How many of you out there feel like this is you when trying out new programs, diets, fads, etc.?

How many of you out there feel like no matter what you do, no matter what the instruction is, no matter how little you eat, that you just seem to be falling back into the same trap that has wrapped up your life’s body in a sea of turbulent frustration.  We are bombarded with eat this, don’t eat this, eat just plants, eat just fats, etc etc etc.  Where do we get the information that can first be trusted, be truthful, and be honest with its findings and once we find the info, how do we apply it to whatever it is that we are needing to do.  This has always been a dilemma with the amount of information available out on the world wide internet…

You will always find websites spouting off this and that but if you look closely, all they are doing is trying to sell you something.  Supplement companies abound on the internet, trying to find their sales niche that will allow them to find financial freedom. With that comes a large array of information on health, vitamins, etc.  it isn’t all true what you read on the internet and I for one find myself wading thru useless websites trying to find the right info.

We have done the exercise routines, we have done various levels of nutrition, and we have done detoxing.  All things that have worked but not really well.  I think that if you are extremely disciplined and not allow yourself to fall prey to the carb cravings then you will have success with the plans put in place by so many health gurus, trainers, etc. but is it sustainable?  Will that way of life  enable you to achieve a lifetime of health?

I don’t know for sure on that one but for us, we have found much success with the findings by Dr. Jason Fung.  He is a published author of so many books and videos and he uses science rather than fads to promote his ideas.  This to me is extremely important for success for us all.  I like this as it gives you a base to go from that is proven and not just hearsay.

Dr. Fung is all about FASTING.  If you can do anything in your life to help your current health issues, then take a long look, and I mean a long long look at his book “The Obesity Code”.  It details in fairly plain english the ins and outs of living your life in a carb free world.  This day and age it is extremely difficult to go thru your day without being baited to eat carbs.  Everything we put in our mouths, everything we buy from the store has to be looked at for us to enjoy a carb free environment.  Sugar and refined carbohydrates seem to be in everything from ketchup to Lea and Perrins.  Snacks are and always will be the bane of our world because of their addicting nature, so to find snacks without them can be tough to do because the world doesn’t want to not have carbs.  You have the masses addicted to carbs and you have stores that are in business for profit.  Hmm, what do you think happens now?  Stores will cater to the masses because that is where the profits are. With the masses.

We have found that over the last year and a half that we are able to live in a carbohydrate free world but I have to say its a tough one.  The discipline and the will power it takes to stave off the bait is incredible.  Something as simple as going to a birthday party can be tough.  Everyone is “oh come on, its just one piece of cake”.  You say no, but your mind is reeling, as it is trying every trick in the world to help you justify that sugar. It tastes so good, it fulfills your addiction and so you say no for so long and then you cave in. You tell yourself, ok I will start tomorrow, again.  The perpetual sugar wheel is in full swing.

Last year I went three months without any sugar whatsoever and to be honest I had never felt better. My joints weren’t aching, my waistline was shrinking, I was sleeping better and I was finding that I needed less sleep.  I wasn’t lethargic during the day like I used to be. The stupid thing was that I went to a birthday party and they had cake there.  I found justification by allowing myself to have that piece of cake.  I told myself, oh hell go ahead you deserve it. You have been so good for 3 months.  That moment was like any moment that any addict goes thru.  You tell yourself its OK and away you go and right back to where you started from.

I had lost 45 pounds in those three months and was looking and feeling better than I had in years.  I did all that without any exercise at all.  This was amazing to me and I couldn’t believe how much fat I had lost.  All this without eating any carbs.  No potatoes, no pasta, no wheat and definitely no sugar.  I am excited to start our new program starting this Friday, October 4th.  We have joined the Skillz kickboxing club and with the help and guidance of their staff along with our own fasting regime I am super excited to see where this goes.  I will be doing a daily log of my Blood pressure, my food logs and doing a High intensity aerobic regime which was missing from last year.  As most of you know, I struggle with knee pain due to Osteo arthritis in both knees.  My goal is to lower my weight and increase my muscle mass so that I have an easier recovery from knee surgery.

If there is anyone out there that would like to try this fasting regime with us we would love to hear from you.  Support, ideas and being accountable are all things that will enable us to find success.  Leanne and I are lucky to have each other but there is always room for others in our journey.  Please for your own sake, take a look at Dr. Fung’s books and videos.  Google them, YouTube them, etc.  just get the info.

We are starting this Friday for a 6 week program at our new gym.  Please join us if for anything else, just for someone to help along the way.  We look forward to hearing from you all.  You can email me at rweeds@shaw.ca or message on here if you are interested in hearing about what we are doing or just need a gentle nudge to keep you on track.

Lets all be accountable for our health…its the only way to succeed!!!!

