Excuses! With A Winnipeg Moment

      I've returned! Well, you might say, "It's about time." And you'd be right, quite right, but I've got one good excuse up my sleeve which I will draw forth NOW ! Janet and I have been in Winnipeg visiting our new granddaughter! Say what you will, that's a pretty good excuse. The other excuses have to stay, such as: getting the garden ready; digging and planting; praying for the sun to stick around; early morning sun dances to invoke the aforementioned golden globe's gods to do their duty; fertilizing etc. Mmmm! Going back to the sun dances. About that. I wonder if I'm on the the wrong page in the invoking manual, and have been mistakenly doing rain dance incantations, along with the wrong dance steps? Heaven's to Raven but I'm a lousy Shaman! If I had a tribe they'd disown  me; put me on an ice drift without food and push me out to sea. Tie me to a stake on the highest hill and let the wild things have their way with me! No, I'm not going there. I'll  just step back and leave it to dear old Goddess Iris to do what she has to do  (which is to convey our needs – like bring back summer - to the appropriate gods). We’ll carry on, and manage – gamely of course - with what we have, and Boy, oh Boy, just look at what we’ve have, this little beauty, beautifully named - Samara.!

          Janet and I spent a wonderful few days in Winnipeg, enjoying her and her proud, but anxious, mom and dad. (The joys and tribulations of new parenthood!). Took some great photos. Must say the weather was as bad there as we’ve been enduring here on the West Coast, but we did experience a couple of super sun days. We used one of them to  make a trip to the beach at Lake Winnipeg, an hour from the city across an impossibly flat landscape. Beautiful spot, masses of people enjoying the sun and sand at the edge of that enormous inland sea. Enjoyed my first ice cream cone of the season seated on large plastic blocks on a dusty side road a  coupled hundred feet  or so from the lake. Also had a nice visit with Little Samara's aunt Joy who has a weekend cottage there.
       The next evening we had the pleasure of renewing acquaintances with little Sam's mom's extended Winnipeg family. We shared a  lovely fun time with them over an excellent Chinese meal at a popular restaurant, and ended our final evening with pie and coffee at Marsha’s, another member of the family.

        If you've got a hankering to spend some time in Winnipeg, then let me recommend the B&B were we stayed. Called the BB Waterloo it features a secluded, private entrance suite for two, with a living room, large bedroom (a king size bed), and bathroom. Breakfast is served in front of the window in your living room. You can choose what you would like for breakfast each day, or leave it to your  hostess, Michaela Samek, who will provide you with a different creation every morning - she'll discuss it with you beforehand - a unique European dish or your usual familiar morning fare.

          Winnipeg has many things to draw your attention, not the least being some really great restaurants. There’s the Art Gallery, Museum, of course the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company - my old alma mater - and other live theatre productions, also a very fine symphony orchestra. We spent part of our other sunny day at Assiniboine park, about 15 minutes from downtown, complete with a Zoo, cricket pitch, and a gallery of sculptures by Len Mol. Many of his life sized and larger pieces are placed outside the gallery building, arranged throughout the Len Mol Sculpture Garden, three set inside a large lily pond. Unfortunately because of the weather being so unusually cool the beautifully planned  flower gardens were lacking in bloom, but must present quite a stunning display when everything is in full glory.

          We also made a visit to the unique Manitoba Parliament buildings. Fascinating. Much of the architectural design incorporating symbolism from ancient Egypt. Sphinxes, winged lions and other such exotica peer from cornices and alcoves throughout. Many of these esoteric objects, and symbols are used outside, and inside the building. There are also, in paintings and frescoes, depictions of Canadian scenes and themes. The main chamber of the legislative is structured in a unique horseshoe design. An alcove at the front left of the room holds  a large bronze statue of Moses holding the the ten commandments, and another bronze, this one of the ancient  Greek philosopher and politician, Solon, sits  in a similar alcove on the right. Four tall thin alcoves (two on each side of the entrance door wall) hold Egyptian influenced candelabra.
      The photo at the top shows the center section of the ceiling design in the rotunda.   
     Amazingly a shallow tropical sea once covered  what we know as the Prairie Provinces – well most of them – around 445 million years ago, give or take a year or two. A tilt in the earth’s axis had the equator up around this area around that time therefore creating the kind of conditions suitable for many tropical sea creatures, when they died, to be preserved as fossils. The sediment that fell to the bottom of the sea eventually  formed into limestone, embedding the fossils into its mass. At some point the earth shifted again,  the seas vanished, and the vast central plains were left behind.  
     Man came along eventually and settled this great central plain. Building materials were needed to created their cities, and stone being one of the greatest structural materials for erecting large, fanciful, and impressive edifices, had to be found. In the search for suitable building material massive amounts of this unique limestone was unearthed in Manitoba’s Interloken Region, about 40 miles from Winnipeg. The quarried limestone,  given the name ‘Tyndall Stone’, after the farm on which it was found, immediately became a desired commodity. Dramatically embedded with  many diverse fossilized creatures, it made a unique, and noteworthy contribution to the appearance of  buildings and homes. Much admired, it was a clever, and brilliantly employed choice in the construction of the Manitoba Legislative Building. The sliced stone exposes many of the fossil remains which  can, with little effort, be seen in the walls, stairwells, and other areas of the building.
       The entire building is worth a lengthy visit, so many variations of structure can be noted. The number 13 is figured into much of the construction , as are other variants, but I’ll only mention the one that really matters to Manitobans. The Golden Boy. He stands – on one foot – all 16 feet of him, at around 220 feet (70 or so meters) above the ground, on top of the Parliament building, and weighs in at 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms). Originally painted  gold, in 1951 after being taken down and cleaned, he was gilded with 23.5 carat gold leaf. He has a history (like who hasn’t?), but too lengthy to go into here. If you would like to know all about him and more on the building itself I suggest contacting Travel Manitoba, they will send all kinds of literature for free.    
     Okay,'nuff said. I’ve strayed far from the reason for our visit to Winnipeg, which was, of course, to see, and visit with little Samara, and her mom and dad, a visit that was more than wonderful! With  farewell kisses, a wave to our loved ones, and tears clouding our eyes we winged away, high into the sunset (Sunset?), and dreamed of the next visit. But, oh, what delightful memories we took with us.