Our Passion: Creating an Evocative Destination
Joan and I have been innkeeping for 34 years. The average length of time in this business for “owner-innkeepers” used to be 7 years and we are certain that we have raised that average. We remain innkeepers because we are essentially educators – in the truest sense of the word. The word educate is related to educere in Latin – “to lead out” or to “evoke.” We are evokers – at least Joan is – I might be more a provoker. The inn is our “campus” and every guest room, common rooms, the gardens, and the river are classrooms. Text books are our newsletter and the books that we offer for sale or inspiration (usually inspiring guests to order from Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon or, better, their...
Remembering BS Sessions
Not long ago I found a paper I wrote with a friend while we were at the University of Manitoba. I was taking every undergraduate class in anthropology in order that I could enter graduate school the following term. I already had a BA in economics and had only taken one general anthro course. My friend, Nelson Jones, was finishing his undergraduate degree in architecture and this was a project for one his classes. In any case, it presaged many of the changes I later experienced. Sharing the common ecstasy must go further than sharing emotional time with fellow men, for ecstasy requires the deep appreciation of man and his relation to the planet upon which he lives. This is awareness of a fuller extent: Once man is able to share, once each individual is fully...
Cellphones, Cordless Phones and Cancer – Real Warnings!
This is one of most important entries I have written. I feel badly that I haven’t posted this information earlier, but I wanted to do additional research. I have sent emails to people I know with phones which appear to be more hazardous than I ever expected. For the last 15 years, I have been following research on the effects of non-ionizing radiation produced by cellphones. Our entire family and most of our staff and guests use them. Knowing their hazards makes using them a bit geeky and definitely less convenient, but, importantly, somewhat safer. In any case – let’s start with the recommendations from a stellar panel of scientists from the planet’s premier universities. First, this information is from a study released in August,...
Dining on the Road – Three Thai restaurants to note: Arun’s, Chicago; Sokhothai, Winnipeg, MB; & Siam Thai, Billings, MT
We are vegan and are no longer challenged to find decent restaurants on the road with the explosion of Asian restaurants- particularly, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese. With the exception of East Indian restaurants, most other ethnic restaurants are animal based. Just twenty years ago, there were Chinese restaurants that did not serve “bean curd” – tofu. A note on reviewing: Rarely do we discover restaurants worth reviewing. We are not interested in punishing restaurants, hotels, activities, etc. by writing bad reviews. That’s too easy – in fact I used to negatively criticize just because it made me feel better about myself – that I was able to find something wrong with some aspect of some business, event. I felt...
Home and Canadian Health Care
Awoke this morning after a very short night (didn’t get to bed until 4:00 AM). A raven called out. There were no other birds announcing their presence. I looked out over the pastures – brown and dry, dust rising up from the horses’ slow walk to find grass. Mendocino is in the midst of the dry season and our fall-winter-spring visitors, killdeer, robins, redwing black birds, are gone. There are plenty of human visitors escaping inland’s heat, exploring the California Coast, and/or just getting away from home, here, now. Our vacation was wonderful: North America is magnificent – whether the plains relieved only by rivers cutting through the otherwise flat land; grain silos and trees; rolling prairies; mountains; or the coast. We...
Musings on the Road to Winnipeg – Happiness and Expectations
The other day, on the way to Winnipeg to pick-up Kate, Joan and I talked about the nature of “happiness.” We began by trying to define happiness. I remembered my work more than 30 years before and that for one to perceive they are happy, they must abide in unhappiness – this is dualism – more specifically the binary nature of knowing, which Alan Watts called “Zero One Amazement” for its power to evoke a peak conscious state. In order for happiness to be explicitly known, we have to know unhappiness. This “unhappiness” is tacit – held within consciousness – and is subjective. In the act of knowing, “happiness” is objectified and in a sense exteriorized. Thus, if we are happy, are we aware of...
Gypsy at the Lake!
Gypsy and Joan, August 3, 2009, at Matlock, Manitoba. For those following Gypsy’s story, here he is at the Lake not shown is his extended Manitoba family. He’s a happy boy!
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