 

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As I sat and listened to the radio on my morning commute I heard Cliff’s call on the Q.  He was talking about the fact that the Victoria school board is wanting to change the name of George Jay elementary school because George Jay was a racist by not allowing Chinese immigrants to attend school if they couldn’t speak english clearly.

This is the first time I had heard of this and obviously would have just gone along like everyone else without any knowledge of  the history behind the name.  Much like the statue that got removed from City Hall would many of us know the history? Would it make a difference to you and your world?  How does it change the way you think or perception of the statue or the name of a school.  Cliff makes a point about the fact that the racism shown by this person was at a time where it was accepted and part of the worlds culture, or at least north american culture.  I find that to be way to easy of an out and one that should be explored.

Racism should never be an issue but as we all know this isn’t and wasn’t always the case. History has shown us that we, as humans don’t take to change or differences very well.  There is no way that racism can ever be accepted by anyone.  To glorify someone from our past should leave us no question as to what they are about.  If I was visiting Victoria and saw the statue of John A. Macdonald, would I know his history?  I doubt it, and I would carry on or if I was wanting to know the history I could find out easily enough and then make my own decision on whether its right to have one there or not.

Katie Hooper, executive director of the Esquimalt Nation, applauded the decision.

“Removing this statue is an important step in the city’s reconciliation journey, and is a symbol of progress towards and end to discrimination and oppression,”

By removing the statue does it make things right?  Does it change history?  Not a chance, but what it does accomplish is making awareness about the atrocities inflicted upon society at a time where it was sort of accepted by the masses.  There has been an argument that John Macdonald did so many good things for our country and that may be so, but what about the really bad things that were done?  Why do we glorify this man by having a statue created.  Having the information available to us now gives us the opportunity to be more aware, more attentive to the plight put upon those individuals at a time in our world that was changing at an incredibly rapid pace.  The culture, the thought process, the lack of human dignity put upon our society is unacceptable.

There is no excuse EVER for racism.  Its appalling to think that there is still racism in the world.  What a shame that we can’t all just enjoy our lives knowing that we are all respected as human beings no matter the circumstances of where we live or the color of our skin.  Such a shame that we cant live in a better world.  Please do me a favor and the next time you want to tell a racist joke, perhaps laugh at someone the way they look, or perhaps the way they talk, take a moment to try and understand what the results of your actions might have on that person.  Better yet, take a look at yourself and question why you feel its OK to make fun of someone just because they are different than you.  Don’t justify your joke or racist comments by saying you were only joking.  Making fun of anyone is not acceptable for any reason and quite honestly shows a lack of respect and dignity for our fellow humans.

Perhaps you make fun of the way someone talks because of their race.  Is that ok?  I dont think so.  The world seems to be getting very politically correct and I get it.  At first I found it all to be quite ludicrous because I didn’t know or thought about the end results but with more awareness we can all overcome the issues by just being better people.

Stop Racism, stop hate, stop being so damn selfish and think of others.

It’s not ok, EVER…

 

It seems that we have fallen into the same trap.  We know the tools, we know the things we need to do to achieve our goals but for some reason we fall backwards.  How do we achieve discipline or better yet how do we succeed at something that honestly should be second nature to us.  Our society has become complacent in regards to our personal health.  On one hand we are bombarded everyday with the visuals, the sounds, and the constant in your face advertising to eat healthy, exercise and be glamorous.  Magazines certainly portray this and the media does what the media does by making it seem that you are anything but glamorous if you don’t follow what they say, use the products they endorse etc.  In the end, for a lot of people out there its just a trap.  You buy the products, you try the products and if you don’t have instant success then we say screw it and go back to what we know and love.

We run into people everyday that say, “oh you have to live your life and its to short to not eat the cake”.  Is this our destiny as a human race? Is this the way that will in the end wipe out mankind?  I am not sure about the last one but it does seem that in a very short time, the human race has indeed become just that. A human race.  Every day we get caught up in the “be first mentality”.  Our daily commute to work is a prime example.  People not letting others into line, or yelling at a driver because they did something wrong or flipping the proverbial bird at them.  I see this everyday.  I wonder how it affects my psyche overall.  Do we become immune to the insensitivity of those actions. We yell, we scream, we rant and rage all because we have to be first to get where we are going.  I laugh at these driver’s because for the most part they all end up at the same light side by side as we continue on our daily commute.  No further ahead than if you had just been nice and let that person in, or take our time.

