2024 was another busy year for us and a lot of fun…
In the early part of the year, we stayed around home and spent time researching and planning our trip to Italy with our friends, Dorothy and Mark, from Victoria, which happened in April but I’ll get to that in a bit.
In March, Yim made her Burlesque debut on stage with Kat Salvador’s Beautiful Burlesque Troupe. It was quite the rowdy evening in the Simcoe Theatre in Collingwood with 100 people in attendance and making enough noise for twice that many. Lots of Yim’s students, friends and neighbours came to cheer her on and enjoy the evening. She was beautiful on stage and performed an elegant Fan routine under the pseudonym, Lady Dynasty.
I did not recognize the significance of her chosen name for almost six months, until I did a bit of research on the history of Fan Dancing only to discover that the dance form has its roots from the Han Dynasty in China, circa 206 BC., and is performed in celebration of Chinese culture. It represents beauty, grace and delicacy, while also expressing feelings of joy. The fans are used to highlight the graceful movements of dancers and as extensions of delicate poses.
After a fun end to the evening at Figs and Feta to celebrate the show, we started to pack our bags for Italy…
Celebrating Yim’s Burlesque Debut
Venice, Cinq Terres and Tuscany… oh yeah, and Rome.
This took a lot of research and coordinating to pull off, but we aced it for sure.
When planning the trip, we each had different areas we wanted to see so we got to see quite a bit of the country. Yim really wanted to see Venice, we both wanted to visit Cinq Terres, I wanted to spend some time in Tuscany and we figured that since we were in Tuscany, we would fly out of Rome rather than Florence, so we would spend a few days there as well.
So, we decided three days in Venice would be fun – and it totally was. It’s a ridiculous city and I’m not saying that in a bad way. If you’d like to read more about our visit, check out Three Days in Venice.
Then we took the train to Florence, which was a nice way to spend the morning whistling through the Italian countryside. The train station in Florence is very busy and upon arriving, we were disoriented as we had less than five minutes to catch our connecting train. There were a lot of signs but I was having trouble finding our destination and found an attendant, who waved me off in the direction of our gate. We had to walk quickly as there were a lot of people to navigate through, but we found the train and literally, just as we hoisted our luggage up into the platform, the train left. Had we known at the time that the next train left in 20 minutes, our stop in Florence may have been a little more relaxing but this was our first time traveling by train in Europe.
From Florence, we transferred to La Spezia, and then transferred to Manarola, where we had rented an apartment overlooking the Mediterranean.
We had both been wanting to visit and hike this area for several years and enjoyed the picturesque pastel-coloured villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.
You can read more on our visit on my Cinq Terres post, which features some beautiful photography.
Leaving Cinq Terres, we took the train back to Florence, rented a car and headed off to our farmhouse in Tuscany.
“Tuscany,” Goethe observed, “looks like Italy should.”
When we began talking about traveling to Italy, Tuscany was the area I most wanted to visit. I wanted to rent a Tuscan farmhouse where we would feel at home, a nice little car and spend a week enjoying the twisting roads of the countryside while visiting as many Tuscan villages as time would allow. In preparation, I had researched the villages and all the photography spots I hoped to see and the Audi A3 Sportsback made that all the more fun.
The region of Tuscany embodies much of what I think of as classic Italy: Historic walled towns with narrow winding streets, rolling countrysides filled with vineyards, olive groves, slender cypress trees and dirt roads leading to villas with terracotta tiled roofs.
After picking up the Audi in Florence. we started towards San Gimignano.
Yim looked at the clock and said, “We’re early. Let’s go see the leaning tower of Pisa”.
We were in Tuscany and we had a little sports car. Let’s go visit Tuscany…
Rome
Rome was not really on our list of places to visit but we figured that since we were traveling southwards in Italy, flying out of Rome was a better idea so we decided to visit for three days.
