Friends

One of the more interesting things about coming out to southeastern Canada this month was getting to see significant locations of my father’s youth. My dad, you see, immigrated to Canada when he was 13 and grew up in Montréal. So when I was there, I visited the schools he attended along with the location where my Great Grandfather had a laundry shop. Photos of all this are below.

Then, in the Toronto, Ontario, I had dinner with relatives on my mom’s side of the family that I haven’t seen in almost 23 years (when I was 9 or 10.) Above is a photo from that get together. It was great to see them all after all this time. Continue reading »

“I thought you said it’s always sunny in Fort Collins,” Tori teased as a layer of fluffy snow slowly built up in the back yard.

It’s curious how it seems like whenever friends from out of state come here, sub-optimal weather coincides with their visit. For example, in January 2007 John’s visit occurred on by far the three most bitterly cold days I’ve ever experienced (a high of 1-2 degrees Fahrenheit) — only for the temperatures to return to 30 degrees the day after he left. Then, during Tori’s first visit last year, we had a heat wave resulting in two of the hottest days of the year (99 degrees). Continue reading »

I’ve been trying to cut down on the amount of time I spend reading the news everyday (as per one of my New Year’s resolutions), but the headline of one article, purportedly a “death” announcement, caught my eye. Especially when you consider that “bad” news constitutes a fairly low percentage of articles in Fort Collins (which had, for example, zero homicides in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004) versus, say, the everyday headlines in Stockton, California (which my friend Nick of Fort Collins assures me is in the national news virtually everyday now due to being Foreclosure Capital USA).

But I digress. Actually, when I read this article, I couldn’t help burst out laughing since the obituary was about someone I actually know — my wonderful professeur de français from last quarter. Her name is Arla. Don’t worry though, she hasn’t died. Continue reading »

I’ve already mentioned how my trip to Bend, Oregon was a result of my friend Tori (from the Bay Area) wanting to visit there for a while now and Kimi (from Fort Collins) housesitting for her mom there this month. But since we arrived, there have been a couple more coincidences that have to do with… running. Continue reading »

After visiting family in Stockton over the holidays, I hopped into a rental car (a surprisingly nice Pontiac G6 which has renewed my faith in General Motors) to meet with some friends. As usual, I was not able to see nearly everyone I would have like to have visited, but maybe next time. Here are a few photos for memories sake (although sadly I did not get photos of everyone I saw).