Standing Into Danger

Friday, September 9, 2022

Walking to Ittoqqortoormiit +TAD and FFO

I missed posting last Friday, so I'm determined to post today!

I was derailed by a number of things including Terry's and my 38th Wedding Anniversary.

Just Married

Parker, Colorado,USA

September 1, 1984

Terry and I with Our Beloved Niece Deirdre

Parker, Colorado,USA

September 1, 1984

Last week's theme for my friend Rain's Thursday Art Date was Mazes.

I wasted way too much time down a rabbit hole on Colorado's scariest maze:

the fictional Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's classic movie The Shining.

The movie was based on Stephen King's breakout horror novel The Shining.

I should have just posted my maze photo.

A Maze of Streets ~ from the Top of the Duomo

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower)

Florence, Italy

September 21, 2018

This week's TAD theme is apples, one of my favorite things to eat.

An Apple Pie in the Works

Aurora, Colorado, USA

November 25, 2014

My photo for Nicole's Friday Face Off last week:

An Eagle on a Totem Pole

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

November 25, 2014

My photo for Nicole's Friday Face Off this week:

My Grandmother Myrtle Pratt (upper left)

My Great Grandmother Annie Nicholson Pratt (lower left)

St Peter's Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Date Unknown, Circa 1900

I finally had a chance to catch up on my retirement walking data.

I know, I know! ~ Another rabbit hole.

I fell so far behind during the last two years with everything going on.

I started walking on June 9, 2012, three days after I retired,

and I recorded my walking distance each time.

I had this goal of "walking" from my home in Aurora to St. Anthony, Newfoundland.

It's at the northern tip of the Great Northern Peninsula,

and it has always whispered to me when I look at maps of the province.

I "reached" St. Anthony 1933 days later on September 23, 2017

after walking 2423 miles/3899 kilometers.

I had visited St. Anthony for real in 2011,

and I have promised myself I will return.

My First Time in St. Anthony

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

July 15, 2011

My sister Barb said she would walk with me to the sign

from five miles out when I return ~

Perhaps, now, we'll settle for one mile

and go to Timmie's faster for coffee and a treat.

Me, Barb, and Bertie Thawing Out at Timmie's (Tim Horton's)

After Chasing Icebergs in St. Anthony

Newfoundland, Canada

July 15, 2011

Terry Chasing Icebergs in St. Anthony

(Technically Ice Pans)

Shortly Before Hitting Timmie's

July 15, 2011

Okay, now what? I had reached my goal.

I decided I'd "walk" to Greenland.

A year or two later my blogging buddy Pat Hatt mentioned

Ittoqqortoormiit, a community on the eastern coast of Greenland,

in one of his posts, and I thought it sounded pretty cool.

I decided that I had to go Ittoqqortoormiit.

It's one of the most remote villages in Greenland,

but you can get there from Iceland.

I actually flew close enough to it returning from Iceland

in September 2018 that it popped up on the in-flight map.

I was really excited! Terry not so much.

He was pretending he didn't know me,

because I was embarrassing him with my excitement.

Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

Flying Home from Reykjavik, Iceland, In-flight Map

September 25, 2018

Ittoqqortoormiit

Ittoqqortoormiit means "Big House Dwellers" in the Eastern Greenlandic dialect.

Wikimedia Commons

So I "turned around" in St. Anthony on Day 1934 and started hoofing it

for St. Barbe, Newfoundland, the ferry to Labrador,

and on to Red Bay and Labrador City in Labrador,

and then on to Killiniq in Nunavut, Canada.

The Ferry to Labrador

St. Barbe, Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada

July 2011

Finally, a Lifelong Dream Realized!

Standing on the Ground in Labrador, Canada

July 2011

Google

Wikimedia

By August 15, 2020, I had "crossed" the Labrador Sea

to Prins Christianssund, Greenland and "reached" Sisimiut,

after "walking" 1053 days and 3231 miles/5200 kilometers from St. Anthony,

or 2987 days and 6657 miles/10,713 kilometers from my home in Aurora, Colorado.

Sisimiut, Greenland

The old Bethel church (1775) and Sisimiut Museum in the foreground

with Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay and the Palasip Qaqqaa mountain (1784 feet/544meters) in the background.

Wikipedia with License

I'm currently slogging across the top of Greenland.

As of Saturday I'm two thirds of the way from Qeqertat to Station Nord:

1,781 days and 4471 miles/7678 kilometers from St. Anthony,

3,715 days and 8194 miles/13,184 kilometers from Aurora.

Qeqertat to Station Nord, Greenland

Google Maps

Qeqertat, Greenland

Wikimedia

Station Nord, Greenland

Google

My two Aurora and St. Anthony distance calculations

over time are within 3 miles of each other,

probably because of rounding numbers.

That works for me! I wouldn't want to be too OCD ~ lol.

Google

Over the years, challenges like bad weather, changing stride lengths,

illnesses, and a pandemic have forced me to adjust where I walk and my calculations.

I've even dragged my IV stand up and down the hall

when hospitalized to get a little walking in.

Dogged Determination

Aurora, Colorado, USA

Can't find the date! 😱

Forgive me if you are bored by my calculations

and map plotting on my walking journey.