Beginning in the 8th century B.C., ancient Rome grew from a small town on Italy’s Tiber River into an empire that at its peak encompassed most of continental Europe, Britain, western Asia, northern Africa and the Mediterranean islands. After 450 years as a republic, Rome became an empire in the wake of Julius Caesar’s rise and fall in the first century B.C. The long reign of its first emperor, Augustus, began a golden age of peace and prosperity. In contrast, the Roman Empire’s decline and complete fall by the fifth century A.D. is one of the most dramatic implosions in the history of human civilization.
As legend has it, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars, the god of war. Left to drown in a basket on the Tiber and rescued by a she-wolf, the twins lived and co-founded the city on the river’s banks in 753 B.C. After killing his brother, Romulus became the first king of Rome, which is named for him.
I could feel that sense of dark history throughout the city. Rome did not have a peaceful vibe about it.
My Health and Training Regime
This is the fifth year of our adopting a plant based diet and we are still very happy with our decision.
Last year I wrote about the effort it was taking to lose the retention fat my body stored during the three years of Hormone Replacement Treatment, but with some effort, and a lot of miles on the treadmill, I have succeeded. Now I have begun to focus on building upper body muscle mass. I’ve always had trouble with my left shoulder after my rotator cuff surgery almost 50 years ago and I really don’t want any additional pain as I age.
To help me achieve this, I have hired a Personal Trainer. I’ve started with 7 specific exercises in September and will be tracking my protein intake for the next twelve months. Next years review will include the results of that one year of strength training.
First Quarter Review
I am pleased to report that after the first three months, I had noticeable muscle development in both my arms, particularly my right front deltoids, biceps and triceps. As some of you may know, there is either a split tendon or a moderate partial tear on the long head of my left bicep, so progress there is very satisfying as far as alleviating discomfort goes.
Plus, I managed to extend my left shoulder at a complete 90 degree angle onto the floor during some weighted stretch exercises – something I haven’t been able to do in 45 years, so that was a big deal to me.
But there’s always something…
In June, after one of my runs, I peed blood, which scared me and we went to the hospital. At the time, my mind immediately considered the fact that my cancer may have spread and I was a little freaked out and didn’t tell Yim right away. I went downstairs and walked around the backyard for a few minutes and then came inside and checked to see if I had been imagining it but a second effort ended with the same result so I went downstairs and said, “Yim, I peed blood.”
Yim immediately stopped what she was doing and said, “Let’s go to the hospital.” She didn’t hesitate for one second. She registered what I had said and instantly had the instinct to start things in motion.
After a three hour process of fidgeting in multiple waiting rooms, the Doc told me not to worry but that he did not know what it was. I seemed healthy. So we went to my family Doctor and he did a urine sample, which came back clean so I adjusted by drinking more water during my runs. I thought it may be exercise induced Hematuria, which meant I may be able to compensate for it by making sure I drank sufficient water while running, especially during my longer runs. Then it happened again but this time there was a HUGE burst of blood and then it was gone.
Two days later in late August, I had an appointment already scheduled after the first incidence with a Urologist in Barrie, who was fairly forthcoming and told me he was 99.5% sure it was Radiation Cystitis. In other words, when I had my radiation treatments, they burned my bladder, which was discharging some blood. Late radiation cystitis can develop from 6 months to 20 years after radiation therapy. It’s something which was in the information booklets I received prior to starting radiation treatments so while intellectually I knew it was a possibility, when it happens it’s still a little scary.
So, another CT Scan and a Cystoscopy were arranged.
Interestingly, this made me more grateful to be alive and more determined to continue along on my fitness journey. For some reason, my mind settled on the fact that one day we are all going to pass away and there was no reason for me to stop doing the things I loved. In fact, quite the opposite – I decided I should do more of them. Knowing that we are all going to pass one day seemed to make every day a little more important to me.
The Cystoscopy came back negative and the Doctors told me that more than likely, a few of the more damaged blood vessels had broken, but the bladder was clear and there was no need to worry, even if it happened again.
On October 21, I received the results from both the CT Scan of my kidney, and the Cystoscopy, and the results were both negative for any disease, which meant that the issue was Radiation Cystitus.