The race as I call it, should really begin everyday by doing something tangible.  My thought is that you should always start your day by making your bed.  Now this may seem like a very small thing, but honestly it is the seed to a great day of growth.  For so many years I was under the thought process that “why make the bed as I am just going to sleep in it tonite. I found that all the things I did were always based on just that.  Why do it and make the effort when I can just do as little as possible and get by. This was my mantra my entire life.  Being lazy and just doing enough to do what was needed.  Nothing extra, nothing more. Just complacency.  So now, I make my bed when I get up as this gives me a sense of accomplishment and enables me to start my day.  How do we train our minds, our bodies, our culture to do more than just enough or more than what is expected.  I can remember in school when I would get a report back from the teacher and for the few times I actually did more than expected I would get praised for it.  That always felt good and made me feel like I had accomplished something.  Just like making your bed everyday…

I digress, as this started out as a reminder that we all need to be more diligent in the way we perceive life, our habits, and our culture as a whole.  Leanne and I have started on another healthy regime…I know I know, you are all probably rolling your eyes as we go through this every couple of years.  What I have found tho is the last year and a bit, we have been doing IF/EF on a regular basis. This along with watching what we eat has actually turned out quite well.  I have kept the weight off and it seems to be quite simple to make it all work.  No processed carbs, no sugar of any kind and only eating twice a day.  As simple as that sounds, it does come with challenges.  Everyday we find ways to justify a cookie, a piece of bread etc.  Justification for the things we want is easy.  Being disclipined is not so easy.  I find that if Leanne and I are watchdogs for each other then it does get easier but that little bugger of a devil on my shoulder says…oh go ahead, eat the cookie.  its just one.  its getting easier but I think it will always be a struggle to handle those demons that have been in our minds, thoughts all our lives.

Leanne and I have joined Skillz kickboxing and we start on October 4th.  The plan is to do a minimum of 3 sessions a week of intense cardio.  I will not be able to do the kick boxing part as my knee for now wont allow that but the cardio from boxing, hitting the bag, etc along with core strength training will do wonders for us and our goals.  The most important goal for me right now is getting my body in as best as shape as I can for my up coming knee surgery in the spring.  I have to lower my body fat index and my blood pressure.  I struggle with any impact stuff on my knees so running, etc is out. Even the eliptical is hard on them.  I am super excited to try boxing as a fitness source.  Havent tried it as a mainstay to cardio.  I think it will be a challenge but one that I need to do.

Wish us luck and if we inspire you to be a healthier, better person then let us know.  Give us feedback, ideas, etc. on how to help us ensure our success.  If you feel the need to do what we are going to do then lets get it done.

Here is a link to the Skillz site.  If you join, please let them know we referred you.

https://joinkickboxingvictoria.com/skillzvictoria

Here we go folks…lets kick some ass!!!!

 

Where does your inspiration come from?

I haven’t written anything for a long time and its not because of writers block, or some physical ailment that has kept me from throwing down words.  Its just life. Life for us is extremely busy and for the most part I am ok with it but it certainly puts a strain on my brain.  It seems at times that all we do is go out to restaurants, pubs, riding etc.  but what I truly crave is downtime and spending that time with Leanne.

For the most part life just goes along as it should but there are times that I need to slow down.  I did that this year by becoming a member at Highland Pacific Golf Course.  It has been an amazing journey so far and one that I have always wanted to do.  Bucket list item #46 was to have a golf membership at some point in my life and I achieved that.  My goals were to cut my handicap in half from last year. It was at 28 and now down to 12.1.  The other goal was to shoot under 80 for a round of 18.  I have never shot under 80 before until a couple weeks ago.  I shot a 74 on a par 70 course.  4 over???…very happy with that.  Its a great feeling when the things you do and work on all come together.

Unfortunately, with all the golf that I played, it came at the expense of my knees.  I used a power cart the whole time but as you know there is still copious amounts of walking.  I know it probably doesn’t seem like much but I have now ended up escalating the need for my knees to be replaced.  All the abuse I put my knees thru for so many years has now caught up to me.  For the better part of 25 years I was grossly overweight and sporting an extra 90 lbs of fat.  This took its toll on my knees, health and my mobility.  I put up with it for a very long time and just accepted the fact that I would always be destined for an inactive senior life due to my health.  What I found out is that thru better eating, exercise and just overall being more aware of my health that I have now lost those extra 90 pounds of fat.  Unfortunately my knees have taken the brunt of that weight and with that came a degeneration of the cartilage in both of them.  What this means is that I don’t have any shock absorber between the bones so any impact at all hurts like a mother****er.  I now have end stage Osteo-arthritis in both knees.

So on to the next phase of my life. I only have 4 years to go before I retire and I want to attack my retirement with all the zest and desire to live it like there is no tomorrow.  I want to travel with Leanne, I want to experience things that are new to me.  So with that said, I have consulted my doctor and she recommended me to the Re-balance team for me to get started on a knee replacement.  It will be one at a time and it couldn’t come any quicker as my right knee is getting more and more painful as time goes by.  I am walking with a cane now to help with the discomfort.  I consulted with the specialist Dr. Pugh and he is in agreement that I am certainly due for the knee resurfacing as it is called.

This is very exciting and muchly anticipated after talking with so many people that have had the procedure done. They all say its the best thing they have ever done and how much it changed their lives. This is very thrilling for someone that has had knee pain for a very long time.  The recovery is hard but the end result will be worth all the effort, pain and time needed to get back to a more active lifestyle.

