Month: May 2020

Viva la Sahara

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Las Vegas is a unique city to visit. It’s name means The Meadows and it was an founded in 1905 when it became a stop on the railroad line that linked Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The city became incorporated in 1911 as part of Clark County. Many different historical events happened between then and when Bugsy Siegel arrived to town in the mid 1940’s and built the first hotel on the strip, The Flamingo.

saharaMany of you know the story of how I met one of my closest friends Brad. It really is one of my favourite travel stories. We met at a black jack table on the last night of one of my trips back in 2003, at the Sahara hotel. I have said it many times, I never imagined that playing $1 black jack would be the start of a friendship that is still going strong today.

In March 2011, I had read that the hotel was going to be closing. Of course we had a conversation about it and how it did bring back good memories of our meeting there those years ago.

In May 2011, I was celebrating my 40th birthday with a trip to Los Angeles and then onto Vegas for a few days with Brad. On the day that we arrived in Vegas we were talking about the Sahara and we thought we had heard it was closing in May. We were right, the last day it was opened was that day, May 16, 2011. Off we went back to where we met.

It was open, but the only people that were in there were people like us, catching the last bit of nostalgia of a hotel with quite a bit of Vegas history.

Home to Vegas legends for many years,vegas Jerry Lews, Dean Martin, Liberace, Don Rickles and much more. As millions of others I tuned in every year to the MDA Jerry Lewis telethon which took place from there for years (starting in 1972).

We walked around, played some slots and some black jack at the few tables that were still open. I walked behind a black jack table for a phone and I was told, you can’t be back there. What were you going to, ban me from the casino? Photo taken, moving on.

I will remember that day. Vegas was not on the original trip plan. We were supposed to drive the coast from LA to San Francisco, but our plans changed and Vegas was added instead. We would not have been able to go back to where we met on that day.

Our meeting in October 2003 will always be something I will remember as well as the last dance at the Sahara.

 

Covid Confessionals – Isolation

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Mother’s day – May 10, 2020

I just came home from a driveway visit at my brother’s house with the family to have a gathering for mother’s day. My mom asked me last week if would could have a bbq and eat in my brother’s garage. No, we are not there yet. I think whether you are in 70’s, 40’s or youth or young person, we are all feeling the impact of isolation. 

If you are an introvert, there are many aspects of isolation you may be perfectly okay with and even when life opens up to the new normal, you may be content to let everyone else go out for a while before you join in on the new way of living in this Covid-19 world we are now in.

I am the president of my condo board. We used to have monthly meetings and with our shared board, quarterly meetings in our party room. Last week we had our first zoom meeting as a group. Moving forward we are going to have meetings this way. The condominium associate of Ontario is also moving towards virtual Annual General Meetings.

When I worked in the office, we had weekly team meetings. Those of us in the office would head down to the basement to one of our training rooms while those on the west coast or working from home would call into the meeting. Now we are all remote so we are all calling into our zoom meeting weekly. (post to follow regarding office work).

I made two stop today en route to my brother’s house. First stop was the What a Bagel near my condo. A very small take out area to begin with, and even with mindfulness of space, I feel it was hard to maintain a 2 metre distance between patrons. The staff have really adapted to the new way of ordering, which is involves them to take the bakery orders verbally and bag the bagels or any other bakery item you would like. Waiting in the small area of the store for folks to put lox or tuna on their bagels and then waiting to pay that was a little too close and not quite 2 metres. When I left, the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. Good timing.

Second stop was Centre Street Deli. I was placing orders for three houses. There were two lines, those for pick up (already ordered) and those like me for walk in ordering. It was very civilized but you can tell that they were very busy. Again, it was hard to find a place that was 2 metres apart from the next person. I am finding in stores that have it clearly marked people obey, where it is not clearly marked, people seem to make their own 2 metre calculations.

After a couple of phone calls to try to make a few in person socially distant visits (not successful) I am back at home and tucked in for the night. I have been thinking about all the lessons we are learning and have yet to learn about this time on our lives.

I just looked up synonyms for Isolation in Merriam Webster – Aloneness, insulation, privacy, secludeness, solitariness, solitude, seclusion. I think all of them are true.If you in a home with a family you may not find this time a period of solitude. If you are alone during this time, you may find this time full of seclusion.

Wherever you are on this journey, we are all in this together. We are still very much in it, no matter when the government tells us it is “okay” to dip our toes in the water. If you are not ready, don’t. We need to stay on guard for our personal safety and the safety of the ones we love.

Until next time,

 

May Flowers

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It’s May 2020.

For those reading this in the future, let’s just say that what you may have read in the history books about the first quarter of 2020 is all true. For many of us in Canada, we are almost finished our second month in isolation. The month of April is now behind us and I can honestly say, there is very little that I will remember about April 2020 moving forward. (What I do remember, I will leave for another time and place).

But I do have very strong memories about April 2014. That was when I had the windincredible wanderlust opportunity to go on a Viking River Cruise through Holland and Belgium to see the tulips and windmills.

For those who may not know about tulips, they are only in season for a short time, from March to May each year. Tulips of Holland are world famous and the best time to see them in bloom is April and May each year.  You may have been seeing beautiful aerial shots of the tulip fields recently with messages of staying safe and see you next year.

KukThis brings me to the Keukenhof Gardens of Holland. It is a magical wonderland for botanists and flower lovers that come from all over the world to view them in their glory. Over 7 million flower bulbs are planted each year. All to peak during the short season of the garden park. Collections of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, orchids, roses, carnations, irises and many more.

For the first time in its 71 years, the Keukenhof did not open this year. In March the Dutch government made the decision to ban all large gatherings to prevent the spread of Covid-19, which meant that the gardens could not open for 2020.

Our visit to Keukenhof was on the last day of our cruise. We woke up to rain that morning, which of course isn’t ideal when going to an outdoor park the size of a small city (79 acres), but off we went, raincoats, umbrellas and cameras in hand.

Once we arrived the rain slowed down and we started to walk through the gardens.

The garden has more than 100 royal suppliers. They are the suppliers that provide their very best of their spring flowering bulbs for display at the park. There are landscape architects that create a special design for each supplier consulting on the colours, heights and flowering times of each bulb. The bulbs are delivered in the fall to ensure they are planted and ready for the spring.

The indoor exhibits were equally as breathtaking as the outdoor gardens. Themed buildings with rows upon rows of colour and splendour.

There was a wonderful area of the park called the “Love Garden”. They had beautiful spots set up for people to have their photos taken in beautiful settings, there was a sign suggesting different ways to express love, including “maybe asking an important question” and then there was a message heart display where you could write a mesage and attach it to the heart. Much luck the love lockets in Paris.

love

It looks at the Keukenhof they have already started thinking about next year because I can tell you know that the dates for next years Keukenhof Garden will be March 20 – May 9, 2021.

Looking ahead to travelling is hard now. I understand it. I have my own personal hopes, dreams and visions for spring 2021 and thought by now the planning and execution would be well under way.

Until then, I will just stay home and safe and get ready for the future.

Wishing you all continued good health