Karen Sandler

Tag: canada

  • Danger, Will Robinson, Danger! Family Vacation Photos Ahead!

    If pretty pictures of scenery bore you to tears, just click on that X in the corner of your screen. If you’re willing to look at gorgeous vistas and me looking particularly awkward on a horse (even though I really ought to know how to ride), scroll on.

    3 Sisters
    The Three Sisters, seen from our condo’s balcony.

    It was our son’s and daughter-in-law’s  idea to do a combined family trip (the grandkids, their parents and both sets of grandparents). Since we all live in hot summer locales, a trip to somewhere cooler seemed like a good idea. So Alberta, Canada rather than, say, Arizona was the destination of choice. The Northern California contingent left behind triple digit heat in exchange for temperatures that never topped the mid-8os. That’s a vacation destination.

    IMG_2082
    Yes, I own a horse and ride often. Maybe I just look so confused because it’s a Canadian horse.

     

    My son’s goal was for us to “see pretty things” in particular in as many modes as possible. We therefore hiked, biked, drove, rode horses, gondolas, and ski lifts, were transported by buses with gargantuan wheels (those that visited the nearby glacier), took a tour boat, canoed, and hiked some more. We ate–a lot–and didn’t skimp on desserts. For instance, the best ice cream in the world can be found at Cows in Banff.

    We also had a great opportunity to see various critters. There was the grizzly bear we saw below us while we were on the Banff Gondola. There were also elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, various birds, and a particularly vicious chipmunk.

    Grizzly
    Happy to be viewing this big fellow from the gondola rather than up close and personal.
    Chipmunk
    This chunky, over-friendly fellow (he climbed on my lap) is an example of what happens when you feed the wildlife. Big fines for that sort of thing.

     

     

     

     

     

    Clark's Nutcracker
    I’ve been told this is a Clark’s Nutcracker. Or it’s possibly a Black Beaked Fiffer Fluffer.
    Gondola View
    The view from the top of the Banff gondola where the chipmunk lives. Pretty jaw-dropping.

     

     

     

     

    Also, we ignorant Americans learned a little something about Canadian history–namely that July 1st is Canada Day. We watched a great local parade in Canmore, and then oohed and aahed at fireworks afterward.

    FireworksFireworks with the Canadian Rockies as a backdrop. Well done, Canada. Well done.

     

     

  • Dance Camp International

    One of the coolest things about international folk dancing is that it’s, well, international. Not only are the dances from all over the world, but the dancers themselves, both the instructors and the campers, are from all over.

    The picture at left depicts people who came here from outside the US to dance this year. Countries represented are Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Japan, China and Canada. In other years, we’ve had Taiwanese instructors teaching fabulous Taiwanese dances. One of our favorite instructors lives in Canada, is originally from Romania and teaches wonderful Roma dances. We’ve had Dutch instructors teaching Russian dance, a Japanese instructor teaching Macedonian and one year one of our workshop instructors taught some Indian (Punjabi) and African dances.

    And I have to tell you, folk dance people are the nicest people in the world. I don’t know if the dancing attracts nice people or if all the endorphins make people feel so good they can’t help but be nice. They’re just so much fun to be around.

    I also love the fact that folk dance pulls young people in and they often become lifelong folk dancers. It’s so much fun to see their energy on the dance floor, but it’s also very cool that they interact so easily with a wide range of ages. The young men ask older women to dance, the young women gladly step out on the floor with older men because they love dance so much and wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity.

    Here’s a photo of my daughter-in-law enjoying a line dance with my baby granddaughter. This is my granddaughter’s first dance camp and I hope there will be many more. There’s a precedent she can follow. In the photo above, the young man in the red shirt has attended camp every year since before he was born 🙂 . He’s a fantastic dancer and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

    I think if everyone started folk dancing, we’d have much less trouble in the world. Dance allows us to learn about each other’s cultures, to interact with each other, to see “the other” as someone very much like ourselves. We should make dance, not war.