With all that said, here I am feeling burnt out from just being too damn busy.  I am feeling the need to step back from my life a little and take stock of what is most important.  My wife is the most important thing to me in my life and I want to experience many more years with her which includes being more active, being in love and enjoying life.  She is a lot more social than I am as I enjoy my time at home.  I don’t have this constant need to be surrounded by people or out doing things all the time as I am quite content to find a good movie, maybe do some stuff around the condo, or in the future go hiking, walking etc with Leanne.  These are the things that I look forward to everyday, but lately it seems that life is going in other directions.  I need to slow down and slow my roll so to speak.  I have found over the years that I treasure those down times a lot more than I use to and I find at times that I yearn for it but never say anything and just let life slide on by.

My impending surgery is scheduled to take place in roughly 6 months and I am feeling the need to get myself ready for the recovery. I need to get back on the eating lifestyle (I took the summer off), I need to start exercising again and I need to find ways to get my cardio done without hurting my knees.  This will be a challenge but with the support from Leanne I know I can get it done.  I am going to be making some very serious life changes which will include a different eating lifestyle, exercise and social.

Eating lifestyle is easy as we have been on the IF/EF plan for over a year now and the weight for the most part has stayed off.  I want to lose another 30-40 pounds of fat as that will help me in all other aspects of my recovery and in life.

Exercise is something that will be difficult but I can do it.  I cant do any impact stuff so it cuts down on what I can do for Cardio, but I will adapt and make it happen. Lowering my blood pressure is high on the priority list.

Cutting down the social part will be hard.  Leanne and I are basically pretty sociable people and are involved in so many different hobbies and activities that it may be harder than I anticipate.  I am just so tired of all the boozing, the weed smoking and going to bars for social activities.  There is way to much in life to waste it away in a bar or just boozing in general.  There are no good things that come from boozing and I don’t want it in my life any longer.

These are all things that I have control over and it is only myself to blame if I am unable to change my habits and thoughts in regards to it all.

I am going to try and keep a daily log of my journey to a better life so as of September 1st, 2019 I am giving up all booze, smoking pot, and eating sugar of any type.  With impending surgery happening anytime from now till the spring, I need to be ready for it.  Lowering my BP is imperative and I can only do that thru diet and exercise and to focus on what is most important.  If anyone out there wants to join me on this journey, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  These things are always easier when you have support and camaraderie with like minded people.

I love life and the people that are in it with me.  To all my friends, I apologize ahead of time if I seem anti-social or not wanting to indulge in the things that I once took for granted and didn’t care the outcome.  I cant do the same things everyday and expect a different outcome so with that said you wont be seeing much of me any longer.  My focus is on me, my health (physical and mental), and the rest of my life.  It will be a different kind of ride so please, if you are inclined then join me on this journey so that we can all get to our senior years and be able to enjoy them.

Say it with me slowly…

If nothing changes, then nothing changes.

 

 

 

 

I think of our love and I know that it will never wain
its a love that runs deep in my heart, I don’t have to explain

For that love is real, its pure, its magical, its there every day
its a love that is cherished, its a love that easily comes our way

Without any hesitation, without any doubt in my mind
That love fills my heart, it overflows it, a bond that will bind

Our time together, although short by the counted years
Its been an eternity in the making, thru smiles and tears

Every moment we spend together builds that love piece by piece
Warming our hearts, and our lives, like a warm comfy fleece

So when I say to you, Leanne, I love you more
I am only saying that from yesterdays love, today it will soar

You and I have always been destined to be as one
So lets get on our bikes together and retire in the sun

I love you baby!!!!!

 

The blast started out as an idea by Zarly, who you all know by now is my co-worker and often riding bud. We were both talking about how much we wanted to go for a ride to the states. He has been all over the place on his adventures and I wanted to start mine off with a bang. So at that point the Volcanic Blast was born. Friday the 23rd rolled around and I was all packed from the night before. I didn’t sleep much that night as the adrenaline was pumping through me like an uncontrollable river rushing through a canyon. My mind raced all over the place as I dreamt about the ride that Zarly and I were about to undertake. What transpired over the next 3 days was nothing short of spectacular. A true learning experience for me as I was faced with a few things that you only learn about from experience.

Friday morning I was to meet Zarly at the local Beamer dealer as he was getting a tune-up and some new tires. Geesh, he had only owned the bike for 2 months and already he needed new tires. What a madman, all those miles and still his desire to ride just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I rolled into SM Cycle in beautiful sunny Langford at around 10:00 am. His bike was all done and away we went. We were trying to catch the 11:00 am ferry at Swartz Bay. For all you out there that don’t know us, we live on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. So for us, we have to cross 20 miles of Pacific Ocean floating on the BC Ferries to get to the mainland. This isn’t such a big deal but our Provincial Government loves to overcharge for this service. There is nothing we can do about it except not take the ferry. This is not acceptable as one can imagine that living on an island you get a little tired of the small area that we have to ride here. This doesn’t mean that Vancouver Island isn’t a great ride, but it means that it doesn’t take to long to ride it all.

