365 Days of Gratitude - Day 228

Simple BBQ dinners are a favourite of mine. Tonight we are dining on a beer can chicken (first time trying it - thanks Brenda!), sweet potatoe fries and a salad. 

Mmmmmm.

Feeling grateful,

Louise 

Looking forward to this being cooked and ready to eat. Yum yum. 

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 227

Puffy face and all I managed to get out for a ride today. I obviously stopped to take this photo, and when the girls pulled up behind me a beautiful monarch butterfly flitted passed.

We stood and watched in awe.

It swooped high, then low. Left, then right. We all held our breath hoping it would find a comfy landing spot by us. So many times it came close, then a final gust of wind pulled it high and out of our view.

It felt almost magical. 

Feeling grateful,

Louise

Riding the Starsky and Hutch trail

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 226

Thank goodness I'm not anaphylactic! Very grateful for that.

Marti and I weren't 5 minutes into our after work ride when I was stung on the upper lip by a nasty ole wasp. Sure my lip swelled up quickly, but given I'm not deathly allergic we were still able to ride for another couple hours.

Funny story. I snapped this photo. Put my phone away. Rode for approximately 1.5 hrs on a variety of trails, never doubling back. Except once. And crazy thing, we happened upon a phone lying in the middle of the trail. Turned out to be mine. I guess I hadn't closed the zipper in my pack properly.

Thinking I should buy a lottery ticket.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

My fat lip

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 225

Let the healing begin.

Today we created a beautiful memorial on a high point on a local mountain biking trail. Mickael loved this spot and setting a bench, planting a tree, and telling a story of his life with the rocks we painted seemed like a perfect way to honour him.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

The white pine sapling and painted rocks

The bench 

Reflecting with my bestie Linda

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 224

This beauty has been greeting me from my gardens lately. One of my favourite things about gardening is watching how everything unfolds. 

You nurture, you weed (well, in my case not really), you water, and you watch. 

It's like listening to a beautiful symphony with your eyes. 

Feeling grateful,

Louise

Doesn't the rain bring out the colours?

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 223

This beautiful sky greeted me this morning as I snaked my way along the country roads to our Ganaraska Park. My gosh it was stunning, and a great way to start a day.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

P.s. Yes I pulled over to the side of the road to snap the photo

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 222

The feeling of walking out my door, picking herbs from the garden and putting yummy, healthy food on the table is rewarding beyond words.

Mmmmm...

I'm feeling grateful, and so are our tummies,

Louise

P.s. I didn't grow the tomatoes, but the farmer down the road did. My gosh they are delishious!

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 221

After an unbelievably hectic late spring/summer life is slowly resuming it's normal flow. 

Brekkie in town.

Beautiful ride in the spectacular local Steamwhistle trails.

Relaxing afternoon in our chalet.

Feeling grateful,

Louise 

Paul, shooting me the 'are ya going to grab the bike?' look lol lol

Where's Paul?

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 220

Beautiful ride with these awesome ladies today.

I work part time as a mountain bike/fatbike guide for Ride Guides here in Horseshoe Valley. Nothing is more satisfying than getting out on my bike and touring folks through my beloved trails in Copeland Forest. 

It was a ride of giggles, conversation, new skills, accomplishments, and sheer delight. 

Feeling grateful,

Louise

Sara (Ride Guides owner) on the far right, with our guests 

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 219

Date night with my sweetie!

It's been a long summer and Paul has been a saint. Between my 7 weeks in the city, losing Mickael, and my attention pulled in a thousand ways it's so wonderful to come home to loving arms, a favourite meal, and an evening movie together.

I am a lucky girl.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

On son Eric's recommendation we are watching this

365 days of Gratitude - Day 218

Tonight we held our own memorial for Mickael. We talked, we laughed, we cried.

We decided to plant a tree along one of his favourite biking trails, and Nate built a wooden bench to go with it. Tonight we painted rocks that will be placed around the tree.

Can't wait to meet again next Thursday and carry everything into the woods and create 'Mickael's Place' !!

Feeling grateful for so many loving friends to share tonight with,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 217

Enjoying a long overdue visit with mom. A sleepover and an evening of duelling puzzles on our IPads.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 216

Here's to going out with a bang.

I hosted an 'end of contract' party with most of my crew from the city. Climbing, BBQ, sleep over, and a whole lotta laughs along the way. 

Feeling very, very, very grateful,

Louise

The kids gave us matching shirts! (Team 1 and Team 2)

At some point we attempted a group photo

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 215

After a gruelling 38 days Kelsea and I wrapped up our gig in Toronto last night. We went out with a bang too!

Imagine 8 Argentinian visually impaired Parapan Am athletes.

 

Speaking only Spanish.

Wanting to zip on our regular (not the accessible zipline), racing each other 2 at a time.

