Posts Tagged outdoors
Photos: Gobsmacked in the Kootenays
It’s impossible to capture the beauty of British Columbia on camera. You could have the widest angle lens available and the best camera money can buy, and you still won’t grab the immensity of what it feels like to fly over The Rockies, to descend into the valleys and to wind your way along the twisting roads and through the charming towns that make up Canada’s western province. But dammit, I certainly tried when I was in the Kootenays a couple of weeks ago.
How a week in British Columbia killed me… then revived me
I knew something was amiss when my Kit Kat—my favourite of all the chocolate bars (okay, second favourite, after peanut butter cups)—tasted… wrong. Too sweet. Too fake. Too I don’t know what, but not good. Could it be true? Did I really change my tastebuds and cure my daily 3pm addiction to sugar in one week? Looks like it. And I blame Mountain Trek Resort.
Quick thoughts after a Sunday summer run
The view from my running trail on a sunny Sunday morning in June
What a difference two months makes. Back in April, I participated in the WordPress Worldwide 5k event, where bloggers and runners around the world shared their local runs with the global blogging community. At the time, it was barely springtime in Toronto, which meant the ground was brown, the trees were bare, snow still littered the path, and a chill lingered in the air. This morning, on the other hand, as I headed out for my usual weekend run, the sun felt boiling on my skin and the trail was showing the true first signs of summer: brilliant green trees and lovely blossoming flowers. That chilly run I did in April felt long ago.
It’s that drastic change in scenery that is one of my favourite things about living at this latitude. Although I fantasize about living somewhere that’s warm and breezy year round, I also can’t imagine giving up the four seasons that bring us such a different landscape every few weeks. (Although, I admit that winter in Toronto has one unfortunate landscape – slush. Lots and lots of slush. And it seems to last longer than all the other seasons combined.)
But oh, even with our miserable winters, there’s still something exciting about the first snowfall every year, and there’s something even more exciting about the first hot, sunny days after a long winter. (Just check out the patios in Toronto on the first warm day of the year. You can practically feel the happiness in the air.)
So, even though sometimes I want to run away, sometimes I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
The running traveller and the Worldwide WP 5k
The trees may be bare, but on a warm spring morning, the forest is still lovely for running.
Years ago, I read an interview with a runner that has stuck with me as I’ve pursued my own running goals. (I’m ashamed to say that I don’t remember the runner’s name or what magazine the interview was in, so if the following quote sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know).
She commented that runners are a lot like travellers. Both types of people want to keep their feet moving, never staying in one place. Rather than running away from something (a common negative belief about nomads), they are running to something new – a new place, new experience, new scenery.
A love letter to Cape Trib
The end of the road, Cape Tribulation
I fell in love with Cape Tribulation unexpectedly.
In all fairness, my friends and I didn’t know much about it before we went. For some reason, I had researched every stop on our big Girls’ Australian Adventure (a month-long trip with my sister and two of our girlfriends) weeks before departure, but Cape Trib had slipped my mind. So that’s why I first ignored its attempts to woo me.
Tammy Burns is a writer and editor from Toronto, Canada, and a nomad at heart.RSS Subscription
