Farmer's Market & Book Stores - A

Yesterday was a fun day of socialising with future classmates, including much walking, a bus ride, bowling, and orientation to various pubs. We also found the comfy chairs in the law library, toured the bookstore, and learned where cheap buffets are (a residence hall and the downtown casino).

(* Interlude - there are some names and terms you'll see a lot of coming up. #L (where # = 1, 2, or 3) is a law student of year #. Weldon is the law building, Dunn library is the law library inside Weldon, Dal is of course Dalhousie, and Hali = Halifax, with the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) including Bedford, Sackville, and Dartmouth. Scott is a fellow 1L in group A who lives in Cole Harbour and is a masterful tour guide and wonderful source of information. Stephanie Wong is a fellow 1L from Vancouver who lives nearby, and is in group C with me. Robie, South, Spring Garden, Barrington, University, Oxford, and Bayers are all major local roads. Spring Garden hosts a mini-mall and theatre, Bayers has Halifax Centre, a larger mall with a Walmart and other such larger stores, and the Mic Mac Mall is a #10 bus ride into Dartmouth, and it seems to be a pretty large mall if not the largest in the area. *)

Today was wet, but Stephanie and I braved the occasional rain for a chance to explore the Halifax Famer's Market, which is held in parts of the Alexander Keith's brewery and surrounding area. It's indoors, except for the odd sidewalk display, and very popular, and very eclectic. It's like a meeting place of every culture and food type in the HRM. There's everything from Asian teas to German bread, fresh farm produce and eggs to seafood and specialty meats. There's also Indian and Lebanese food, specialty cheeses and chocolates, honey and wax, buskers and musicians, and arts and crafts. It's like a very multicultural MCC sale held in a small, cozy maze of rooms and corridors, with different languages and clothing styles and musical instruments everywhere - but unlike the MCC, there were no perogies, and it doesn't only happen once a year. It is on every Saturday from 0700-1pm, and if you want fresh baking, show up early. If you want crepes, be ready to stand in line. If you want Chinese food, there's a line for that too. Some of the stalls are showcases for stores with locations elsewhere in the city, but others are just family farms selling what's fresh. I didn't buy anything this time, as my grocery shopping is up to date, but even if you're just looking, at food or the various people there, it's definitely worth a few hours.

From there Stephanie and I stumbled upon a store Scott had mentioned - Doull's books. There's a common passion for used books among us, and stepping into that store was a preview of what heaven must be like. Seemingly endless rows and stacks of books, of every sort and variety, precariously organised according to the whimsy and jocular nature of the proprietor, with the smell of literature heavy in the air. And no shortage of ceiling sprinklers, either. While a given genre may have a slim selection, there's a veritable plethora of genres represented. Hali has no shortage of used book stores, and we found our ability to hunt them all down somewhat curtailed by an occasionally determined rain, but names were taken and notes were made. I'm sure we shall return, at various times throughout our school years, for endless diversion. If your name ends with "acheal," don't worry, I didn't buy anything there either, but it or stores like it may be worth a few moments of your time in future months...

We also stopped at a candy/toy shop just for the sheer otherworldliness of it, then poked around a largely closed mall under the Aliant building (finding another used bookstore! bonus!) before walking through St. Mary's Basilica (at Spring Garden and Barrington) to see the stained glass. It was very nice there, but our shoes were wet and the floor was stone, so there were some unintentional squeaks and such noises that hopefully didn't detract too badly from the prayers of the one or two people in the pews. We passed some time in the mall (called Park Lane) on Spring Garden, and waited out a hard rain in a nearby Timmy's before returning to our respective buildings. Apparently there's a semi-formal/semi-casual (depending who you ask) shindig coming up at the end of O-week, and Stephanie feels there may be a new dress in her future. This may necessitate exploring beyond walking distance - happily, our UPasses take effect next week so I'll be able to get accustomed to the bus routes and what they offer. It's nice to be able to get to know classmates ahead of time so perhaps we'll line up some fellow explorers and make a trip of it.

There's a social poker night coming up on Tuesday - a 1L chap named Amar is hosting, and I've volunteered to be the token beginner to have some of the luck. It'll be nice to see a broader selection of 1Ls, even if we're just in a living room, and I think I'm starting to ease into this new environment quite nicely. At least, that's the plan - we'll see just how nice this adjustment is when assignments hit.

No pictures today, I figured the rain would detract from the scenery. It did, but that doesn't reduce the photoworthiness of the farmer's market, used bookstores, or basilica. Perhaps another time, then, but for now, you get off lightly.