From completing the waivers, to making sure they didn't topple down 12 flights of stairs it was a challenge that required quick thinking and diligent care. 

Hell yes we got them up there! Hell yes they had an amazing time!

Feeling grateful, 

Louise

Here they are

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 214

I have blogged a few times about running an accessible zipline being rewarding in so many ways it's hard to put into words. It has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Here I am with Jacob and Jacy getting ready to harness Canadian Parapan Am medal winner Tammy McLeod. What a proud moment for us to have her ride our zipline, medal and all!

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 212

Blogging on The Lessons of Life page has brought so much joy into my life. Helping others simply by something I say or something I post always makes me feel connected to a fullfilling life purpose.

Along that journey I've met some amazing people, and Wendy and her daughter Nicole are two of them. Believe it or not we got to know each other through my blog, and one thing led to another and a beautiful friendship formed.

Tonight they invited me to dinner at their home and after a beautiful evening of nonstop talking it was hard to pull myself away. I'll head to bed with a silly grin on my face and a joyful heart.

Feeling grateful, 

Louise

Wendy and I on her balcony 

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 213

Today is Mickael's memorial that's being held by his family in Savoie, France. I am deeply honoured to have been asked to write a eulogy for my French son which will be read by his sister Anais.

My thoughts will be with the family all day. As such I wanted to dedicate my blog to Mickael. All the photos are his.

Feeling sad yet grateful,

Louise

"Who knew back in May 2011 when Mickael first arrived in Horseshoe Valley Canada that he would would enter into our home and our hearts forever, becoming our 'French son and brother.'

He was what is known as a 'game changer.' His zest for life was contagious, and his impact was felt wherever he went. Mickael had a natural way of making people feel important and cared for. 

There was a je ne sais quoi quality about him. You couldn't quite put your finger on it, but it was special. Mickael WAS special. He made the world (at least ours) a much better place. 

It didn't matter what we did, a canoe trip, hiking, mountain biking, bonfires, or just relaxing, Mickael's beautiful smile and kind words let us know how thankful and appreciative he was. 

Mickael was the hardest working young man I have ever known. He saw roadblocks as challenges and his ability to strategize solutions was admirable. Everyone who met him agreed - 'that young man is going places!'

And go places he did! Every 6 months he had the exhausting and tedious job of renewing his work visa so that he could stay in Canada. Every job he took was a means to prepare him for his ultimate goal - to become a helicopter pilot. 

It was not an easy path to organize, nor was it easy to finance. But, in true Mickael form he met those challenges head on with determination and a bit of humour. He succeeded every step of the way.

I will never forget listening to the joy in his voice when he passed his final test and became a pilot. We were so proud of him and excited for his future.

My lasting memory is of our hike up Lady MacDonald mountain in late January. I had a few moments on that difficult hike where I thought I couldn't go on. Mickael was so patient and encouraging. He knew I could do it and supported me every treacherous step. He believed in me. I will cherish those memories for my lifetime.

I once read in a book from an American author that said, when a person dies their soul has graduated. They learned all their lessons, passed all their tests and have graduated to the Other Side of life. It is those of us still with lessons to learn and tests to pass that are left behind, mourning their departure. Mickael has graduated and it is us left behind that must learn how to live a life without him. Yes his spirit will always be nearby, but we will miss his touch, his smile, his laughter, and his love.

To Mickael's family. Thank you for sharing him with us. It was easy to tell he was raised by wonderful parents and with loving siblings. He was an incredible young man and we were honoured to have him in our lives.

Anais, you are a part of Mickael and will always be connected to us, his Canadian family. I see him in you and it brings love to my heart.

Mickael, my French son. I miss your laughter, your smile, your kind words, and your love. In everything I do I continue to feel your energy, your inspiration, and your zest for life. 

Bisous bisous my French son.

Louise, Paul, Eric, Richard and Sydney Smith, your Canadian family."

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 211

This I didn't expect!

Wonderful after dinner walk in the forest with Linda and Chico and we round the corner and see this. A bra. A large white bra. Hanging in the tree. In the trails we have ridden and walked a few 1000 times.

Once I settled from the surprise couldn't help but wonder what the story was. It's not something you can easily lose while out for a hike or bike, so surely there is a funny story to be told. 

One thing for sure, it's not mine!

Feeling humoured, and grateful,

Louise

The bra

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 210

This crew. So darn grateful for this crew!

As we wrapped up our day (12 hrs for me, 11 for them), we found ourselves saying goodbye to one of our team members who was finishing his last shift. Someone shouted, 'quick, get a photo, this is the last time we'll all be together!'

So I whipped out my phone, interrupted a gent eating his dinner in the cafe by our work 'bunker,' asked if he'd take a photo, and voila this is the result.

On Aug 16th we'll be done our crazy, fun, at times intense work journey and I don't mind saying I WILL MISS THESE KIDS!!! 

