MUNGO EATS Latin America

It has been flipping cold out for far too long.  Calgary has been sitting in the deep freeze for about 2 weeks now.  It’s winter, so I am not expecting warm weather, but it is rather unusual for the weather to be this cold, for so long.  How cold?  It has not risen above –15 for at least 2 weeks, and during that time, there have been high wind chills, so it feels even colder. 

I mentioned once before that Mungo is not great with cold weather.  He needs to wear a jacket and boots when it is this cold (which he does very reluctantly).  Even when it is cold though, he still insists on going outside for a walk.  He enjoys it and really does not give in until you take him out.  This week though, I believe we reached his breaking point.  I was getting ready to take him out and had assembled all that I required at the front door.  Jacket, and boots for both of us, his leash, my hat and mitts.  All that was missing was the hound dog.  Where was the hound dog??  He had bailed.  Once he realized I was seriously going to take him out into the great white north yet again, he went back to his couch.  Not only was he laying on the couch, but he managed to burrow under a blanket and was almost completely hidden by the blanket.  I guess he didn’t want to go out!

Mungo missed two walks this week.  That is the first time for that in the past 3 years.  The good news is, that the weather is breaking.  This morning it is –11 and by this afternoon it will be –4.  By Sunday, it will be almost 10 degrees ABOVE zero!!!  I love chinooks.  In any case, we will get out walks in for sure.  I can’t wait to warm my bones!!!

Day 70:  I am thankful for the warm weather around the corner and a dog that finally seems to be developing some common sense!  No one should “stroll” when there is a wind chill of –35!!

I have always been a proud Canadian, and I have always loved the beautiful country that I live in.  I would say that my adventure last year reaffirmed in my mind just how lucky I am to call this country home.  Although we explored some beautiful and amazing places, none could compare to my own backyard. 

Yesterday I attended the citizenship ceremony for my friend Lucho.  Lucho is the husband of our ex-nanny, Giulliana, and like her, he is from Peru.  Giulliana became a Canadian citizen while we were away on our big adventure.  Yesterday it was Lucho’s turn to join the “Canadian family”.  I would like to tell you about the ceremony. 

The ceremony takes place in a room in the Harry Hayes building downtown.  Citizenship candidates must enter through a special entrance and their paperwork is checked and confirmed.  Guests can go into the room through a different entrance.  As you await the ceremony, two large screens at the front of the room show images of our country.  There are pictures of the mountains, the coasts, the amazing forests, and people playing hockey and enjoying other activities.  Just watching these images made me a little misty eyed.

An RCMP officer, in full ceremonial dress, escorted the judge into the room.  She gave an opening statement which discussed the merits of being a citizen.  The candidates were then asked to stand and they swore allegiance to the country.  They then went up to the front of the room, one by one, to receive their certificates and citizenship cards.  Finally, the national anthem was sung.

It was really tough for me to hold it together through the ceremony and I cried tears of joy a few times.  I just barely choked my way through “Oh Canada”!  I was just so happy for everyone.  Besides just loving this land, being Canadian offers such amazing freedoms.  We traveled through most of the countries in the  western hemisphere and never once required a visa or any paperwork, other than our Canadian passport.  In the past, Lucho and Giulliana had to ASK permission of their federal government to travel to Canada and to most countries in the world, and this permission was sometimes denied.  Even after they had secured jobs and had lives in Canada, their travel here could be denied.  No more will they have to ASK to travel, they can just hop on a plane and travel to most places in the world without hesitation.  It is an amazing gift!! 

Many countries that we traveled to were filled with poverty, corruption, oppression, the citizen barely managing, not thriving.  Many people that we met had very little opportunity to advance or succeed.  Health care was beyond the reach of many as well.

So folks, I know we like to complain that Canada is not perfect.  I know it is cold (especially as I write this) and the politics are boring.  I know that we pay pretty high taxes, as well.   But remember the amazing things.  Remember our freedom, remember that our country is peaceful, remember that we are a respected country throughout the world, and if you are lucky enough to be Canadian…REJOICE!!!!!

Day 69:  Today I am thankful for my wonderful heritage and that my dear friends can now enjoy all the benefits of saying, “I AM CANADIAN!!”  It truly IS a wonderful thing!

Here is how the weekend went.  We did end up going out to Canmore.  Even though  the weather hovered around -15C all day, the coaches figured they could race, so off we went.  It actually was not as cold as I worried it would be.  There was very little wind, so it did not feel as bad as I thought it would.  Sean actually spent most of the time that he was not skiing playing outside. 

In any case, the race was a bit of a fiasco.  Since it was cold, the coaches were having a hard time keeping the guns working.  Two of our kids missed all their targets, because there was not enough air pressure in the guns to propel the bullets as far as the targets.  A few of the targets stuck as well, resulting in more penalty laps.  Sean’s race was a bit of a disaster as well.  The race on Saturday was shorter.  They skied 3 laps and shot at the range twice, but at Sunday’s race, they were supposed to ski 4 laps and shoot three times.  Somehow this info did not reach Sean’s ears, and so he only skied 3 laps and was therefore disqualified.  It is a shame actually, because he could have at least won another silver.  He was very disappointed.  I had been roped into volunteering, so I was kind of upset as well.  Had I been able to cheer him on, or even talk to him before the race, I might have shared this info with him.  Oh well, hopefully he will get over it (although on the ride home yesterday, he was pretty sure he was through with racing!  Sean can be a bit of a drama queen/king.)