I'm over ten years in, and I'm too invested to stop.

On to Ittoqqortoormiit!

(I still can't spell the damn word without looking at it!)

Guaranteed, if I reach it, I'm darn well going to go there

with a stop in St. Anthony on the way.

Have a great weekend!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

My next post will be on

Friday, September 16, 2022. 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

IWSG Day: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 ~ The Worse Genre to Write

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.

To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are Kim Lajevardi, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Olga Godim, Michelle Wallace, and, Louise - Fundy Blue!

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.

I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is:

What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy September, Everyone!

I hope that you have all had a happy and healthy August.

Regarding this month's question, writing romance is the worse one for me to tackle.

I have avoided writing romance throughout my life,

largely because of things that happened to me in my past.

I feel stripped naked and vulnerable even thinking about writing it.

I do enjoy reading a good romance story, although I often choose other genres to read,

like science fiction, fantasy, memoir, and nonfiction.

I am almost finished reading the IWSG's latest anthology,

First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts, which was released yesterday.

I have an early copy because I preordered it ages ago.

I absolutely love this anthology!

I was surprised by the variety of stories about the sweetness of first love,

and I appreciated the quality of the writing and the strong voices in the individual stories.

I'm learning more about writing by reading them.

We have so many talented writers in the IWSG!

Goodreads

August was a challenging month for Terry and me, but things are much better now!

I'm excited because I have been approved for a series of infusions

that should significantly help my double vision.

That's good, because my eyesight has been deteriorating

as I decrease the steroids that improved my vision.

Next week Terry and I are going to Yellowstone National Park for three days.

I don't care if I see two Old Faithfuls instead of one.

I'm thrilled to get away!

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Wikimedia

Since I took very few photos this summer, I thought I'd share a few funnies:

Google

Hooked to Books

Happy writing in September!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be on Friday, September 9, 2022. 🤞

Friday, August 26, 2022

City of Roses

Yesterday, I was looking at my photos of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada,

which I think is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Terry and I haven't been there in a few years, and I miss this gorgeous place.

Victoria is known for many cultural and historical things,

but I think of it at the City of Roses.

I've spent hours and hours in its lovely rose gardens,

and I return to these gardens each time I visit Victoria.

City of Roses

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

September 12, 2017

Pope John Paul II Hybrid Tea

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

September 12, 2017

Yesterday, I was supposed to be eliminating photos

that were too similar, poor shots, or blah,

but I find it difficult to trash a photo of a rose.

I'm embarrassed to think of how many rose photos I have in my collection.

One of my favorite rose gardens, the Premier's Rose Garden,

is hidden behind the British Columbia Parliament Buildings

which are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

Often I wander alone among the rose beds

enjoying the roses from baby buds to lush blowsy blooms.

Buxom Beauty Pink Hybrid Tea

Behind the Parliament Buildings

September 10, 2017

Apricot Pink Grandiflora

Baby Buds to Blowsy Bloom

September 10, 2017

I love and appreciate it when flowers are labeled in gardens.

I always want to know their names.

Fortunately the roses in Victoria's gardens are named.

Rose Beds Behind the Parliament Buildings

September 10, 2017

Easy Going Yellow Floribunda

September 10, 2017

Rose Beds Behind the Parliament Buildings

Easy Going Yellow Floribunda

September 10, 2017

Souvenir de Baden Baden, Pink/White Hybrid Tea

September 10, 2017

Buxom Beauty Pink Hybrid Tea

September 10, 2017

Kosmos Fairy Tale White Floribunda

September 10, 2017

One of my favorite memories of Victoria was an unexpected random act of kindness.

I was walking down a street near Beacon Hill Park

and a woman cutting roses in her garden saw me passing her yard.

She snipped a brilliant red rose and gave it to me saying,

"Have a wonderful day!"

Not the Rose, but a Lovely Red One Nonetheless

Amour, Grand Red Hybrid

In a Rose Garden Somewhere in Victoria

The theme for my friend Rain's Thursday Art Date this week is Gestures and Movement.

I'm sharing a photo for each. There was no time for me to create art this week!

A welcoming gesture from a friendly greeter for visitors near the Ogden Point Breakwater.

Along the Waterfront

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

September 11, 2017

I captured this movement photo with the zoom on my point-and-shoot camera,

braced inside a zodiac raft bouncing on waves.

It may not be my sharpest photo, but certainly it's one of my most dramatic shots.

An Orca Strikes

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

September 15, 2017

A talented artist, Nicole, who regularly participates in Rain's TAD,

posts Friday Face Off every week.

I thought I'd join in this week and share one of the sweetest faces I've ever photographed,

a darling Cambodian boy in a local market outside Siem Reap.

A Beautiful Cambodian Boy

A Local Market Outside Siem Reap, Cambodia

November 10, 2008

Have a great weekend!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

My next post will be on

Wednesday, September 7, 2022.

Pages

Friday, September 9, 2022

Walking to Ittoqqortoormiit +TAD and FFO

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

IWSG Day: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 ~ The Worse Genre to Write

Friday, August 26, 2022

City of Roses