We arrived at the terminal with plenty of time. As is the way of riding a motorcycle you always run into people you know or will know very shortly. I have found for the most part that riders are some of the friendliest people I have ever come across. Waiting in the lineup on a gorgeous August morning I turned around and heard a sport bike come up behind us. It turned out to be Rav, who I met when taking my Motorcycle Safety course. He was heading over to the mainland for the weekend. After loading onto the ferry we headed upstairs to the coffee lounge to ponder over the ride ahead of us and get a good caffeine buzz. We did achieve the buzz but didn’t get in too much talk about the ride ahead of us as Rav tried to wow us with his talk about the Vroom Crew and all the wonderful things they do on Wednesday evenings. The Vroom Crew are a bunch of Sportbike riders that love to show off by doing wheelies, burnouts, tricks and just a whole whack of really stupid, life threatening things that a bike was never meant to do. Zarly was getting a kick out of listening to this young new rider talk about his club. After much head shaking and scolding I think we convinced Rav that this really wasn’t the best thing to do on a bike. I don’t really believe that he will change, but what the hell, it passed the time away as the captain came over the loudspeaker that we were nearing Tsawassen terminal. We headed down to the bikes and prepared to unload off of the Government owned cash cow.

As always happens to me when coming off the ferry on the mainland, I have an overwhelming sense of elation and pure freedom. One can only feel this when you have lived on an island for most of your life and you are faced with a whole continent at your disposal. When I ride on Vancouver Island I can ride from one side to the other in a couple of hours. When on the mainland it would take me a couple of weeks to get to the other side…(EastCoast). We blasted off the ferry and as we headed out on to the freeway, Rav, who was just itching to get going decided to show off and pull a wheelie. Zarly and I just shook our heads, and waved to Rav as he rocketed passed us. We were in a different space for our ride. We were heading to the good old US of A.

The day was very hot, not a single cloud in the sky and we were in full gear. My only saviour was I had a half helmet that gave my head and ears some much needed wind. We flew out Highway 10, and proceeded to the Peace Arch crossing to get to the states. Well it turns out that everyone else was having the same idea as we did. There was a 2 to 3 hour wait to get across. It was so hot that in between the lines of cars there were Ice cream salesman with their carts selling their wares. What a blast. We said screw this and decided to turn around and head to the truck crossing. There is never lineups there. Hah…we get there to find another lineup but only an hour wait. Again, we said screw this and decided we would rather ride than sit in a lineup. Turning around, we headed east on Highway 1 to get to the Sumas border crossing. After about a 45 minute drive we arrived at the Sumas crossing.

There seemed to be another lineup. I was so deflated. All I wanted to do was ride in the USA and we couldn’t get there. As we sat in the lineup, I looked up ahead and there was a sign saying “Duty Free purchasers go here”. I donned my helmet and away I went. I think I heard Zarly swear as he noticed I was going to butt into line way up ahead. Instead of pulling into the duty free I pulled up beside a convertible Mustang with an older gentleman in it. I asked him if this was the line for the duty free. He said no. I looked up and there was only about 5 cars in front of him before the crossing. I yelled to Doug if he would rather get Duty free on the way back. Smiling he nodded to me and the older gentleman asked if we would like to pull in front of him to get in the line. We obliged his kindness and with a huge grin we crossed the border.

It amazes me the difference you feel when you cross that border. Twenty feet back the other way and you are in Canada. It really shouldn’t make any difference but being on the other side of the border is very liberating. I knew then that I would be coming here more often. I loved the feeling I got when crossing that border on my trusty Ace. Two wheels and nothing but unexplored pavement ahead of me. Wow what a blast. I hadn’t even gone anywhere and already I would have been happy to just go home. I would have been content with what I had done up to that point. But I plodded on, yes it is true, I was able to pull myself together and away we went.

Sumas, Washington if you have never been there is a very small and desolate kind of place. Just about every gas station was closed down. We came across one that was open and refreshed ourselves with some gatorade. I was totally dehydrated. I figure that the bottle of gatorade cost me about $10 bucks after the exchange…hehehe. I didn’t care. I had to get some fluid in me as the sun was already kicking the shit out of me and we hadn’t even gone anywhere.

I was itching to get going. We had been held up for hours it seemed. We donned our helmets again and headed out. The first thing I noticed in Sumas was how small of a town it was. As soon as we crossed the border I realized that this was a town that relied on the Canadians coming across for gas, booze etc…I don’t think that it was working out to well for them as a good portion of the gas stations were shut down. I would think that the Canadian dollar had a lot to do with this.