I suppose I'd best start dinner now, to help finalise my transition to Halifax time. So far I've been drifting between Manitoba and Ontario time, and with 0830 Monday morning classes (!) I suppose there's adjustments to be made...

Cheers,
A.

My First Hurricane - A

After much hype and preparation, Hurricane Bill has come and gone from the Halifax Regional Municipality. I believe he arrived as a category 1 hurricane or tropical storm, but he's pretty much gone now and I daresay was somewhat of a letdown.

6 years ago Racheal and I attempted to go on our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, only to be delayed by Hurricane Ignacio. That, folks, was a hurricane. When we finally got there the roads were covered in flooding and sand and debris, and just offshore was a dark, ominous wall of water. It was as if a divine fist had laid out a devastating charley horse on the sky, and the bruise was an angry black. And between this intimidatingly massive, dark cloud, and the sea, was a veritable fortress of rain. Impenetrable, dark, voluminous, and scary even from our safe distance. I wasn't exactly sad to have missed that. Ignacio was, at landfall, I believe a category 1, perhaps 2, storm.

Also in 2003, Hurricane Juan slammed into Halifax as a category 3 storm, devastating the city and local parks with downed power lines, poles, flooding, damaged homes and crushed cars, and of course, took out most if not all large trees in Point Pleasant Park, and some in the Halifax Public Gardens. I suppose Juan did a lot of pruning of local foliage, leaving less for later storms such as Bill, to bring down.

So, what was Bill like here on South Street? Heavy rain, at times blowing in sideways, apparently at winds of 90km/h, lasting for about 3 hours. The worst part was having to have the windows shut - couldn't let the humidity circulate because of all the rain! For once, it wasn't so bright during the day, and it was cooler. Rather reminiscent of the spring storms that hit Vancouver, actually. Thanks, Halifax, for that welcome tribute to home! At no time did the power here go out, and once the worst of the wind died down I went for a walk - I only saw one medium branch down, and a big puddle in a high school driveway. I think it's an equal tribute to the city preparations and to the underwhelming power of Bill. Then again, considering his name, is it any wonder there'd be a bit of a letdown? (sorry all you Bills out there - you really did get stuck with a rather unfortunate name. You get unwanted mail named after you, and now this?) The big storms get their names retired - you won't likely see another Ike, Juan, or Katrina in the near future. Those names are (meteorologically speaking) synonymous with menace, destruction, and chaos. Bill? A nuisance at most, though perhaps a blessing for local surfers craving bigger waves. Canadian national media has done a good job covering Bill, so you can read for yourself the greater Nova Scotia impact, but in my humble opinion, I don't think the name's in any jeopardy of being retired.

Oh, what else have I been doing? Unpacking books and assembling the last bits of furniture, mainly. And going on walks. And, as some may have noticed, taking pictures. It seems a side effect of marrying a certified (certifiable?) shutterbug is an itchy shutter finger. I'll include a few pictures of before and during Bill for perspective - there's lots more where those came from on my ftp server, which you can contact me if you'd like access.

I believe this is called Digby tower, taken yesterday. Notice the absence of clouds? Peace, serenity, bliss. Hot, humid, bliss. And what exactly is that tower for, anyway? It's no lighthouse..

Geiser Hill and the local broadcasting towers in the distance, probably about 6-7km away and 125m tall (the hill). Also yesterday.

Geiser Hill today - take my word for it, somewhere in there are the towers.

Shock! Awe! Chaos! Danger! Umm, yeah, this is the fallen branch. To be fair, I was on foot and not venturing out too far - I'm sure someone out there had it worse.

As always, your intrepid reporter. Sorry about the foggy lens, it couldn't really be helped. Also, just when exactly did my forehead get so dang huge??

So, that wraps the start of an exciting week - this week I get visitors! Oh, what adventures await me?

Cheers,
A.

Progress! - A

Normally I'd be running down a list of significant events around this time, but to be honest, nothing big has happened since I took Racheal to the airport on Saturday. I returned the Uhaul, and took a long sightseeing bike ride. It's warmed up to the low 30s here (that's in Celsius, for you American types that's the low 90s) with decent humidity, so further expeditions have been less desirable during the day. And unpacking and organising hasn't exactly been in a hurry to happen, partly due to the absence of a deadline, and partly due to the apartment being somewhat warm. Not to say I've been completely idle, but "Mexican overdrive" might be an accurate descriptor of the pace. Also, Racheal's pre-departure flurry of activity has given me a lot less to do (of any urgency) - and I'd like to take this semi-public opportunity to laud her energy and willingness to do so much. To Racheal!

