HIGHLIGHT OF 2024

 

Rob and I at Fisherman's Cove on our last day in Nova Scotia.

If I had to pick one highlight from 2024, it's easily Rob visiting Nova Scotia with me for the first time last May.  

We had thought about going for the last week of June and had booked that week for vacation. But Spring came to Ontario early last year and it was looking and feeling more like summer when May arrived, so outta the blue while he was working one night, I texted him to get his thoughts about going to Nova Scotia for our week in May, which was only a couple weeks away.

I had been dealing with some health issues that started the beginning of March and had to cancel a planned trip with my niece in April. I was feeling pretty good in May and wanted to take advantage of it. He asked me why May, and my response was, it's still Spring like weather there, where here the trees had most of their leaves, not great for birding. The kids would still be in school and it's not yet hurricane season. All that sounded good to him, and I think I booked the plane tickets, hotels and rental car that evening.

Because there was a lot of uncertainty regarding my health, we decided not to tell anyone we were going, in case we had to cancel the trip last minute. We flew down the morning of Sunday, May 12th, which was Mother's Day. I was born and raised in Truro/Bible Hill, Nova Scotia before moving to Toronto when I was 19. I wanted the trip to be about showing Rob my Nova Scotia, places that were important to me growing up, and we covered a lot of ground over five days. 

The first place we visited was the Bible Hill cemetery so I could place a potted plant at my parents headstone. I blogged about that last year. There is a lovely walking trail close to the cemetery and we visited the trail a few times while there.

My first meal after the plane landed, Deep Fried Clams!

We spent three nights in Truro and did a couple road trips from there. We took the trip "down country" that I did so many times as a kid with my parents. Through Great Village, Portapique, Five Islands and other small towns, we made our way to Cape d'Or, a beautiful spot I had only visited once before with my Mom years prior. We visited Victoria Park in Truro and other nature spots.

Cape d'Or, it's a walk down, but worth it.

Jacob's Ladder in Victoria Park, we both went to the top.

On Wednesday we headed to the Liverpool area on the south shore. My Grandmother had lived there and Easter, Christmas and some of my summer vacation was always spent there as a child.

We stopped at Peggy's Cove on our way.

We spent two nights at White Point Beach Resort and visited the town of Liverpool, and other areas I remembered. 

I could of listened to the waves all day. White Point Beach.

Summerville Beach, I loved spending time here as kid. 

It was surreal visiting Summerville Beach. I hadn't been there in decades but can still recall childhood memories of spending time there, the jellyfish, making sand castles, and the taste of the salt water. We walked the beach bare foot and looked for sea-shells, I brought a couple home.

Our last stop before heading to the airport to fly back to Toronto was Fisherman's Cove, another place I had last visited with Mom. 

Fishing boats, surrounded by gulls coming in at Fisherman's Cove.

Even though it wasn't really a birding trip, we saw lots of birds and even had a couple lifers. We also got to witness a first for us, a Bald Eagle having a bath in a lake. The Osprey is the provincial bird of Nova Scotia, but we didn't see any. The bird of the trip for us was the Northern Parula, we saw them often, and heard them everywhere! 

Northern Parula, Blue-headed Vireo, Canvas Back Duck (my lifer), Black-throated Green Warbler and an Oven Bird

A lifer for both of us on our last day, Common Eider's. We saw many.

It was an enjoyable but busy five days. It was fun surprising family and friends along the way. I know we didn't get to see everybody we would of liked to, but I am grateful that Rob got to meet some of my cousins and friends, and we'll meet more the next time we visit.

SANTA'S BAG

 

When I was a child Christmas was spent at Nannie Levy's. Every year Mom & Dad would load up the car and we'd make the two-hour drive to Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to spend Christmas with Mom's family.   

Back then, that drive seemed to take forever, but I always looked forward to that trip and the anticipation of Santa's visit. I enjoyed all the family coming and going over the days we were there, and all the laughter. It was a special time, and I often revisit those memories this time of year. After Christmas dinner Nannie would pull out a big red bag full of gifts for everyone. I think she wanted it to be known as Mrs. Santa's Bag, but it never stuck and has been Santa's Bag in my mind forever.

Some of these gifts were strange to me as a child, boxes of Tide, dish detergent, toothpaste and other household items. The children usually got a $2 bill which would buy a lot of candy back then. This yearly tradition became something we looked forward to every year. It was always more about the fun involved during the the gifts being passed out then the gift itself. 

Santa's Bag, 1987- My cousin, Pam, receiving her gift. 

I didn't know it at the time, but the above picture was the last Santa's Bag with Nannie Levy  I'd be a part of while she was alive. I was 18 years old, had graduated high school that June, and was taking a course in college. A few months after gradating the college course in 1988 I was in a bad car accident and we couldn't make the trip. I moved to Toronto in March the following year.

My Aunt Charlotte took over Santa's Bag after my Nannie passed. One Christmas when I was home visiting from Toronto we took a trip to Liverpool for a Christmas dinner, and sure enough, there was a gift in Santa's Bag for me, even though no one knew I was coming until a couple hours before. I even remember what I received, a new measuring cup! How had Santa known I had broke mine recently and was in need of new one!? Oh, the magic of Christmas.   