While riding along we were held up again just coming out of Sumas on Highway 9 at a train crossing. There was a lineup of cars in front of us and we could see a train blocking the road. This sucked. All we wanted to do was ride and yet we were in another lineup. The funny thing about this train was that all it kept doing was going back and forth. It would go left for about 20 cars and we thought it was on its way, and then it would stop and go back the other way for 20 cars. It did this about 5 or 6 times. We couldn’t believe it. We just started laughing. What else could we do? At this point it was getting on in the afternoon. As the train finally moved out of the way we were able to get going.

The road south we were on took us parallel to the I-5. We didn’t want to use the I-5 as it is just a boring highway and we wanted to see some of the country. What we did find was a road that took us thru farming country. Acres and acres of farmland that represented a life of getting up early and going to bed early with nothing but hard work in between. I smiled as I looked to the road ahead and realized that my sedentary lifestyle was missing something. I hoped to find that something on one of many motorcycle trips that I have planned to experience. The miles swept by me as the day’s sunshine slowly lowered itself in the west. The long shadows crept across the vast farmland as we roared south trying to gain as many miles as possible to make up for all the wasted time sitting in the lineups at the US border. We headed down highway 9 stopping a couple of times for gas along the way and as the evening crept up on us, we were both feeling a little tired. It was around 7:00 pm as we came into North Bend. North Bend is a very quaint little town so typical of small towns in Washington with mountains in the backdrop and usually beside some river or lake. The sun was on its way down and created a very surreal setting to the city. We spent the next few minutes looking for a hotel to hunker down for the evening. What we found along the main strip was the North Bend Motel. It was nothing fancy but was clean. The brochure said the rooms were all air-conditioned. What this meant was you opened the window and turned on the oscillating fan. We had a good laugh over that one.

After getting our gear off the bikes and into the room I immediately headed over to the nearest store and purchased a case of Coors. It had been a long hot day and we were both drained. The beers were frosty and oh so satisfying. I was sunburned and my face showed it. I ride with a half helmet and you could see how red my face was except for where the straps came down on my cheeks and from my sunglasses. I was ecstatic. This was my first motorcycle burn…woohoo.
Zarly went over to Dominoes and ordered us a pizza. Very yummy at 9:00 in the evening when all you have had to eat was a gas station sandwich in the middle of the day. HHHMMMMM pizza and beer…I slept like a log that night after all the riding we had done. I don’t think we really rode that many miles but with the lineups, the sun and ferry ride it added up to a very long, hot day.

I knew when we woke up that we had a long day of riding ahead of us. We needed to make it from North Bend to Mount St. Helen’s and then back up to somewhere relatively close to Olympia by that evening. I woke up fairly early, well early for Zarly. I got up around 7:00 am, showered and went across to the local café. It was a little hole in wall restaurant filled with locals. I am sure I must have been quite a site for them dressed in my bike gear. I ordered a coffee and chatted with the waitress about their little town. It turns out that North Bend is quite famous. She informed me that the television show Twin Peaks was filmed there. I was impressed. After some toast and about 5 cups of coffee I headed back to the hotel to roust Zarly out of bed. This I found out was not something that was all that easy. I don’t envy his gf Kirsten, whom I am sure has to deal with this all the time. I found out that if it isn’t after 11:00 am then Zarly doesn’t consider it a very good time to be up and about.

After much chatter from me he was up and showered in no time. I think once he shook out the cobwebs he was as eager to hit the road as I was. We went for breakfast at the local Denny’s, you know, home of the Grand Slam Breaky. On the road by 9:00 am we headed out highway 18 towards Mt Rainier National Forest. We had decided to take the back roads thru this little treasure that Washington has. I would recommend anyone doing this as I encountered some of the most beautiful breathtaking scenery I have ever seen.

Switching onto HWY 410 we were taken up onto some incredible mountain twists and turns. Riding around Mount Rainier presented us with multitudes of picture stops, oohing and aahhhing and other bike riding enthuisiasts. As the day progressed I found myself in awe of all the country that I had never taken the time to see. Here I was only 1 day from home and was in a forested mountain range that was taking my breath away. What a terrible waste I felt, thinking about how little effort in the past it would have taken for me to experience more out of traveling. I think back to all the partying and time spent wondering when I would find the next party or mind altering substance…hehehe

Oh well, I was here now, winding my way thru the mountains and loving every minute of it. As we wound or way thru the mountains and forests of Mt Rainier National Forest I was reminded of the natural beauty of nature and all that it encompasses. What was once a wild, and untamed wilderness had become a tourist’s treasure. The winding hwy cut through the mountainside for all to experience and become a part of. I felt a little guilty as we roared thru the pristine forest. Everywhere I looked, all I could see was trees, rivers and one really incredibly white glacier.