Halifax really is a lovely city, and I think I'll quite enjoy it here, more especially when I'm not talking to empty rooms and tripping over boxes in the dark. I'm proclaiming (yes, proclaiming - nothing wrong with that!) the start of a series of blog articles - "Halifax in 5 Senses" wherein I'll try describe notable impressions of recent days. And so, the inaugural entry:

Halifax in 5 Senses
- Touch - the air's kinda heavy and quite warm, maybe even a tad sticky. Any kind of exertion will likely cause a sweat, but sitting in the breeze is really quite nice. And one of these days the apartment roof deck will open to better enjoy it, and;
- Sight - the views. So. Very. Green! You'd almost think this place had more rain recently than it has. There's no brown grass that I've found yet. Not quite as green as Wisconsin, but verdant none the less. Also, my bike ride went up the tallest local hill, but sadly buildings and trees obstructed the really good views I was trying for, but I'll post the best picture(s) below.
- Smell - ok, this sense may not see much action, as most of the time subtler aromas elude me. I'm usually lucky to be able to smell gasoline, so once in a while I'll get a whiff of ocean air. This series may become "Halifax in 4* Senses" just yet.
- Sound - we(I) live across the from the backside of a hospital under renovation, and our road's partly closed off for utilities work as well. This means reduced vehicle traffic and some work noise, but the entire top floor of the hospital seems to be the outlet vent for the building's air exchange system - there's the constant sound of air or wind humming and blowing, with the touch of the fan motor noise behind it. But shut the windows, and the noise goes away - and notably absent is the unmuffled excitement of youngsters upstairs. Bliss! Also quite welcome is the clear connection back home that is Skype - instant text chat is one thing, but to have free voice conversations that you can actually understand, without holding a handset, is quite special.
- Taste - bachelor cooking's been the rule so far, so there's no great surprises here. The day before she left, Racheal and I went to a Thai/Indian lunch buffet down the road. Nice, and not even too spicy. Oddly, even mildly spicy food will give me a runny nose, and somebody forgot to bring kleenex. I did fall in love with some kind of deep fried banana concoction, and learned just how perfectly watermelon can complement a meal, rather than just as a welcome relief from summer heat. As a student, eating out will definitely be a rarity, but as I explore the area more, there'll be a prioritised shortlist of places to try for the special times when eating out is warranted.

So, enough verbosity for today. Hopefully I'll have some better stories as the weather cools down and a possible storm arrives, but for now I'll try post a picture or two. Bear with me, I've never done it before.
This is what appears to be a church bordering the Halifax Commons, a series of fields and parks next to the Citadel.

See? Green! This is the Halifax Gardens, through which are not permitted bikes or joggers. Unlike Vancouver, Halifax doesn't have one main park. Its Stanley Park equivalent is spread out between various parks - the Gardens for walking, smelling flowers, and not feeding ducks, the Commons for baseball, soccer, swimming, and the Waterfront as a kind of seawall analogue. I'll be sure to explore the parks, on foot, with a camera, at more length in the future.

This is the view from what I believe is Geiser Hill, looking towards our building, which is somewhere to the right of the two tall buildings near centre-screen. I can't quite make it out. And again - green! Who'd guess there's an actual city with heritage houses and streets among all those trees?

Three pictures! You lucky readers! I'll try for a more even picture-to-word ratio in the future. For now, good night!

A.

We're Here! - A

After 5.5ish days, more gas stops than I care to total, more fast food than I've considered beneficial, and one night on the floor with sleeping bags (not fun, by the way), I can now announce that we've not only made it to Halifax safely, but have also unloaded the UHaul (finally!) and assembled the bed, which Racheal is testing to make up for a very lousy night. It didn't help that her cell phone rang at 2am Halifax time, or that the big lug next to her was snoring somewhat (she says), so I figure she's earned some down time undisturbed.

There'll be pictures coming in the next few posts, so here's just a quick tour of highlights of our arrival and unloading in Halifax:
- arrive around 2:30pm, get keys, begin unloading. Discover that the humidity has caused the laminate flooring to lift significantly and that the hospital across the road is being renovated. As of this writing, the contractors have finished with the floor. The excitement continues across the street.
- ~3pm a load of bins falls off the dolly, giving a valuable lesson in dolly-loading and speed management. Thankfully, the Christmas decorations survived.
- by 7pm the pace had slowed considerably and pizza reinforcements were summoned. The kind ladies watching the doors for us suggested we call it a night, so after pulling the sleeping bags and parking the UHaul, we did some unpacking in the apartment before turning in.

