THISTLEDOWNE COMING TO THE WHOLE, PLUS A ROAD REPORT

§



On Saturday, September 12, 2009, Thistledowne is playing at the Vallican Whole! If you're in the vicinity, it's going to be a great show, and if it isn't I think you get to eat them!

Vallican Whole Community Centre
3762 Little Slocan River Road
Vallican, Slocan Valley
(250) 226-7957

Doors/drinks/goodies at 7 pm

Concert at 8 pm

Advance tickets $12 at Jennie's Books in Winlaw, Eddy Music in Nelson, or online at www.aspenswitzer.com

Tickets at the door are $15

They're just back from playing the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, The Old Fire Hall in Rossland, and the Idlewild Festival in Cranbrook. We saw them the night before we left and it was a fantastic show. (Sorry for darkness if picture; it's from the Rossland show). Don't miss it, and if you wanted to give my boy the minstrel a hug from his old Mom who wishes she could be there, that would be okay!



§

The DaD-aDa-DaD Tour is in full swing. Two weeks on the road and we're still speaking!

This morning we went into a little restaurant in St. Bride's, Newfoundland for breakfast.

"Is it too early for fish chowder?" I asked.

"It's never too early for chowder," was the reply.

It's late, I'm fighting a cold and need to go to bed, but first, here are a few pictures to get you up to speed.

The morning we left Leanne came over. She's off on big adventures, too, so it'll be a while before we get together again.



Sparwood, BC, boasts having the world's largest dump truck!



We stuck close to the border going through the Prairies. Only got onto the Trans-Canada when we absolutely had to, near Winnipeg.



Manitoba = sunflowers!



Outside Thunder Bay we stopped at the Terry Fox memorial.



Ste. Flavie, on the Gaspé Peninsula. These human-like statues, by sculptor Marcel Gagnon, emerge from the St. Lawrence River and are incredibly moving. The installation is called "La Grand Rassemblement" (The Great Gathering).



Some of the, um, entertaining signage we saw in Nova Scotia.



At last!



We went to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and visited the Miners Museum where you get to see what it's like to go underground in a coal mine. There goes Ted, on the right. You really do have to bend over because the ceiling's so low. More than a little creepy. More than a little awe-inspiring.



Our guide, Sheldon Gouthro, who's a retired miner, kept us mesmerized with his stories.



Chowing down before heading to the Newfoundland ferry.



Ted taking a little time out.



Me (that tiny dot in the middle), surrounded by gannets at St. Mary's Ecological Reserve in Newfoundland.



See the white blur against those cliffs? Birds! Gannets, mostly.







Newfoundland sunset. Yes, the sun DOES shine here!



§

THISTLEDOWNE IN ROSSLAND, DaD-aDa-DaD Tour on Final Approach

§

Two more sleeps and we're out of here! But first, come one, come all to the Old Fire Hall in Rossland (BC) for 8 PM this Thursday, August 20, 'cause Aspen Switzer and Thistledowne are going to ring your chimes.

You got your Aspen:


You got your Jessa:


You got your Jesse:


only he's looking like this these days:


Put 'em together and you got your Thistledowne:



Back together for limited engagements this summer. Rossland. Old Fire Hall. 8PM. Thursday, the 20th. Like, tomorrow, at this typing.

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

And what of the DaD-aDa-DaD Tour? How is that coming along? Well, they started to pack the car. And then they unpacked it, because they both know they tend to take waaaaay too much stuff when they travel. But there's stuff like footwear. He-of-the-One-Foot doesn't get that She-of-Two-Feet needs a bit of a variety. But that variety comes with a bulky price tag.

She'll wear sandals to start (it's gone hot again),
but what does she wear
when the weather cracks,
as it inevitably must?

Sensible walking shoes.
And when it gets cold?
Boots, warm, with good grips, somewhat water-resistant
—once Ucluelet's Wild Pacific Trail proved
just how un-waterproof they are,
but there was a bit of a wild Pacific storm at the time.

Actual rain boots, to go with the rain gear
she found cowering in a closet this evening.
Bulky. But necessary.
Always leave room for peace of mind.

§

THE DaD-aDa-DaD TOUR—COUNTDOWN BEGINS

§

And what, you may be wondering, is the DaD-aDa-DaD Tour?

Take one determinably footloose and wanting to be fancy-free couple (aka He and She). Add a fuel-respecting vehicle (Heidi the Hybrid*). Throw in a couple of months freed up for moseying across the country and back. What've you got?

A DaD-aDa-DaD Tour.

Meet He and She, as taken by our talented photo-taker/actress/all-round-great granddaughter, Amber:


He and She were driving somewhere a few weeks ago. She was window-gazing. He was chattering.

She: So we're going to drive all the way to Newfoundland like this?

He: Yep. Day after day after day.

She: (muttering) Day after day after day after day after day...

We figure it'll take nine days of driving to reach North Sydney (from southeastern BC), and we have a ferry booked for early September to take us to Argentia.



And we're supposed to be out of here in about two weeks! There are notes to leave for the house-sitter. Myriad loose ends to tie up. A book project to finish (about 1/4 done). And still lots of summer-related partying, and we haven't even packed yet, never mind decided what we really need to take. And August postcard poems to write (and receive! I've had about half a dozen, so far, and they're great!). And I'm even doing the 3:15 Experiment again this year, having taken last year off due to a completely fucked-up sleep schedule. (Thank you, Merry Menopause.)

When you're counting down, it all counts.



DaD-aDa-DaD 2009. We've both been wanting to do this for eons. He did it once before, only from Vancouver, with young children and a dog and a long-suffering then-wife. I've driven as far as Toronto from here, and that was in 1976. It's a road trip. It's a patriotic (ad)venture. It's us!

Of course, I'm sure, at times, it'll be a reality show in a car (and you know what reality shows can be like). She will be trying to write a poem. He will be trying to figure out how far they should go tonight. They both (separate cameras, of course) remember when that used to mean something else entirely.

If/when I get a chance, I'll be updating this. And if you're on our route, you just might be hearing from us in person.

Let the countdown begin!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*oh yes, the Honda Civic Hybrid. Love the car, hate the weird little ads that come up if you surf on over to CTV.ca (only if you want to; I'm not supplying the link) for a little news. "Firefighters rewarded for saving Sikh holy book" was what I went there to read, but first I had to watch little swirling images that proclaimed Civic 11 and proffered attestations such as—Canada's best-selling car for 11 years—and logo (I think there's a more precise word for one that's realized in chrome, but I can't remember what it is) and tiny red maple leaves and finally, the car itself, twirling slowly, just above the first paragraph of the story I wanted to read. The whole thing didn't last longer than about 5 seconds, maybe, but man, was it annoying! Just sayin'.

I find I get a lot of my news online now. The switch-over, for me, was the start of the West Kelowna fires. After a bit of digging and delving I discovered that some of the most up-to-date info was given me via Twitter. The first one—Glenrosa— began on a Saturday afternoon (July 18th) and just try and get decent TV coverage about something like that on a Saturday.

§