Kevin and Sara had a different adventure.  Kevin is on the hunt for a motorcycle.  I guess he figures he has to keep up with his motorcycle mama, so he and Sara went to a motorcycle show in town.  Nothing was purchased, but some nice vehicles were seen and I think he has nailed down what type of bike he would like.  The exciting part of the day for Sara was that she got to ride a motorcycle herself for the first time.  Yamaha set up a "learn to ride" and kids could try riding, first hand.  They were fully geared first.  Kevin said it took almost 15 minutes to get all the gear on the kids.  Then they were let loose to "ride"!  So here is Sara all geared up.

And here she is riding.  She looks pretty good, even though the motorcycle is a bit small for her.

She said she had a lot of fun. 

Day 68:  I am thankful that I got a ride out to Canmore yesterday, instead of having to drive myself.  Also I am thankful for my "cool little chick" Sara!

Busy days…busy days.  Sorry for the wait, folks.  Here goes the next post.  It is Sunday morning and it is cold out.  There is snow blowing and the wind is giving the city quite a wind chill.  It is just the type of day that makes you want to hole up inside, light a fire and read the day away.  I am not sure if that will be happening or not though.  Currently we are in a holding pattern. 

There is a biathlon race scheduled in Canmore, and Sean is registered to race.  Sean’s age group shoots with air rifles, and the air rifles will not function properly when it is -15 C or colder.  Currently in Canmore, it is -15C.  So we are waiting to see if they cancel the race or not.  We do not have to be there until noon, so conceivably we could leave Calgary as late as 11 am.  I don’t know how the roads are, but it certainly is not the type of day that you want to just go for a drive and wait to see what shakes out for the race.  If the race is canceled, I am not going anywhere. 

I am not sure if I want the race to be canceled or not.  It would be nice to stay indoors, but Sean raced yesterday as well, and he came in second…again.  The reason he came in second yesterday, was because he did not shoot clean.  He missed two shots.  The fellow that won first was a teammate of his.  He is not as fast a skier as Sean, but he shot clean and this was enough to secure him a gold.   If the race goes today, it would be a pursuit race.  The gold medal winner starts the race first and 5 seconds later, the second place finisher starts, followed 5 seconds later by the third place finisher, etc.  Everyone tries to chase down the leader (hence the pursuit name).  It is an exciting race to watch, because you can always tell who is in what finish position.  The first person to cross the line is the winner.  Since Sean and his teammate are pretty evenly matched, it could make for an exciting race. 

In any case, here we sit, waiting for news to plan our day by.  I think I will have another cup of coffee.

Day 66:  I am thankful for a warm home and a second cup of coffee.

My little boy is growing up!!  Not my biological  little boy, but my furry hound boy.  (I am sure the biological boy is growing too, he grows all the time, but today, he is not the topic of discussion!)

Mungo has been a challenge.  A worthy challenge, but a challenge just the same.  His “challenging” habits include jumping on visitors, running after dogs in off leash situations, barking when left in a vehicle or alone (except for at home or in his kennel), etc. 

He turned three last week, and I think that three may have been the magic age for this hound.  This week he did NOT do two of the three annoying habits listed above.  He did not jump on at least two visitors AND he sat and did not bark when left alone.  Let me explain.

In the past, if you left Mungo tied up somewhere, even if he could see you, even if you were only gone for a short time, there would be barking, and crying and general carrying on.  He also would chew at this leash in an effort to get loose, so that he could get to you.  He destroyed a few leashes this way, and at one time, I used to walk him with a metal leash, so that I  could tie him up without the possibility of him chewing through.  Now don’t start thinking that I am the meanest owner ever.  IF he was tied, it was seriously never for more than a minute or two.  I actually worked for weeks (months) on our walks (when he was younger), trying to tie him for short periods and disappearing around a fence or an alley, trying to extend the time he would be content with me out of his site.  Like so much of our training though, this never translated into “real life”.  He could easily sit for a few minutes on a walk, but panic if I tried to translate this into a minute outside the convenience store.  Frustrating. 

It may sound strange, but I actually kind of forgot about this issue when we were travelling.  He was never given the chance to be tied out without us, because we were always worried about what would happen to him if he was unattended. 

Yesterday was so beautiful outside.  I needed something from the grocery store for dinner (one key ingredient), but I also wanted to walk the hound.  I decided to combine the two tasks and walk up to the grocery store.  I would zip in, while Mungo waited and then we would complete our walk.  I never even thought of his “issue” as I tied him outside the store.  I told him to wait and in to the store I went.  I easily located my key item and went to the checkout to pay.  Wow…crazy…people everywhere!  I quickly chose the fastest looking line and that is when it hit me…Mungo hates being tied up.  So now I had a dilemma.  Should I forget my key ingredient, and hurry back to the hound?  Should I stay in line (which by the way was going NOWHERE fast)?  I couldn’t hear and barking and carrying on, but you never know.  As I sat in line, watching the world’s slowest cashier struggle to cash out the two people in front of me, the tension mounted.  Would I find my dog tied up when I got out?  Would he be freaked out?  Would he be gone?  Would I need to buy a new lead?

I finally paid for my one item and rushed out to see.  There he was.  Although he was happy to see me, he was not in a panicked state and the leash did not even have one tooth mark in it.  YEAH!!!  What a dog!

Day 65:  I am thankful for a relatively calm hound, on the end of his leash!