Posts by Rick Juliusson
She Walks These Hills (in a bright flowery scarf)
I keep thinking I should miss you, Margaret. Sitting here today in this meeting house, last week in your own home where Shakespeare and Bach and Jesus Christ Superstar danced together, embraced in the brazen bosom of your beloved broccoli forest. But you’re still here, aren’t you? Our silent worship on the porch on the…
Read MoreTwisted – A Morning Cloudforest Walk
Vines cascade and dance down from branches, take root, then twist and claw their way back up and strangle the host, becoming a new gnarled twisted “Strangler Fig” tree you can climb inside. Orchids clutch the side of.a tree and blossom proudly. Thick twiny wood vines curl like horror movie fingers. Two and half hours…
Read MoreOld Friends
Two mornings in a row, we were kicked out of some of Vancouver’s finest establishments. No, I don’t mean the Surrey pub crawl for Zekiah’s 19th. I mean quiet little coffee shops in North Vancouver and White Rock. Young managers who aren’t used to throwing out rowdy old folk like us. My roots run deep…
Read MoreCry, the Beloved Cowichan
Who says you can’t go home? – Jon Bon Jovi, Jennifer Nettles In 2008, life was crazy. We’d put our 4- and 6-year-old boys to bed then work side-by-side on our laptops until midnight – Sarah running two businesses, me leading a non-profit (ACCES) and serving on too many boards. We bought a hot-tub just…
Read MoreWaterfalls Everywhere!
A friend today reminded me of a story I once told her that rings of youthful (and hopefully lifelong) positivity. I was 25, driving from Connecticut to Ohio with a beautiful girl who suggested we picnic at a waterfall she’d heard about. She pulled out the map (yes, paper!) and bravely started detouring us through…
Read MoreFamily: Can’t (and do) live without ’em
Having lived away from our home bases for all but 4 of our 25 years together, we’ve become experts at lightning strike visits. Packing as many loud gatherings, quiet washing-the-dishes-together chats, and helping-move-furniture-chores into a short visit as possible. Drinking full (or rather, chugging quickly) from the cup of family love to sustain the next…
Read MoreToo much Stuff!
Phase One is over. “Elvira,” our trusty electric vehicle who carried us over 6,000 miles in 3 months, is now parked comfortably in a Minnesota storage unit while we have flown to British Columbia with just carry-on bags. Let’s burrow through the packed paraphernalia and evaluate what we did and didn’t need to enjoy a…
Read MoreQuebec City
Three nights in Quebec City – not enough to see everything, but enough to drink it all in, absorb the magic and uniqueness that is North America’s only fortified city (it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site). Taking our own advice from an earlier post, we broke up a long drive out of Nova Scotia into…
Read MorePugwash, Nova Scotia
When we told locals that our next stop was Pugwash, each one would ask “Why?” The answer, as always, was that surely something interesting would surface. And, as always, something did. At the height of the cold war in the 1950’s, Pugwash hosted a series of nuclear disarmament talks with top scientists from both sides…
Read MoreAnnapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
I’ve lived in some magical places around the world. Communities that immediately and genuinely invited newcomers in – all the way in. Communities that feel like the Cheers bar, were they’re always glad you came. In Monteverde, the response to the endless stream of visitors and new short-term residents was an enthusiastic, “What new blessing…
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