So soon in the Soo

Post SNM Tour day #10

We literally blew out of Sudbury and bounced our way down the highway to Sault Ste. Marie. The Sunshine beast was pushed and pulled by the wind gusts and it was a white knuckle kind of ride keeping it on the road (and out of the ditch).  The news quoted winds gusting up to 90 kms today - would certainly have been "interesting" if I was doing highway mileage on the bike today. 

Thanks to Bob and Tammy once again for their welcoming hospitality. Even though our visit was short, it was full of great food and chatter.  It was really great to see them both again and discuss all that has happened since our last visit. 

I am looking forward to the presentation in Sault Ste Marie this evening - it is the ongoing educational events that "keep us going" through the many hours of long distance driving.  

I've been trying to get in some exercise every day now and it is a pure joy to go out for a nice run without any concern re time/distance etc. When we get back to Calgary hopefully I can return to a more consistent routine.  In the last few years I have learnt that exercise is an integral part of my mental as well as physical health.  Although a regimented routine may sound boring, it is the best way to keep on track as it doesn't allow the busy-ness and "random excuse" of the day to get the upper hand.  It is always far too easy to find a reason why today is not a good day to get some exercise. Sound familiar??

We all struggle with similar issues, the difference is that some of us are a little more stubborn than others.

Tour Day Sponsor is Brian Hunter, thanks again for you support.

  

 with only 1 week left before we are home - it's time for the.......

OVERALL BEST of CANADA

as seen province by province

from the highway....

Newfoundland -  friendliness and hospitality (honorable mention – the trail walk through the Battery in St John’s) / NOT the weather

Nova Scotia –  Halifax (honorable mention – park staff at Bruce and Munroes Island Provincial Park) / NOT McLobster

New Brunswick – best Trans Canada highway (honorable mention – Hopewell Rocks) / NOT the media attention

PEI – Cavendish beach (honorable mention “the DUNES”) / NOT COWS (because it was closed!)

Quebec – La Route Verte (honorable mention Hudson) / NOT the traffic in Montreal

Ontario – North of Lake Superior (honorable mentions – the Terry Fox monument and the Leland laudromat in Thunder Bay)  / NOT the treacherous highway

Manitoba – family (honorable mention family)/ NOT the semi-truck drivers (exception family member semi-truck drivers)

Saskatchewan – SNM tour matching daisies along highway (honorable mention -  deserted campgrounds)/ NOT cell phone reception

Alberta – The Rocky Mountains  (honorable mention - HOME and of course Alberta Beef) / NOT the short distance to get across - we all need just a little more Alberta!

British Columbia  -  Okanagan valley (honorable mention – the Atwells / Cowichan Lake) / NOT  the ubiquitous highway construction 

Random Quotes of the Day

Exercise... the poor person's plastic surgery

 

I don't sweat I glisten 

 

I Exercise - run my mouth, push my luck, & jump to conclusions 

 

 

 

shhhhhhhh, slipping silently into sudbury

Post SNM Tour #9

If you are open to it - you can learn something new every day. 

Today I learnt that there is a thing called a "weather bomb' - when severe weather comes so quickly and dramatically that it hits a region just like a bomb.  So as we were leaving Toronto on our way to Sudbury, we were listening to the news telling us that a weather bomb was going to hit the GTA, moving in from the Southwest with extreme high winds, torrential thunderstorms and even tornados.  (I hope this has nothing to do with the city electing a new mayor yesterday). We are currently going north and away from the GTA and have seen nothing untoward so we will quietly sneak away in safety and continue our trek.
We did see pretty hard rains as it got later in the day - maybe a firecracker's worth of weather.

Had a very interesting presentation at Dr Michael Pare's Medical clinic at noon.  Much talk about mental illness stigma, vit D, anti-depressants and light therapy - it was a good exchange of ideas and information.  Dr Pare is a strong mental health advocate and speaks about stigma and discrimination to the public as well as medical communities (sound familiar?).  There are many great people across our country which are like lights shining brightly in the wilderness.  May my efforts add to their efforts and together we can slowly make changes in our communities which will eventually influence and change our entire nation!

Radio broadcaster Roger Currie from Regina did a follow-up interview with me this am.  What a pleasure working with dedicated career media professionals.  Roger is a real pro and it was a pleasure talking with him once again.

Tour Day Sponsor is Brian Hunter - thanks again for all your support.

Random Quotes of the Day

You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if if you generously consent to share them

Albert Camus

It is a lot harder to keep people well than it is to just get them over a sickness

DeForest Clinton Jarvis 

We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace.