The Doctor then went on to explain that if the situation worsens, there are treatments which are non-invasive and not only helps with symptom relief but also has the capability of stopping the progression of further cystitis, which is called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
I found this interesting when the Doctor mentioned it and surprised him when I asked if that would involve placing me in a Hyperbaric Chamber, which is exactly how one treats The Bends, which was a core part of my studies when becoming a Master Scuba Diver Trainer. And yes, that is exactly how they would treat it…
Anyways, if you have read all of that then I thank you for being interested. They told me not to worry and to let them know if it happens again so I am back to simply living my life.
Yim’s Ballet, Burlesque, Zumba and Health
As I mentioned at the start of this post, Yim has been enjoying her Burlesque Troupe, Kat’s Meow Beautiful Burlesque. Every Sunday afternoon, she heads off to have some fun with a group of like-minded women. In between, I get to see a lot of costume development here at home.
In March, they performed their first ever show at the Simcoe Theatre and followed it up with a second show in November.
Yim puts a considerable amount of effort into these productions, especially when it comes to her solo routine. Her November solo was to the music titled, Young and Beautiful, by Lana del Rey, which, in a vulnerable lament, sings of the hope that the love she has will be an unconditional love and remain after her youth and beauty is gone.
Here is a link to the video of the performance; Lady Dynasty – Young and Beautiful.
I watched as Yim developed her performance over several months, yes – months of work. New fans arrived, clothing was ordered and returned, more clothing arrived, props were built (by myself) for the show, choreography developed, shifted and was fine-tuned. Selfie videos were made and watched and incrementally adjusted. It’s a serious process.
Her performance, which ended the evening, was beautiful and she was rewarded by a well deserved standing ovation.
Besides Burlesque, Yim is a busy girl during the week – as well as taking three strength training classes, two ballet classes, teaching Zumba twice as well as taking a Zumba class – plus her continual practicing, she stills find time to sew regularly with a handful of local clientele.
On Sundays, we both kind of rest and when she leaves for Burlesque, I try a new recipe for dinner each week.
Out and About in Collingwood
After our travels to Italy, we spent the entire summer in Collingwood and really enjoyed that
On most days now, I feel like we are on vacation, waking and having coffee together and getting ready for our days, me going for a long run and Yim heading out for a fitness or ballet class or to teach Zumba, having lunch together and talking about what our afternoons are like and what we might like for dinner. Then I head out for a bike ride through nature, and stop along the way to do our grocery shopping. This allows us to eat fresh foods daily.
I’ve learned that by finding beauty within the small details of my day – like simply making our morning coffee – adds fulfillment to my life. These moments are what make up our lives and if you choose to appreciate them, you find joy in each day. It really is simply the amount of attention you pay to each small habit.
And I have learned that to love your habits means that you love your days, and to love your days is to love your life. Wrap your head around that…
My big decision of this year, made after returning from Italy, was that I was going to do all of our grocery shopping on my bike. Collingwood has excellent bike trails and I simply wanted to slow down my life now. As of this writing, in late November, I am still riding daily for our groceries and quite pleased with myself.
And I had this idea for a post on my website – so I started photographing snippets of my daily bike rides as a way of reminding myself how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to illustrate just how good a job the Town of Collingwood does in maintaining and continuing to develop one of the best biking communities in Ontario.
You can see all the photos and read the post here; One Summer of Grocery Shopping on my Bike.
In the afternoons, Yim often has sewing to do and I usually have gardening as we are committed to growing a lot of our own food. Then we prepare dinner and enjoy evenings around the house or out at a concert the town organizes in the summers.
Our Home
Our home feels like we have lived here for a long time now and each year, we seem to add something we love to it while getting rid of a bunch of stuff we don’t. I’ve added eight nice photos below.
Decluttering
We continued to rid ourselves of excess stuff we have around our house. Reducing what we own allows us to live a more sustainable life and not over consume, which is important to me.