I will miss listening to all the languages they speak with our international customers.

I will miss their cohesiveness and how they work so well together.

I will miss their humour! Oh my goodness I will miss their humour!

I will miss their work ethics and work attitude!

I will miss working in the trenches with them everyday.

What a lucky girl I am to have spent the last 6 weeks with so many unique and wonderful souls. 

Feeling grateful, 

Louise

My Treetop Trekking - Ontario Celebration Zone team

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 209

This type of news is what I have been working, praying, and hoping for! 

I sure hope this link works in my blog so you can all see the video.

Incredible story of an SMA Type 1 baby standing after ISIS drug trial. SO SO SO exciting!

https://www.facebook.com/tvf1964/posts/10153098226573325

Feeling very, very, very grateful,

Louise

P.s. SMA, (spinal muscular atrophy) is the #1 genetic killer of children under the age 2. 50% of kids diagnosed before the age 2 will die before their 2nd birthday.

But this ISIS trial is so exciting and results are so promising that we may be changing those statistics in the near future. My heart is full!

365 Days of a Gratitude - Day 208

So many cool foundations in the forests around us. Although this one is relatively young (cement) some of our old foundations date back to the Underground Railroad and the British Loyalists' promise of parcels of land for those who fought for them and survived.

In all their years living here Marti and Linda have never ridden to this foundation before which added a nice history element to a fabulous, fast, flowy, fun ride.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 207

I walked along my gardens today and counted 33 bumble bees.

I might have counted the same one twice a couple times, but still!

Feeling proud, feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 206

Today I fed my soul with what I call a 'discovery ride.'

Bestie Marti and I headed into the local trails with a mission of finding a highly rumoured, newly-built section of mountain biking bliss. 

This particular parcel of land is 4500+ hectares of unmarked singletrack, so finding a secretive, merely rumoured section isn't as easy as it sounds. It's a 'right at the old oak, past the pond, take a left after a left after a left, not-on-any-kind-of-map' kinda thing.

And we found it. It was a sweet, sweet, mountain biking singletrack kind of bliss!

Feeling grateful,

Louise

Along the river bank.

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 205

What a great day. Way too many reasons to list. Home for the weekend :)

Feeling grateful, 

Louise

Sweet photo - not mine, but too beautiful not to share.

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 204

One of my favourite things about working at the Toronto waterfront this summer is the amazing people we get to meet.

We've had visitors from every continent. We've had almost every ethnic group (many from right here in Toronto), and we've had people from many different religions as well. 

My favourite part of my job is chatting with everyone, finding out where they are from, and learning about their culture, country, and reasons for being in Toronto.

Imagine my surprise when I was harnessing up this group. They are from Grassy Narrows, a First Nations Reservation very close to where I grew up. I literally hugged them all as I told them I grew up in Dryden, a town in Northwestern Ontario. 

They were in Toronto for an Aboriginal Youth conference and were delighted to share their experiences with me. In turn I was able to share my favourite memory of Grassy Narrows - which was my father (a forester) bringing me a pair of mukluks when I was 6 years old - handmade by an incredibly talented elder from the Grassy Narrows reservation. I loved them so much I wore them long past my feet outgrowing them.

It's moments like this that bring my heart joy. I only wish my dad was still alive - he would have LOVED hearing this story.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 203

One of the things Mickael and I always enjoyed doing together was mountain biking. The kid was fast, daring, and way better of a rider than I could ever hope to be, yet he loved dragging his Canadian Mom (as he called me) through the trails. In the 6 months he lived with us we rode a lot!

Today I was lucky to get out in the forest with two beautiful souls. Over the years each of us have had our losses, difficulties, and tough moments, and all three of us have found solace on our bikes and in the trails.

We shared a lot of laughs today. And a lot of memories. Some about Mickael, some about other friends long gone. We even shared hilarious memories of previous rides together.

About half way through the rain started to fall. Rain is always gorgeous in a forest. It takes it's time to work through the canopy and reach us on the forest floor. It seemed to arrive at the perfect moment as we reminisced about our last rides on that specific trail with our friends who have gone on to the Other Side of life.

It felt cleansing. It felt good, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

Holly and Marion at the foundation on the newest Sugarbush trail.

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 202

I love adventure - even when it's someone else heading into it.

Tonight Daniela (my son's longtime girlfriend) stopped by to pick up some camping equipment as she and her friend head out on a canoe trip. May their portages be short (the backseat was full too).

Not gunna lie - I wish I was going with them.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 201

This was waiting for me in my inbox tonight. What a wonderful gift from a beautiful friend. 

Thank you Jenn, I needed this.

Feeling grateful,

Louise

365 Days of Gratitude - Day 200

After a long day of work (my team is amazing), I spent a beautiful evening on the Toronto waterfront with a beautiful friend.

I needed that. Thank you Brenda!

Feeling grateful,

Louise