Reaching the Cayuse Pass summit we were at a height of 4694 ft. The Ace was sucking a little wind but was still running admirably. I did find that the Ace has a little trouble on the big long hills and lacked a bit on the power side when it came to wanting to pass that Truck and camper that always seemed to be in my way when we came to a hill.

Zarly was having no trouble at all as his Beamer was tackling the hills like he was riding thru the flatlands of Alberta. Looking in my rearview mirror I noticed a group of riders creeping up behind us. Just about every turn we made we were faced with tourists in their RV’s and a lot of other motorcycle-riding enthusiasts. Just before getting to the summit we noticed that there seemed to be a lot more bikes coming and going. It amazed me that I could actually be riding on such an incredible road that so many others were taking the time to experience.

Around the next corner we came across a mountain café and rest stop that I don’t remember the name of, but what was so cool was that there were about 50 motorcycles parked outside. All makes and models with their owners all milling about looking at each other’s rides. It must have been a club of some sort that was on a weekend or daily ride and riders being as they are, all waved, as we roared past. This camaraderie is one of the things that I love about riding a motorcycle as you meet the nicest, friendliest and most sincere people you can imagine when out on the road. You all have a common goal and that is to experience as much new scenery as possible in whatever time frame you have allowed yourself. It was an awesome sight to see all these bikes all gathered in one place. I was tempted to stop and have a chat and peruse all the metal gods on two wheels but looking at my watch I realized that we still had a long way to go before reaching the volcano.

Coming across some odd turnoffs up in the mountains we were faced with hwy 410 going one way and hwy 123 going the other. We decided to stay on 410. and ended up heading in an easterly direction and on up to a higher peak. We realized that we might have taken the wrong turn and stopped at a small little lake oasis tucked up in the mountain where there were multitudes of people walking a little chip trail that encircled it.

After a couple of pictures and a drink of water we were on our way again. What a great ride this was turning out to be. Here I was lost on the top of a mountain in the middle of Washington and I didn’t care. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky and I was riding…it just doesn’t get any better.

After finding our way back to the right turnoff we headed out west on Hwy 123, which turns into hwy 12 and on to Toledo, Washington and then East on Hwy 505 to Mt St. Helen’s. With a couple of stops along the way to gas up, get a quick bite to eat at the local gas station, we slowly made our way towards the turnoff. Passing thru many small towns on hwy 12 such as Packwood, Randle, Morton and then Mossy Rock Dam along the way I noticed they were not unlike some of the smaller cities and towns here on Vancouver Island. I guess the small town feeling and look doesn’t change much, even tho we are in different countries. There will always be the same family owned corner store and gas station that is found in every small community.

One of the things I did notice were the speed limits and how much they vary from the area that I live in. We have a rural farming community out our way and the speed limits are very low. Most streets in this area are set to 50 Kph, which is 30 mph in the USA. What I found in the same type of communities we were riding thru was the speed limit at the 40 to 50 MPH range. This was nice for ridingas you actually felt like you were getting somewhere. Naturally, you had to watch out for the local smokies and their speed traps. We found a few of them along the way but thankfully never had to stop and bow down to the Hwy patrolmen.

The day was getting on, and since we had been riding since 9:00 that morning I was getting tired. This being my first big ride, I was experiencing some things that I have never felt before. I was starting to get a little stiff from the ride, with my back and legs getting a little sore. On the Ace I didn’t have highway pegs or a backrest so it was tough to stretch out and get into a different riding position. It was hot, and I was feeling the heat a little more than Zarly was. As you can tell from the pictures I am not a small man and do feel the heat a little more than most others. The worst thing about all this was that I didn’t know ahead of time that a sheepskin cover for the bike is an essential part of any long distance rider’s must haves. The sheepskin supplies your backside with a much-needed cushion of air and comfort. Unfortunately I didn’t have one and was learning the hard way. My jeans were starting to get a little damp from me sweating and from me having to sit in the same position for the whole trip. I am sorry about the picture you will have in your head after I describe this but I have hairy legs. So every time I shifted in my seat the damp jeans would tug at the hair on my legs. This was incredibly uncomfortable. If you are to take any advice I give you then let it be that you carry a sheepskin and a small bottle of baby powder in your tank bag. Trust me, you will be glad you did. Once I was settled into the seat I was fine as long as I didn’t have to move. Every time we stopped and then got on the bike again I had to endure the hair tug…dam that sucked.

When we turned onto Hwy 505 to finally get on the road to Mt St. Helen’s I was getting a little antsy because we weren’t there yet. I learned a great deal about myself on that trip and that is I am not a patient man but had to be because there was someone else with me. I had to take into consideration that there was someone else with me and I couldn’t just do as I pleased. I just wanted to get where we were going and get on with it, instead of just enjoying the trip and relaxing.