What we own should reflect our values or our interests and decluttering allows me to know what we own and where everything we own is. It makes it easier to care for what is important to us in the present and let go of what is not. I do not want to store things we no longer use – I would rather donate them to those who can use them and who need them. I believe that the ‘stuff’ we hold onto from years past no longer has a place in our lives, therefore, for me, the only way to continue to grow is to release the past, move forward and live in the present. Memories are better kept in my mind or in my photos and stories than in my drawers or my closets.
As my tagline says; Have stories to tell. Not stuff to show…
Reducing Media Consumption
One of my other goals this year was to reduce my media consumption, specifically television news, and am pleased to report that I did not watch television news for the entire year, with the sole exception being the Presidential debate, which I considered essential to see, and I intend to continue with that commitment. Personally, I no longer require television to stay informed of what is important to me and I most certainly do not need it for the general content.
We are overwhelmed with sensationalistic, provocative news these days, bombarding us from everything we look at, as our phones have become so prevalent in our lives. I also unsubscribed to The Globe and Mail online, something I had been subscribed to for 8 years, which was easier than anticipated.
I do still consume media daily by reading The Guardian daily, as I feel compelled to at least read the headlines and see what is going on in the world but I will continue to monitor myself. MOST of what I see and read is depressing or completely one sided and I then have to find a viewpoint which discusses the opposite side of the story. I find The Guardian at least objective wth their journalism as they accept no paid advertising. I don’t mean to bury my head in the sand but I can somewhat control what we allow into our lives on a daily basis so I focus on that.
As most of you will agree, this year in particular has been an awful year to read or follow mainstream media.
In September, I removed the Facebook bookmark on my computer and moved the icon on my phone to the second page so I no longer see notifications as they appear, which reduced the amount I looked at it almost instantly so I will continue along that path also. I’ve also started deleting the memory post reminders which appear each morning on Facebook from past posts as I’ve discovered they add up to the storage space on our devices and need to be on a server somewhere, which requires more data, therefore, more electricity for something which is completely unnecessary. As with the general media, I find that too many people post negative comments on social media about the already negative events happening in the world, when there is so much to be grateful for and celebrate.
Friends and Family
We had a good summer with friends and family.
Sandy Yep and Karen Cho came to visit us in June. I really enjoy continuing to get to know our extended family.
Sandy has been involved in the efforts to save Montreal’s Chinatown, a place where both he and Yim were born and have their roots in. He has been instrumental in the development of a storytelling project titled, ‘Made in Chinatown‘ which showcases more than 40 people and relates their personal stories of living in Chinatown. The initiative aims to re-weave social ties, reclaim collective and personal spaces, and re-create Chinatown’s vibrant and inclusive neighbourhood by shining a light on the stories and images of individuals who share a sense of connection to this place.
Karen is the Director of the documentary “Big Fight in Little Chinatown“, which explores the gentrification of Chinatowns in Montreal, Vancouver and New York. I found the visit fascinating and much too short.
In October, we drove to Montreal to spend the day celebrating Ken Schillgalies 75th birthday. Ken’s wife, Louise Lacey and I have been friends for 58 years – we met when we were 12 and for many years, Friday or Saturday night on their farm was where we all ended up. The day was spent with old friends from as far back as high school and their three beautiful daughters catching up, eating and sitting around a campfire telling stories.
My buddy, Tom came up for a couple of days and we got a few good hikes in; Standing Rock Caves, Duncan Caves and Old Baldy. The colours were in full autumn mode and we had a good time catching up, while wandering around forest bathing.
Little Grace continues to be a part of our lives and we had a wonderful Christmas celebration with Sue Tupy and her extended family in her studio and at her home in Clarksburg. These are things I am grateful for.
All this and Yim and I managed to make it to Flowerpot Island this summer for a day.
Christmas in Montreal
Christmas was spent with family in Montreal. Yim and I got an AirBNB downtown and spent Christmas Eve food shopping. Christmas was spent in Blainville with Christy & Juliette at their home with their sons, Karl and his girlfriend Audrey-Lynn and Adam. Suyin, Cody, and Natalie joined us and it made for a nice family gathering.
Happy New Year
We wish you all the best in 2025.
No Comments