Michael Franti
 

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life

Berthold Auerbach

(and on this beautiful note I will regret not playing more music in the past few months - I guess a few other things on the go, poor excuse I know....)

shhhhhhhh.......silently slipped into sudbury

Photos may come a little later today

Post SNM Tour #9

If you are open to it - you can learn something new every day. 

Today I learnt that there is a thing called a "weather bomb' - when severe weather comes so quickly and dramatically that it hits a region just like a bomb.  So as we were leaving Toronto on our way to Sudbury, we were listening to the news telling us that a weather bomb was going to hit the GTA, moving in from the Southwest with extreme high winds, torrential thunderstorms and even tornados.  (I hope this has nothing to do with the city electing a new mayor yesterday). We are currently going north and away from the GTA and have seen nothing untoward so we will quietly sneak away in safety and continue our trek.

Had a very interesting presentation at Dr Michael Pare's Medical clinic at noon.  Much talk about mental illness stigma, vit D, anti-depressants and light therapy - it was a good exchange of ideas and information.  Dr Pare is a strong mental health advocate and speaks about stigma and discrimination to the public as well as medical communities (sound familiar?).  There are many great people across our country which are like lights shining brightly in the wilderness.  May my efforts add to their efforts and together we can slowly make changes in our communities which will eventually influence and change our entire nation!

Radio broadcaster Roger Currie from Regina did a follow-up interview with me this am.  What a pleasure working with dedicated career media professionals.  Roger is a real pro and it was a pleasure talking with him once again.

Tour Day Sponsor is Brian Hunter - thanks again for all your support.

Random Quotes of the Day

You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if if you generously consent to share them

Albert Camus

It is a lot harder to keep people well than it is to just get them over a sickness

DeForest Clinton Jarvis 

We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace.

Michael Franti
 

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life

Berthold Auerbach

(and on this beautiful note I will regret not playing more music in the past few months - I guess a few other things on the go, poor excuse I know....)

Oshawayed Off to Toronto Tonight

Post SNM Tour day #8

Another short blog today.

A great big thanks to Don and Cheryl.  They really made us feel very comfortable and at home and treated us far too well. It was great to see you both again and to share a bit of your recent life - despite you being (very proud) grandparents, you don't really look that old - certainly much older than us, but not that old......

Had a presentation this am as part of Durham College Mental Illness Awareness Campaign. It was great to see their initiative with many groups being present with booths in "vendor's hallway" - a very busy passageway leading to the Cafeteria. We were treated extremely well by the college and found all the people we dealt with to be very organized, efficient and a dream to work with.  A special thanks to Margaret, Catherine and Mary Alice who was exceptional.  The presentation was well received by the groups present which included students and faculty alike.  All in all, Durham College should be proud of their professionalism and forward thinking.   

The local media was well represented by the newspaper and television and I was able to sneak in a radio interview. I was interviewed by the executive producer of CHEX TV Dan Carter.  He is a strong mental health advocate and spokesperson - what a difference this makes to a mental health awareness campaign interview!!  His questions were insightful and pertinent and should make for a solid and informative news piece to air tonight. Thanks Dan for capturing part of this tour and for your commitment and involvement in decreasing mental illness stigma.

Christine Elliott, MPP for this region was present and preceded me at the podium.  She is obviously committed to advancing the mental health agenda and it was great to meet her and to hear her speak.  We need more leaders who have this vision and drive!

Will drive into Toronto and a then a presentation later this evening for a group of physicians.

Tour Day Sponsor is Robert Hobbs once again and once again thanks 

Random Quotes of the Day

Some seek the comfort of their therapist's office, other head to the corner pub and dive into a pint, but I chose running as my therapy.

Dean Karnazes - ultramarathon guru

and on that note - I am going for a nice run before the talk this evening!!

rah rah for Oshawa, oh oh we're still in Ontario

Post SNM Tour Day #7

The shortest blog of all time.  A blast from the past spending time with Don and Cheryl who we have known for quite a number of years since living in Fort Frances Ontario.  We had a great meal at the restaurant where their son Steven is the executive chef - it was wonderful.  We got a great insider tour of Durham College where Don is the President.  It is great to see this college expanding, building and moving in the right direction. I was impressed with the breadth and scope of all the courses offered.  Education is such an evolving art and in this age of rapidly changing technology an even more difficult task. Their new classrooms, renos and new structures are great.  I will be giving a presentation at the College tomorrow a.m. and hopefully can live up to their standard. Met Chloe (Coco) for the first time, Jessica and Ross' daughter, and took lots and lots of photos.

Tour Day Sponsors  are Evan, Camille, Charmaine and Sullivan Strong of Calgary once again - thanks so much for the encouragement and very very generous support.

