With the wind in my sails, a smile on my face, and blue brilliance all around me

Several wonderful things happened simultaneously in August:

• I had nearly 3 weeks off of work
• I made the big journey across the big ocean to Canada to visit my family
  
• The 6 members of my immediate family managed to all congregate in the same spot in the world at the same time for the first time in 3 years
• I went sailing for the first time (with the abovementioned family) on the Pacific Ocean on the Sunshine Coast - and loved it!
  
• The weather was remarkably warm & sunshiny for that time of year (and it was the first time in several years being back in Canada when it's not covered in snow and -30C)
• I got some excellent rest in an incredibly beautiful environment

It was a very good trip, and I have to confess, that yes, I'm a terribly lucky, spoiled individual to currently be able to have my cake (with icing) and eat it too - working in international development while living the good life in Europe and being able to return to Canada to see my family and enjoy summer rest. I wish more people could be spoiled in the ways I am - because feasting your eyes on the sight of the glistening big blue ocean, or eating corn on the cob fresh from Grandpa's garden are very good ways to be spoiled.

I spent a week and a half in 'Beautiful British Columbia' (that's what all the lisence plates say there - and it really is true) with ma & pa and big brother and dear sister, and good bro-in-law, which included some days of pure chillaxing at my mom and dad's place, and 6 days of sailing on their new sailboat. Then it was accross the Rocky Mountains over to the prairies of Alberta for some quality time with the grandfolk, cousins, aunts & uncles and my siblings, and reconnecting with friends.

I will let these photos from the west coast share the most beautiful part of my trip with you...

Mom and Dad's new house - one of my many places to call home.

Homecoming. Into the loving arms of my mama.

The whole fam all together from the far ends of the earth
(minus Scott the 'newbie' who was behind the camera).

Welcome home supper on the balcony overlooking the inlet.

Sunset on the ocean from the dining room.

Slurpee run before hot afternoon trip to the lake.

Paddling in grandpa's canoe.

Attempting to sink dad's kayak.

In the car en route to the harbour where our sailboat was anchored.
Note the cozy seating arangement (yes, that would be my knee
next to my chin). You see, due to logistical constraints, and
in our zeal to be back as a family - just like old times, we had only one car,
and naturally - kids in the back seat. Only, inconveniently, my sister has
now married, so there's an extra 'kid'. This is what we call 'sibling bonding'
- or, in our family: 'special times, with special people'.

Lunch in the harbour before we launched.

And that's our beautiful vessel!
(If you look close, you can see me waving on deck.)

She's a beauty. Tove is her name.

Sunshine, vast calm blue seas, sunning on the deck.
Cheers to the sailor's life!
(I have the best seat in the house -
unless of course there's a big wave.)

The happy crew with the captain and first mate
(a.k.a. mom and dad) in the cockpit.

Hors d'œuvres on deck - this is no shabby yacht.

Captain Myron at the helm.

Breakfast in one of many a beautiful bay.

DOD & DOM

The head galley maid in the kitchen.

Too many cooks in the kitchen. Way, way too many cooks.
It was times like this that put our family dynamics to the test.
And well....let's just say, we were a little rusty, having been apart
so long. We didn't always pass with flying colours. And to answer
the question lingering from the end of my cycling trip story -
No, we haven't grown up out of our silly/whiny/bullying/
pesky childhood ways. BUT we still love eachother.

My favourite spot on the boat.
(With the bonus of being a safe distance from
the kitchen and the cockpit.) You see me here
reading my book, but truth be told, most of the time,
I couldn't keep my eyes on my book because the view
beyond it was so incredible that I couldn't consume enough of it.

"The heavens declare the glory of God...day after day, they pour
forth speech" And - I might add - the seas repeat it back beautifully.
And they were proclaiming it loud, I tell you. (See next photos)

Our 'trail'.

The sun sets on an incredibly beautiful day.

There's something very comforting and poetic about
pulling into a harbour for the night...and when it looks
like this: reflective glass with mists hovering over silent boats...wow.

Home sweet home. Playing cards in the living room/
dining room/bedroom/storage room in our cozy cabin.

Tucked into my berth for the night.
(This was before I got relegated to the floor
on the nights we fit all six of us on board)

When it was time for a little space, we paddled in to
the shore for some hikes or refreshing swims in lakes or lagoons.

Or a cruise on the zodiac.

While hiking in the forest, we found this
friendly looking tree monster.

It turns out he wasn't so friendly.

Serenity.

Family photo opportunity: only comes along once every 3 years or so.

Back on board - Josh & I in a 'Titanic moment'

Sisters at the bow.

The Jespersen family at sea.

Land ahoy!

Other noteworthy things about living the good European life in the summertime

In addition to taking advantage of a rediculous number of excellent public cultural events in Belgium (see below), there were several other excellent things about digging into my new 'European life' this summer, which warrant mentioning before I go on to tell you about how excellent it also is to return to a wonderful country like Canada in my next post (am I spoiled or what?).

I can summarise my exercise of 'counting my blessings' into 3 broad categories: 1) A beautiful home, 2) Friendships, 3) Sites and Delights - and various combinations of these 3 good things (i.e. friends in my home, sites & delights enjoyed with friends, and sites & delights in my home). Let me give you a few examples...



