Canadian Summer

Come to think of it, this happens to be my 16th summer in BC! Time just flies right through - oh my! There has been many a memorable summer, and I thought I'll take this opportunity to list some of them.

My very first Canadian Summer
That was the summer of 1986, and my father brought me and my brother to the Expo. That was brief, but left a truly memorable impression on me on what to expect from a Canadian Summer. We stayed in Sheraton Tower on Robson Street and walked about at all times of the days to take it in. What I remember is the crisp freshness of the mornings and evenings (in my then standard "too cold") with us in practically fall clothing while the rest of Vancouverites passed us with sleeveless and shorts. It is also memorable that that was the first time I rode on BC Ferries and came to Victoria. The Sea World was still operating, and we ate at the Sam's Deli on government street (where my father said their huge sandwiches made to the Guiness book of records - which I found out later in my tour guiding days that it was a gross exaggeration.) In the week that we spent in BC, I was so acclimatized, I remember sweating even before the plane landed in Narita airport.

My first full Canadian Summer
The summer of 1994 was the first summer I got to spend fully in Canada. From '91, I was returning to work at a travel agency in Tokyo for the summer months, but I had decided to stick around to prep for my upcoming wedding. Oh, it was a bliss. I took some summer courses and walked to UVic. I particularly remember this house on Shelbourne that was surrounded by this large anemones. They looked like little fairies dressed in bright yellow top and a graceful white frill skirt. Since then they tore down that little house and now stand a group of town houses, but I am determined to have those flowers in my yard one day.

I spent the first part of the summer working on the wedding, going to school and waiting for letters from Frank (he was tree planting up north), until he came back un-announced with a full beard! (He shaved it off that day, and I didn't have to get used to it.) Then was a rush of getting things done and meeting family to celebrate Oma's 80th birthday (she is 93 this year!) all in days of sunny dry days until the day of the wedding. I think that was the only day it rained after a straight sunny streak of a month and another sunny month after that. My own wedding as the end of the summer, what else can one ask for?

Summer of 2002
We had a short stint of visiting Tokyo in June and be back to enjoy the cooler Canadian summer that year. It was memorable for many reason including my best buddy Asako's wedding there and my friend Helen's here, but also because it was the first time we took A to Tokyo. It wasn't even officially summer and we got away before the rainy season, yet we were SO hot. It doubled the enjoyment and appreciation of BC summer! It also was my first meeting with Creative Memories. It brought hope back into my life regarding careers, piles of photos (that used to make me feel very defensive), and memory making/keeping. The dream of doing something meaningful was ignited and keeps on burning.

Summer in Shuswap
This was last year, and as it turns out the last year we had a vacation together with Frank's parents. We made lots of memories, and they are all fond ones. Kids still talk about our adventures then. Going to see Gouda Cheese factory, being in a corn maze, trip to train museum @Revelstoke, BC Wildlife park and Dutch restaurant in Kamloops, swimming and tubing at the lake and of course Dutchman Dairy in Sicamouse. No trip with Dad was ever complete without the ice cream stop there. Even though he was going through chemo and cold things made the pain worse, Dad worked on getting over the chemo enough to have the ice cream there on the second to last day. Eating and just being together was also a treat. We will treasure that now that he is gone to be in paradise with the Lord.

Tallship Summer
It is hard to believe that the Tall Ships will be back to Victoria next summer! Well, it was the most unforgettable excitement around them for us. Just to see number of them out the Esquimalt Lagoon made one's thoughts go to the era when the bay was full of them. *sigh* It was fantastic. Next time around, A will be older to enjoy more and E will be almost as old as A was the first time they came. Oh, the romance of it all.