Sunday, November 26, 2006 by Michelle
Background: My friend's brother Vince is in Kandahar Afghanistan with the Canadian military. His wife Melanie lives in Ontario and has many health problems, not the least of which is a very bad back (making driving and getting around in an Ontario winter very difficult). The two of them live on an army wage, so things are pretty tight financially. Melanie used to be a model and make-up is something in her life that makes her feel good about herself; but with their limited income and her health problems, she just couldn't bring herself to go out and buy this one brand of mascara she really likes but is out of.
To the Story: Vincent caught wind of Melanie being out of mascara and decided to call the local Bay to ask if they would send it to her and just charge it to his credit card. Her birthday was coming up and he thought it would be a nice surprise for her. The workers at the Bay were really touched by the story and thrilled to get a call from a soldier in Kandahar, so they went around to all the make-up counters and accepted donations of make-up for Melanie. Coincidentally, Melanie was on the phone with Vince when the package arrived - a 10"x10" box of make-up all for the price of a mascara. They were both touched and very happy with the generosity of the people at the Bay, and the moral support their gift implied.
Moral: If there's a moral here, it's simply that even if we don't support the war in Afghanistan, we can nevertheless treat the soldiers and their families with dignity and respect. That and, sometimes it's the simple things that make the biggest difference; like a bit of make-up for a former model who is feeling unwell and alone.
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Sunday, October 22, 2006 by Michelle
I was just at a website called Free Hugs, about a movement to reach out and (you guess it) hug people. From the website,
"Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives." Check out the video on the site; it's very heartwarming.
Additional background information can also be found at Sydney Morning Herald website.
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Sunday, October 15, 2006 by Michelle
Today... (huff, puff)... I ran... (gasp, wheeze)... 10 km... (pant, puff)... for the first time. Oh my god!
To be honest I actually wasn't huffing and puffing (except on the hills), but my legs were pretty jello-like when I was done. I had originally set a goal in June or so to do this by the spring of 2007, then when I reached 7km this summer I revised my goal to the end of the year. Here it is mid-October and I reached it! Yeah for me!!
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Friday, October 13, 2006 by Michelle
The last roll of photos from our trip to France is finally developed. Oh, how I wish I had taken more of the coast!
Bordeaux
We spent a day in Bordeaux, which is a city we really enjoyed visiting. The entire downtown area is either car-free or has extremely limited car access. As a result, throngs of people are out on the streets and it was wonderful to be a part of that. Vancouver has a lot to learn from Bordeaux; our local government and merchants don't seem to understand that pedestrian-only zones create a sense of community and dramatically increase the shopping in the areas where it exists (I saw it myself in Bordeaux!).
Moliets
The surf in the Moliets area was spectacular, but it's really hard to be able to provide perspective when taking photos of the wonderful waves. The photo of the sunset I took shows a little bit of it, as does the one of me playing at the beach, but doesn't really capture just how fabulous the pounding surf was. There were times that the drag created when the waves were receding was shocking; more than once I went ass-over-teakettle, which was undignified but a helluva lot of fun really.
Landes Forest
I have not found a photo online or on a postcard that captures the feeling I have for the Landes Forest. I wish I would have taken a few hours and trapsed through one of the nearby pine groves for a good photo or two.
I recognized instantly upon seeing the forests here that they are planted and not natural; in fact, it was planted over 150 years ago to tame the swamp lands and sand dunes for human usage (a nearby river would change its course as much as 35 km in a given year, so it was impossible to build here). The huge monoculture pine forest is almost eerie - the trees are all the same type and about the same age, they're all carefully spaced, the undergrowth has a limited ecology with only two or three species of ground cover. It felt devoid of life in many ways, but it was also captivating at the same time.
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