August 27 – Gimli, Manitoba

These past months have been an interesting time for most of us. We have nearly all made changes in our regular routines and patterns of behaviour. For us, one of the changes has been with our travel and holiday plans. We did need to cancel some international travel but on the plus side we managed to see some parts of Canada that we hadn’t seen before. Gimli, Manitoba was one of those unexpected treasures.

After the initial cruel thrust of the coronavirus into our lives, Lyle and I began to sort out some priorities. The first of these was to work out just how we were to see our family while at the same time keeping everyone safe. Camping and outdoor living seemed to be the answer. 

With our Calgary family, we were able to camp in our driveway and eat meals in the backyard. It was a little different with our Winnipeg family. At first out of province visitors were discouraged and out of province campers not accepted. Finally, these restrictions were lifted and in late July we were able to travel to Manitoba for a camping adventure. This is when we spent some time in Gimli.

Our campground was actually about a 20 minutes drive north of Gimli on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Hnausa Provincial Park was a great spot – campsites weren’t crowded together and washrooms were open. It was also an easy drive to Gimli.

Gimli has an historical beginning. I’m not sure how the Icelandic pioneers made their way to this rather remote spot or how they connected with the original inhabitants of the land. I do know that today there is still a connection with Iceland and its traditions and culture. This is very obvious on the weekend of the Icelandic Festival in August.

The downtown area is contained within a few blocks and is just off the shore of Lake Winnipeg. There is a wide boardwalk along the shore and a dock that stretches out into the lake itself. The town is a bit off the beaten track but also commercial enough to host numerous fast food outlets and even a Tim Hortons.

One of the best things for us was an amazing outdoor swimming pool. The pool was quite spectacular with water slides, a tidal circle, lane swimming and a low diving board. Gimli is really only a small town with small town population so the pool is really quite awesome. I must also add that one of the benefits of the coronavirus was that admission was reduced to 50% capacity and so the pool wasn’t at all crowded.

If you go to Gimli, you should really find your way to the very large Viking statue – or as our grandson called it, the statue of “the Big Man”. The small area is well maintained and the statue itself is impressive. There is a picture with this post with me standing in front of the huge Viking. It should give you some idea of its size –nearly three times taller than I am.

So, Gimli was great and Lyle and I enjoyed our Manitoba camping trip. However, truthfully, the best part was spending time with our Winnipeg family. We would like to repeat this special family time but I guess that we will just have to wait and see what the future holds. 

 

Sue with Gimli's Viking

 

 

 

 

 

August 16 - Bubbles

When our children were young they would sometimes play with soap bubbles. It was an innocent childhood game. We would all sit on the back step and dip a little wire ring into a soapy container. Then, holding the ring up, we would blow through it creating transparent bubbles that floated away on wafts of air. Big bubbles, little bubbles would all drift away towards the back fence.

These days it is the adults who are creating bubbles – not the haphazard bubbles of childhood games but bubbles of people. These are usually created very specifically as a small group of friends or family. The idea is that we should be limiting our contact with people who are outside of the bubble.

Lyle and I are part of three separate bubbles. One small sphere contains a group of friends with whom we indulge in outdoor coffee get togethers.  We are also in a bubble with our daughter and her family and in another bubble with our son and his family. Beyond this, we keep our social distance from other people.

I’m not sure just who is protecting who by this strange arrangement. I think that our children feel that they are protecting us, and by not associating with other people, Lyle and I in turn feel that we are protecting them.

I do feel somewhat isolated in the bubbles of relationships that we have created but at the same time, there is a feeling of intimacy. If the truth were to be told, I much prefer the childhood game of blowing out soapy bubbles in the back yard, but in this crazy uncertain time of COVID, I will have to be satisfied with this new game of bubble creation.