I had a marvelous time playing in my little balcony jungle this summer - after hauling bag after bag of soil from the home & garden store down the street, and coaxing my worms to produce some nice wormy compost, I coddled and doted over my plants, from little pots of hope...


To this 'bountiful' harvest:







Miracles! I tell you. Right before my very eyes on my very balcony. So, I know that these are miracles of an everyday sort - happening all around us. But we forget! It's important to take a closer look/sniff/feel/taste every now and then to remember.

I heard a nice quote recently - one man's resolution for how to keep his mental health: "At least once every day, I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me." I think it's important to remember mystery.

And when one participates in the miracle - carries the dirt, feeds the worms to make the compost, plants the seed, waters the seedling, proudly watches the growth, squashes the bugs, prunes the tips, and harvests the fruit - the final result tastes SO GOOD.

And on that nice green balcony, I've enjoyed the pleasure of many a nice breakfast in solitude...


A lazy lunch with my flatmate...


Or a sunset dinner or evening bbq with friends...



And speaking of friends, I've made some excellent acquaintances since coming to Brussels, many of whom I've gotten to know better over the summer and have enjoyed sharing my life in Belgium with.

One of my friends, who works as a teacher in a smaller city outside of Brussels, invited me one weekend to join her and some of the other teachers and their families to go elderflower picking. I wasn't sure what elderflowers were or what exactly this entailed, but it sounded like a good Belgian experience to have. So off we went, tramping through ditches picking the flowers pictured above. After a picnic in a farmer's field, we returned to one of their homes, pulled out the recipe book and spurred on by two very zealous would-be chefs/brewers, proceeded to mix up a dozen different concoctions: elderflower cordial, elderflower champagne, elderflower wine...etc. And while we were at it, we also attempted a batch of spruce liqueur, and another of spruce juice (would you drink it in a caboose with a moose?). I tell you, if I'm ever stranded in the forest with some empty bottles and a lot of sugar, I'll now know what to do.

On my way home from this experience, I accidently got a free train ticket to another city from the ticket machine, and so made an impromptu visit to the city of Antwerp, for a quick evening site-see...

Random giant hand lying in the street.

Antwerp has a very impressive train station...


(As an aside - in case you need a brightening of your day, and haven't yet seen this, in the spirit of a former post where I talked about those times in life when you just need to burst out into a Sound of Music song, here's a beautiful public musical moment [which I've discovered, the Belgians are into] which took place in the Antwerp Train station: Sound of Music moment.)


Another weekend, my violin-making friends invited me to tour their workshop - a fascinating look into this impressive art...

The little girl in the background is the daughter
of my 2 violin-making friends
- who met at violin-making school.

Another weekend I made a trip with some friends to Ostende on the Belgian coast to swim in the North Sea...


And there were a few weekend cycling trips as well...



And among my friends, are also my lovely bunch of colleagues, who I really do count as friends. I mean, how many people watch movies with their boss and their spouse, go for drinks after work or over to eachother's homes for dinner on a regular basis, or go on an entire camping weekend with all of their colleagues and their families - AND actually enjoy it?

Learning to play pétanque (French version of bocce ball,
and very popular summer activity in these parts) on a
camping trip with my co-workers.

Pretty hike in the Belgian Ardennes on our camping trip.

And there was a beautiful church weekend away in this gorgeous village...

...which was spent kayaking on the river and enjoying good company and good food.


And being conveniently located, as I am, in the heart of Europe, I've also had the pleasure of having several friends from afar pass through Brussels for a visit en route to other destinations. It was lovely to see their faces and catch up on eachother's lives, and it also gave me a chance to share what I've come to claim as my favourite parts of Brussels - as well as some of the 'must see' sites and 'must' do experiences that you ought to share with a tourist visitor.

So naturally, this means eating a lot of Belgian chocolate...


Or atleast staring longingly at a lot of chocolate shops...


And eating more mussels and fries...


And sampling some more of Belgium's tasty beverages...


And of course, treating them to fine European breakfasts in my home...


And seeing Belgium's most important monuments...

Honing my tour guide skills.

First essential stop: Brussel's famous peeing boy, the Manneken Pis.

How a small peeing statue gathers such a crowd is still
beyond me. Can you spot me in this 'Where's Kendo?' scene?

There's also the lesser-known peeing girl.

And Brussel's equivalent to the Eiffel tower:
the Atomium, a giant atom-like structure,
with a Belgian flag waving at the top.

At the Atomium with my flatmate.

And there's always plenty of random interesting sitings to take in as well, in keeping with Belgium's surealist tendancies...



And all good days in Brussels end with a beautiful sunset view over the city from my balcony...




Hmm. I didn't really realize what a good summer I had until I took this time to spell it out in words and photos. So the ol' 'count your blessings' adage still works...


With hopes that you take the time to pause, taste a vine-ripened tomato, look at the heavens, and count your delights.


p.s. I should also mention - that I was also working all summer (except for some days off for the cycling trip with my brother and for my trip back to Canada). I'm not JUST going to music festivals and eating chocolate all the time...honest.

Most of the time I work...and it looks something like this...


And it's not particularly captivating to go on at length about, so I thought I'd show you pictures of chocolate and pretty places instead. Sometime in the winter when the weather is grey and the people aren't frolicking in the cobblestone streets and sipping elderflower cordial, I'll sit and think of a nice story about my work.

But first...my first sailing trip!...coming soon.