I haven't experienced Santa's Bag in many years, but unknowingly may of started a new tradition for another generation of Levy's, the Xmas Box. 

Years ago, when I was getting the Xmas parcel ready to mail to my brother and his family in Alberta, I put something else in the box for them to share, unwrapped. The next year I added a couple more things and these extras continued over the years.  

A couple of years ago, when I friend was here over the holiday season, she said I should wrap these "extras", as they were really gifts. She wrapped them that year, and I have continued to.

The box usually contains a variety of seasonal goodies, and something for them to do, like a cookie decorating kit or something similar. I have fun looking for new things to put in the box every year. The only thing that I have asked, is that they wait and open the Xmas Box together as a family. The gifts go under the tree, and the untagged extras are to be opened and enjoyed right away.

My oldest niece, Ashlee, went to British Columbia to attend University in 2018. I've always mailed the Xmas Box by the end of November so it would arrive a couple weeks before Christmas. That year I received a text from Ashlee's younger sister, Tayler, when the box arrived. "Do we have to wait until Ashlee is home before we open the Xmas Box?"  And it was in that moment that I knew that this yearly box mattered, that it was something they looked forward to, and had become a yearly tradition.

This year Tayler is living away from home to attend University in Calgary and Ashlee is working in British Columbia. The Xmas Box arrived before both girls landed home for the holidays! I was getting a little worried with the Purolator back-log of packages. But, the Xmas Box has been opened and I have received thank yous and a group photo of them with some treats from within it.

It makes me happy to add a little extra Christmas enjoyment to them this time of year, and it all started because a seed was planted in my mind when my Grandmother handed out funny little gifts from a big red bag when I was child over forty years ago. 

A pic of Nannie and I, Xmas morning many years ago.

There was nothing like those big family Christmas's as a child.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

WHAT YEAR IS IT ANYWAY?

 

So grateful I was a teen through the 80's. Always with my keto-blaster.

I’ve been thinking a lot about music lately. When I look at the names of many of the bands touring right now, I have been asking myself, “What year is it anyway?” I was a teenager in the 80’s and I never dreamed that so many of the bands I idolized back then would still be touring now.  Some of the bands are playing smaller venues, but others are selling out stadiums!

Saw Mr. Big in Toronto last May, it had been 32 years since I had seem them, and the lady beside me, who took these pictures, had been at the same show!

A couple months ago, my husband, Rob, and I attended the 50^th Anniversary of Helix show in Delhi Ontario. I was thrilled to have a conversation with their bassist, Daryl Gray, before the show. I had interviewed him and the late Paul Hackman, back in 1985 for my high school radio show after their Long Way to Heaven tour stop in Halifax, NS.  We talked about the difference between what music was to teens back then and now. How it wasn’t just something you listened to, it was how you dressed, who you hung out with, and a part of your attitude. The internet, social media and streaming services has changed the music industry. I remember waiting months, sometimes years, for my favorite band to release a new album and the anticipation of getting a new monthly music magazine like Circus or Hit Parader, to find out what my favorite bands were working on. Everything is so instant now; I don’t think the appreciation is there for the music and bands like it was then.

Brian and Daryl of Helix - September 2024

Me in 1985. 

     

Last year when I attended the Stadium Tour, featauring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison,  and Joan Jett, I couldn’t help but notice the age range of the crowd. People my age (50+), parents with their children and young adults able to attend on their own. It made me smile seeing teenagers as excited to be seeing these bands live as I had been when I was teenager, and still am as a 55-year-old woman. The interest in 80’s music is definitely having a resurgence, and not just for us who experienced it then. The younger generation is catching on to that 80’s vibe and embracing it.

It's a surreal experience meeting the members of bands whose posters use to hang on your teenage bedroom wall. 

 

Rob and I recently did the VIP Meet & Greet package when WASP was in town. I had the lead singer, Blackie Lawless, sign my high school yearbook. The album they were performing was as much a part of my high school experience as any class I took. The Q & A part of the VIP package was interesting and made me realize that these bands from back in the day are the original “influencers” before influencers were a thing.  

Me watching Blackie from the VIP section at the side of the stage, November 2024.

This brings me to Taylor Swift. Whether she knows it or not, she has tapped into what made the 80’s music scene what it was back then, the camaraderie. Back then we didn't have cellphones and social media. We had teenage night clubs, arcades and field parties. We spent loads of time with our friends socializing in person, and the music was always there, like another friend. 

A little 80’s musical fairy dust has definitely been sprinkled on Miss Swift. Maybe it comes from all the Def Leppard music she listened to as a child, because her mom was a huge fan. Check her out on Crossroads with Def Leppard from 2008.  The Eras Tour has taken over Toronto, and the signs of it are everywhere, as are the Swifties. I’ve volunteered to take a few group photos over the last week of girls and women going to her concert, you can’t help but get wrapped up in their positivity and excitement. Instead of leather, animal prints, spandex and the studs of my time, its glitter, sparkle, sequins, and friendship bracelets. Different packaging, same magic.

 

I already have tickets to the “80’s Rock Invasion” concert for spring of the new year. As long as these bands keep touring, I’ll keep going, and I guess it doesn’t matter what year it is after all.