Random Quotes of the Day

Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.

Bob Talbert

Leaders need to be optimists.  Their vision is beyond the present.

Rudy Giuliani

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth."  

Dan Rather

A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. 

Thomas Carruthers

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.  

Henry Brooks Adams

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. 

Author Unknown

The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  

William Arthur Ward

The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.  

Edward Bulwer-Lytton


A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.  

Author Unknown

Teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts.  

Author Unknown
 
The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort.  The tough problem is not in identifying winners:  it is in making winners out of ordinary people.  

K. Patricia Cross


 

Oh my Goshiwa!, Onward to Oshawa

Post SNM Tour Day #6

Up early and on the road for another long day of driving.  

The brief and dramatic blizzard we drove through yesterday put a bit of fear in us. We still have a long way to go and really don't want to be winter driving at any point of this "Fall Tour".  The oddity of the snow was that it was very local - hitting only a small portion of Quebec but wreaking havoc including having a semi-trailer spin and flip over in the ditch. The wind whistled loudly all night long and we expected to wake up to a Christmas scene - but the ground was clear - the temp at 6 with no sign even of frost.

Passing through Quebec we were able to have a quick visit with Chantal, Martin, Etienne and Arianne. What a lunch! The connection with Chantal was back in Fort Frances some 13 years ago.  It was great to see her and her young family - great models for SAD no more merch I might add

Tour Day Sponsors are Evan, Camille, Charmaine and Sullivan Strong of Calgary once again - thanks so much for the encouragement and very very generous support.

Random quotes of the Day

The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer

Henry Caly

Nothing is too small to know, and nothing is too big to attempt

William Van Horne

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes

Marcel Proust

As the run/cycle portion of the tour has been completed, the readership of the blog has understandably declined.  For those still following along - I drop a bit of a bomb shell that will be announced in the Calgary Herald next week. You get to hear it first.   

I will be relocating my practice from Brentwood to Crowfoot Village Family Practice as of November 15.  (only 3 weeks away). My plan was to make the switch in December but circumstances are such that this move will be occurring sooner than anticipated.  So........ for all my patients who are reading along - you may want to check the CVFP website as you will need register with this clinic (soon). 

www.cvfp.com

This is an extremely positive move for me! The new clinic is truly NEW and their set-up is sophisticated and "cutting edge" for family practice.  I will be teaching family practice residents again and working in quite a different multi-disciplinary system. The transition will be challenging - but the results should be extremely rewarding for everyone - stay tuned! 

Making Many Miles, Moving thru the Maritimes

SNM Post Tour Day #5

Fare thee well Nova Scotia.....

Left Bedford early this a.m. to make our way to Truro. A great big thanks to B+B for allowing that beautiful mix between giving us all the time and space we needed while being very social and treating us to great food and conversation.  Lots of talk of running and cycling, runs and races - all very inspiring for all of us.  Bob needs to keep gently encouraging Barb to complete her marathon - run, walk/run, whatever it takes, it's all good. Maybe I will be part of their group's pact of being able to complete a 10 km run at the age of 80 - I really like this idea a lot!

Now that the run/cycle part of the tour is complete, I am thinking about the future of my running and cycling "career".  Do I morph the training into completing an iron man, do I keep running 10km, 1/2 and full marathon races or do I just give up on racing altogether and just run and cycle for the sheer enjoyment of doing these activities??  Really at this point I'm not sure what I will do.  I had a run last evening in the fog and light rain along the waterfront and it felt fantastic - rejuvenating and almost mystical.  I will never tire of this, and this tour certainly has not "ruined me" in this regard. 

As part of their Mental Illness Awareness Day, I gave a public presentation at the Nova Scotia Community College, Truro Campus.  There was a large turn out of students, faculty, local CMHA members and general public.  Unfortunately the gymnasium setting was challenging for the power point presentation as there was too much ambient light on the screen and the slides could not be seen well at all - hopefully the message was clear and concise enough to overcome these technical limitations. 

It was great to talk to Catherine MacRae and hear what their local chapter of the CMHA was up to - very active and full of creative ideas...Keep up the great work!   

Tour Day Sponsors are Evan, Camille, Charmaine and Sullivan Strong of Calgary - thanks again so much for the encouragement and very very generous support.

Random Quotes of the Day

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities

Jean Houston

Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation. 
Elizabeth Drew


Visits always give pleasure -
If not the arrival, the departure
Portuguese Proverb

 The beautiful fall colors of New Brunswick

just a few hours later, the beautiful winter colors of Quebec (it's October UGHHH)