There's a bunch of other details I'm sure you don't care to read, so I'll just add the highlights from today:
- I went to Dalhousie and signed up for the Orientation Week activities. Nice day for a walk, too! 23C and partly cloudy sure beats 40C for (un)loading a moving van!
- we got internet connected at home today - they've got wires pre-run in the walls, so it'll be a bit neater this time.
- I've lost count of how many people were wearing scrubs heading in and out of the building - clearly, we've moved into a hospital staff dormitory. Supposedly there's other Dal students here, but I haven't seen any yet.

This is a new building we've moved into, and I think the rooftop patio opens today or tomorrow. We'll have to check out the view from up there, maybe after figuring out dinner and doing some shopping. The roads are rather narrow here, so pre-planning the driving routes (especially to avoid construction) is a good idea now.

There's a lot left to do, and less motivation to do so. I think there's a pillow calling my name, and it'd just be rude to ignore it.

Cheers!
A.

Almost! - A

Picture if you will the rapturous joy of a sleep-deprived, hungover vulture being woken up early again, and staring at...anything. Not moving more than needed, just staring and wondering what's so exciting about being up early. Well, I am that vulture. Except for the feathers, wings, and taste for carrion. My body doesn't know what time zone it's supposed to be in, and while traveling's exciting and all, there's no real scenery to appreciate at night and during the day you're always in such a rush to get there you can't stop and appreciate the wonders of the places you're driving through. Sorry Maine, but it seems you didn't rate high enough to get a non-blurry picture from our meeting at twilight. In our defense, all you had was trees along the highway blocking out the good views.

New York, Massachusetts (trying to spell that word this early is just cruel!), New Hampshire, Maine, and New Brunswick, all in one day. Kinda makes Freddy-burg to Halifax anticlimactic in its relative brevity, but at least the signs are in kilometers, the gas in litres, and there's a veritable plethora of Tim Hortons' to choose from. Yay! Now, to get psyched about unloading..

I'd love to stay and chat but there's a highway calling and I'm told it's departure time. I'll do a more in-depth summary (maybe with pictures!) this weekend after I'm somewhat settled. You all take care now, and I'll try do likewise.

Cheers,
A.

Welcome to Canada - Bienvenue au Canada (R)

Don't worry my post won't be in French - but only because my French sucks, I would have an easier time posting in Spanish (thanks to numerous trips to Mexico). I just wanted to make use of my time in Canada's only bilingual province (New Brunswick - for those of you who don't know).

We made good time and stayed last night in Fredricton, NB after another uneventful border crossing. Only spent 41/2 days in the US but it is so exciting to be back in our "home and native land" - we were welcomed with a climb almost immediately as Aaron says we are "moving up in the world" and I am sure he will be glad to have some Tim Horton's for a change as we have missed that up until now.

Anyways, I will get to the good stuff and post some pics and then you can read A's account:

This must have been my 'are we there yet?' face - apparently we were not.

The Hudson River in New York.


One of the many bogs of Massachusetts.

The Merrimac River (no it doesn't have a 'k') also in Massachusetts.

During our 20 minute fly-through of New Hampshire this is the only shot that we took that wasn't blurry.

Stay tuned for A's post and then perhaps a few pics of our new abode as we are only a few hours away from Halifax - then the unloading begins, but at least it isn't 40 C here today!

Photos . . . viewing subject to toll - R

Once again I don't have much to add to A's comments but here are a few photos to add some more colour - please note . . . to view the photos you will need to enter your credit card number and expiry date (and please call the bank to increase your limit and let them know that there may be out of province/country charges):

The Raye family (minus Stella who was sleeping) - thanks again for being such gracious hosts!

You can't tell in the picture, but it is only 630am (that reads 0430am for those of you in BC) and Aaron is actually awake!

Toll boths or toll plazas - whatever you call them, we saw a lot of them in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even in New York! They sure love to have travelers pay for their road work - which by the way is very common during all times the roads are not covered in snow!

Don't worry it isn't another terrorist attack, just the view from I90 as you enter Chicago near the O'Hare airport.
Chi-town skyline - pretty impressive even in the daylight hours!


