Happy Easter!

To all who read this blog...

May the blessings of Easter...

... and spring...

be yours!

Giving Up Something for Lent...

From time to time, I consider giving up something I enjoy for the 40 days of Lent, like some of my friends do... But (time to confess!) - I have never succeeded! (Am I totally undisciplined?!)

This year I decided to give up computer games. They're such a waste of time!

There are two computer games that I play regularly: Solitaire, the card game on the left, and Patchwork (which may have been inspired by quilting but isn't a "quilting game"!)

I had no trouble giving up Patchwork - but before long I was back to playing my regular half dozen games of Solitaire before bedtime.

Is the game that addictive?! Or does it take my mind off everything else and prepare me to fall asleep?

Whatever the reason, I'd still like to give it up!

Snorkeling and Surfing

Just as I arrived in Maui with a list of things I wanted to do, my son had plans of his own as well. Between the two of us, our days were packed!

One of my son's goals was to try surfing. He signed up for a group surfing lesson... 

I went along to watch - but tried to stay out of the way. 

The class was held at a large public park in Kihei.

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When the instructor led the group over to a shady tree to go over surfing basics, I looked around, noticing that the park also had beach volleyball nets.

Before long, my son's group headed into the water... where there were so many surfers that I immediately lost track of where he was.

The gentle waves in the area made this a very popular spot!

Fortunately the surfing school sends a photographer out with every class, so students can purchase photos of themselves in action!

The second thing my son wanted to do was go snorkeling...

When I was his age, I had snorkeled in coral reefs in the Red Sea... and I can't even swim.

All you need to be able to do is float on your stomach.

Just get mask and a tube to blow through, I told him. Then go into the water and look down. Float along and watch. The sights will be amazing.

He purchased a simple snorkel kit and set out.
The beach walk near our hotel passed many good snorkeling areas... 

His first time out, he floated out a little farther than planned. Suddenly he noticed that the fish around him were rushing away - fleeing.

He turned his head to see a large turtle swimming by - more quickly than he expected.

He thought no more of it until the turtle passed him again, this time about two feet away...

Time to head back to shore!!

Enough excitement for one day!

(Maybe it's time to think about getting a cheap underwater camera - if there is such a thing!)

He went out snorkeling another time, again - without any turtle adventures!

Remembering My Grandmother, Olga Sell

My mother's mother was born on April 18, 1895, in Fedorovka, Ukraine - about 64 miles north-west of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. On February 15, 1914, at the age of 19, she married my mother's father, Theodor Guhl. Unfortunately, he died of typhus a few years later (at the age of 31), leaving her with three young children and a farm to manage. Eventually one of her late husband's relatives came to her aid - and eventually became her second husband!

On November 23, 1923, she married Hugo Bartz, her late husband's cousin. They went on to have eight more children, the first born in the Ukraine - the rest, in Canada.

Here is a picture of the family taken in the 1940's in Alberta.

Why did they immigrate to Canada?

After the Russian Revolution, in 1918, all the farmland in the Ukraine and in Russia was being taken over by Stalin, the Russian dictator. Realizing that they were about to lose everything, and risked being sent to forced labor camps in Siberia, my mother's parents, like many in their predicament, applied to immigrate to Canada. They arrived in December, 1928, a few weeks before Stalin's government closed the doors on immigration. They were lucky to have escaped. This family photo shows them in the late 1930's.

They lived in Edmonton for many years, but eventually my grandfather decided to move to a warmer place for health reasons. They relocated to Kelowna, BC, in 1955, where my grandfather opened a window and door business. Soon their second-youngest son, Ron, joined them.

Their house was next door to the carpentry shop.

This photo shows them at the 1960 wedding of Ron to Evelyn in Kelowna.

My grandmother died several years later, on November 26, 1966, in Kelowna, after having several strokes. She was 71 years old when she died.

Beach Walking

The hotel my son and I stayed in was several blocks from the beach...

Most days we would walk towards the beach and head for the paved beach walk...

Located between large sea-front hotels and the beach, the sidewalk is a public place.

It passes a wedding chapel for those who come to Maui to get married.

Walking along, we could see other smaller Hawaiian islands in the distance.

Such a relaxing place to be!

Maui Brewery Tour

It was our first day in Hawaii - a 6-hour difference in time zones. We had arrived around midnight, 4 am back home in Ottawa...

My body was tired...

A day to relax?

Traveling with our older son, I quickly realized how similar to Terry he is: Whenever Terry and I travel anywhere and I want to just relax for a day, Terry invariably says: We can relax at home... I'm here to do things!

So off we go!

Our son was the same: How about doing a brewery tour... That won't be too tiring...

So off we went!

We were both impressed by the operation, which had grown, in a few years, from a small craft brewery attached to a pub to this large and growing establishment.

Solar panels on the roofs provided 70% of their electrical needs. Their aim was to be 100% off the grid by the end of this year.

Everywhere we went in Maui, we were impressed by the push for energy self-sufficiency, with solar panels and wind mills.

We were told that the goal in Maui is to be completely energy self-sufficient by the year 2045.

Maui: Ring Around the Island Tour

One tour I was looking forward to was the Road to Hana tour - Hana being a town on the far side of the island of Maui.

The tour we chose circled the island...

Large tour buses avoid some of  the narrow, winding back roads that we were able to take in the van, driven by a local driver.

Larger vehicles take the highway, then turn around and return the way they came. We enjoyed taking the road less traveled.

The windward side of the island is known for its waterfalls - created by rainfall.

The Hana-side of the island receives a lot of rain...

Here is a view through the window of our van as we were inching around a narrow corner.

The towns on the opposite side of the island - where most of the tourist hotels are located - have a drier climate.

Our 12-hour tour stopped at so many interesting places!

Among them was a black sand beach, where black volcanic rock - the rock that the Hawaiian islands are made of - has been worn down into sand-sized pieces.

Another interesting place we visited was a church that was the only building to survive a tsunami on April 1, 1946.

This tsunami, also called a tidal wave, originated in Alaska. It devastated many parts of Maui and the Big Island.

Our guide told us that the only people in this village to survive the tsunami were seven families who sought refuge in the church.

We also visited the churchyard where Charles Lindbergh was buried.

The stained glass window in the church is really beautiful. In it, Jesus is wearing a robe of feathers - a traditional Hawaiian garb for gods to wear.

The day was pleasant in every way. A week later, after we had returned home, my son mentioned that torrential rains were in the forecast for Maui.

We were there the right week!

The whole trip was a wonderful escape from our winter - and a fun learning experience.

We were surprised by much that we saw - including another pod of whales splashing and breaching on this side of the island.

They are now apparently en route to the colder waters of Alaska with their new babies...