of the pyramid in a slanted shaft at a 38 degree angle; you can definitely feel this, especially at the beginning and end of the elevator ride.

I was amazed at how cheap the rooms were ($79) considering the location and quality, though I assume they're more expensive during their peak season. And I guess the hotel is hoping they make a lot more than that from gambling in the casino. :-)

In case you're curious, we didn't do much gambling in Vegas. For one thing, it's illegal for children to even -watch- anyone gamble; families are allowed to take children through casino areas since most hotel lobbies ARE casinos, but no lingering to watch the slots. But also, none of us are gambling types. While waiting outside a restroom, however, I did stick a quarter into a slot machine...AND WON A WHOLE DOLLAR!

The main focus of the Las Vegas portion of our trip was seeing The Cirque du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio. This $120 million production has been drawing 99%-capacity crowds and was recently voted Best Show on the Strip. The 1.5-million-gallon pool of water contains several hydraulic lifts that are used throughout the performance. But what makes this my all-time favourite live show is the seamless integration of live music, light and staging effects, dance and acrobatics, all of which are amazing.

Before I visited Las Vegas for the first time, I had envisioned it as a sort of seedy, tacky, run-down place I'd never want to spend time in. My impression after two visits? Ok, so it IS sort of seedy and tacky, but most of the tackiness is so over the top that it's fun. :-) You can drift through "Venice" in a gondola, gawk at the Statue of Liberty in "New York", ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower in "Paris", climb a stone sphinx, and ride the bus with Elvis...where else can you do all this in one place?

I'll be posting more photos/reports from the rest of the trip soon, but here are some pics from the Grand Canyon part of the trip, like this lizard we encountered on a hike:





Jeff and Sara on part of a trail:





And some Grand Canyon shots:





















Trip pics to be continued tomorrow...

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