The Cleveland skyline as view from the passenger side window as we drove by . . .


Close up view of Cleveland . . . an accidental detour took us right through the downtown core - this is what happens when Aaron is taking pictures while trying to navigate . . . or what happens when Racheal is so busying telling Aaron how to get the shot that she misses her exit (you can decide which is more fitting)!

That's all for now got to get some sleep as we hope to press on to Moncton, New Brunswick tomorrow!

Near and Far - A

So, I missed a night or two or more (I've lost count, sorry) of posting. It's the joy of traveling east - if you're really good, efficient, fast, and willing to do a long day, your reward is losing an hour of sleep! Boo! As a result of a shorter day yesterday I got some extra rest and am now ready for bed at a more normal hour.

We're in Rochester, NY, after a day going through Wisconsin (who needs Ireland? It's all the green you need!), Illinois (where rush hour lasts all morning), Indiana (where the entire northern state's roads are tolled), Ohio (with an impromptu tour of downtown Cleveland - well played, Ohioans), and barely got our toe into Pennsylvania before ending up in New York. Boy, is it dark here. Except for an exceptionally bright and hyperactive lightning storm on the road, and except for a major prison right besides the highway - the sign says "corrective facility area" but you know they mean "please don't pick up any hitch-hikers!" I'm sure daylight will reveal a charming state, but for now it's more tolls and a little bit of rain. Not that there's anything wrong with that! (aside from all the tollboths making you lose the lead you built up after hours of scientific planning and careful passing - but I'm not bitter!)

Being in NY really underlines how far we've gone - 3 time zones, a handful of cities, with one long last day to get us to destination (and another hour of sleep lost!) - this kind of gruelling pace kinda puts The Amazing Race in perspective. It's also *thisclose* to Halifax, the end of our drive, and the start of our big unload. Talk about bittersweet - not that I'm fond of the road, but it'll mark the official start of my Halifaxian career - that's a lot to live up to, and I'm not sure how (especially as a non-drinker) I'll measure up.

Anyway, I'm off to bed so that morning seems a little less cruel when it arrives.
Cheers,
A.

Time Travel Sucks - R

Well we missed a night in there somewhere - seems like the "friendly folks" of North Dakota don't believe in free WiFi . . . but here's an update:

Montana is flat but North Dakota is more flat! In the past couple of days we have driven through both of those states along with Minnesota and into Wisconsin. Not a whole lot to say about the travels other than I seem to have lucked out and taken the driving shifts that don't involve road work or windy mountain passes - sorry A. The trip is going well, mostly because we are now almost half-way there, but somehow the plan to stay in Minneapolis, MN last night ended up being Bismarck, ND I seem to have missed the whole state of North Dakota in my planning :( Anyways, it worked out because it meant that we could take a shorter day today and stay with family in Elroy, WI. Now that we have had a chance to visit with my cousin Laura, her husband (of 16 years 2 days ago - HAPPY BELATED ANNIVERSARY) Tom and their kids Reeve, Kyle and Stella) and eat some wonderful homemade pizza I will do a quick post and add some pics.

The driving is going well, long, but uneventful, here is the evidence of our travels . . .

See A does do some of the driving during daylight hours and on flat stretches.

One of the more scenic areas of Montana - still close to Idaho at this point.
This is why Montana is called "Big Sky Country" . . .

Apparently the flat land of North Dakota makes wind a viable energy source, if only the wind was always behind us pushing us forward we could have fast forwarded through this very flat state!

No pictures of Minnesota as our only real views were of I-94 and a traffic accident just outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul. It is supposed to be the state of 10,000 lakes - but we only saw signs, and if they name them all along the lines of Big Lake . . . the water is wasted on them!


Finally back to some decent mountainous country - yeah Wisconsin!

Well it may only be 820pm in BC, it is 1020pm here in Elroy and for some reason our bodies have already switched over to Atlantic time and it feels like it is past midnight - I can't wait to head back West and get some of my time back!

On the road again . . . R

Not much to add to A's post but here are some pics we snapped along the way so far:

- just outside of Seattle A took this one of the Microsoft buildings, trust me when I say that if we had seen one labeled Vista we would have found some garbage to throw at it

- this one is still in Washington state, a view from a lookout spot we chose to stop at and stretch our feet before heading on towards Spokane
- this is the Wild Horses Monument at that same viewpoint
- a rather abbreviated self portrait of the two of us courtesy of R's short little arms
- lastly an artistic shot (haha) of the moon and city lights of Couer d'Alene, ID - the effect was the combination of slow shutter speed of night scenery mode and a very bumpy I-90 as experienced in a U-Haul

Anyways, better get back on the road again . . .

I'd Rather Be Surveying - A

Ok, so for the last 12 years or so I've helped my dad with land surveying every Saturday, with the odd exception here and there for vacations and extreme weather. This marks the first of many, many consecutive non-surveying Saturdays. And after the one day of driving (long day), I have decided surveying beats out very long driving days.

So we left Langley around 12:15, cleared the border lineup in 1-20 minutes (thanks border guy! You didn't want a look at our inventory, let alone schedule or actual contents! I think having a cute blonde answering the questions helps expedite our customs processing) and then discovered the fine art of highway road construction. In Bellingham, a bit around Bellevue/Renton (although more of that delay was rush hour, but we managed to avoid the worst of Seattle's traffic easily), but especially at night, through Idaho there were parts where a divided 2-lane-each-way interstate became 2 directions side-by-side in narrow lanes. Not fun. We made it to a little place called Cle Elum for dinner and gas around 4:30, changed drivers from Racheal to me around Spokane (after she got all the easy, scenic driving), then got into Missoula around 00:15 BC time, or 01:15 MT time. At least this place has internet and a good breakfast! The plan now is to hit the road around 09:00 BC time, and get to Minneapolis or Elroy, Wisconsin tonight. At least if there's road construction from here on out, it'll be on flat, straight, non-windy roads and my shoulders won't be so tight.

Now, as promised, there's some pictures from this leg of the journey. But, since I'm all fumbly-fingered due to this ungodly morning hour, I'll let Racheal add her thoughts and the pictures.

Cheers,
A.

We're Off - R

Well today is the day, and as I sit listening to border line-up wait times I can scarcely believe that we are about to embark on a journey that will take us 6100+km across the continent from Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean - definitely an epic road trip! We will be driving through the US and will cross through 14 states and 3 provinces . . . hopefully all within the next 5 days! I'll try to post whenever we can find so free internet and get some pictures uploaded when we have a chance, so stay tuned . . .

Hello World - A

So, this is blogging. Heck of a time to start, right when my job of 5+ years is ending. I wonder if anybody's reading this.

Hello hello hello hello
Echo echo echo echo

Well, if you all are out there, my rabid readers, you're doing a great job of holding your breath - I can't hear a thing!

So, tomorrow we hit the road for an EPIC road trip and LEGENDARY adventure. Ok, so we're just driving cross-continent for me to start law school, all by my lonesome for the first 4 months. It's my (ok, fine, our) blog, allow me a bit of a skewed scale of importance. So, for the next week or so we'll be driving through what I understand is commonly called "flyover country" with sporadic internet access. So, to all my regular facebook chat buddies, sorry, I'll be missing our cyber chin-wags. To everyone wondering what it's like driving so far in a Uhaul, you'll find out when (if) we recover. The forecast includes fatigue, boredom, general irritability with periods of stabby. I'll refrain from further details to avoid inflammatory or incriminating evidence, but I'm not much of a long-distance driver. At least as a passenger I'll have books! And many, many views of cornfields. (sob) Where's my mountains?!

I will try update this blog from my side of the country as best I can, but make no promises once the semester begins. I'm going to miss many of you, finally meet or better get to know others, and undoubtedly question my sanity many times. But, anxieties and stresses aside, I'm looking forward to this Great Adventure (yes, capital G on great!) and getting settled in to our digs in Halifax. Eventually skype will be happening, but until then there's always email, instant messaging and voice chat, and something involving envelopes, people called "posties," and stamps.

I probably won't be this verbose too many more times, so enjoy it while it lasts. To all of you whom it applies, good-bye for now, and to those precious few in Halifax, see you soon.

Cheers,
A.

PS - bonus prizes for our lucky readers who can tell me/us where the latin part of the title comes from!

Beginnings - R

And so it starts . . . the hope is that this blog will allow family and friends to keep up with our going-ons despite the ever growing geographical distance between us all.

The title of each post will identify who is posting . . . either A(aron) or R(acheal). The plan is for each of us to post updates on an ongoing basis though no promises are made as to how frequently this will occur as we will both be in school for the first little bit.

As this is our first attempt at blogging - suggestions for organisation and content are welcome, so long as they are offered with the understanding that we may be contacting the author for tips and instructions!