The first glimpse of the Volcano was from pretty far away, but you could see the desolation of the explosion, which happened an incredible 20 years ago. The valley was still covered in ash and was only just beginning to restore itself with some grass and low plant life. We came upon the first lookout point to see the valley and the mountain from quite a distance. Getting off the bikes we strolled up to the lookout and noticed they were offering an in house video presentation of the eruption and all the devestation. We crowded into a small room all done up like we were in the forest with fake ash and downed trees all around us. The lights went out, the movie started and the room rumbled. The video came on and started showing some of the preceding events to the eruption. Then all of a sudden the sound got louder and the video showed the mountain starting to explode. This was incredible. I don’t remember all the stats and numbers they quoted but the devestation was unbelievable. I was in awe of the magnitude and power of the eruption. You don’t really get an understanding of this by seeing pictures on TV or in the newspaper. We left the 5-minute video and made our way to the lookout point. There were long-range telescopes to look thru and one recommendation was to look at the valley floor to see the herds of elk that congregate there. This was cool. Large herds meandering their way across the valley of ash looking for grass and whatever else that an Elk finds palatable. I had never seen an Elk before and I found this pretty amazing. They were grazing so nonchalantly, without a care in the world. Looking at our watches we realized we had to get going.

Hopping on the bikes we continued on our ride to the volcano. What a great road this was. We were in the mountains and naturally, where there are mountains you will find lots of twisties and hairpin turns. I was having a hard time keeping up to Zarly. I had found the downside to owning an Ace and that was its obvious lack of passing power on the hills. I was getting frustrated at not being able to keep up to him. It was at that point I decided I was going to have to get a bigger bike.

We approached the 2nd lookout wanting to get to where we were going. I kept looking up to the sky, as we got closer to the Volcano. It was getting a little cloudy as we rode towards the mountain. Pulling into the parking lot, Zarly wanted to get something to drink. I decided to stay at the bikes while he went inside. I got off the Ace, stretched a little, and just tried to work out the aches I was starting to feel. All of a sudden I heard a loud boom in the background. Looking Eastward I noticed gathering in between the mountains in the distance some really nasty, black clouds. They were getting darker and darker each minute that passed. I was mesmerized at what was unfolding in front of me. All of a sudden there was a loud crack and a bolt of lightning lit up the mountainside and the valley below it. All the people around me were shocked as was I. I stood there waiting for the next rumble and lightshow. We were all presented with more rumbling and then another streak of lightning. It wasn’t as amazing as the first one but I was taken aback at the force of Mother Nature.

Zarly got back from getting his drink and I told him about the light show. He looked at me like I was on drugs. He couldn’t see anything over there. Looking up I noticed the clouds dissipating as quickly as they had formed. I had some concerns about the clouds and the rain putting a damper on our trip. I didn’t have any proper rain pants. Zarly assured me that it wouldn’t rain, so I took his word for it. Getting back on the bikes we realized that we were not too far from our destination. I was starting to go thru all the emotions of a long trip. We had been riding for almost 6 ½ hours with out a lunch or any long breaks at all. My heart skipped a couple of beats as we started the final climb on our trusty metal gods. Blasting into the parking lot with big smiles on our faces we dismounted our rides and headed up to the lookout. There were tourists all over the place. Everyone had the same awe inspired look as we did.

Approaching the platform for the lookout I was almost brought to tears at the view and incredible sight that was layed out before me.

I applaud the government of Washington for building such a magnificent lookout platform. We were basically not far from the base of the mountain and looking out towards the Volcano I was time warped back to the day of the eruption. What an incredible feeling as I closed my eyes and tried to visualize what must have happened on the exact spot I was standing on. Total annihilation. Nothing survived the blast with trees that had stood their ground for hundreds of years laid down like small little twigs. Walking up to the edge of the platform and seeing the mountain for the first time made me feel very small. My life at that point seemed so meaningless as I was confronted with the wrath of Mother Nature. You can see from the pics that the devestation was only just starting to disappear.

There was a worker with a little speaker and microphone telling everyone all about what happened the days leading up to and after the eruption. The information she gave was great. It really put everything into perspective. She explained about all the mini rumblings leading up to the eruption. These were happening for a couple of weeks before the mountain actually blew. This enabled the scientists to setup all their equipment and cameras etc. It really was very well done. We spent about an hour at the mountain taking pictures, listening to the presentation and taking in all the scenery.
Realizing that we still had a few hours ahead of us we reluctantly got back on our bikes and went back the way we had came. Depression was setting in for me as I realized that the trip we were on was more than half over. All the buildup to getting there, seeing the mountain and experiencing it in its full glory was done. I felt deflated and very tired. As tired as I felt I still loved the wind in my face and the exhilaration of riding. We had just ridden for 7 hours, thru a couple of the most beautiful mountain passes I have seen and I was beaming all over again.

I was starting to get a pretty good feel for the Ace and its handling capabilities. The Ace is very nimble thru the corners considering it is a cruiser. You can lean quite away over on it before scraping the pegs. I loved this little cruiser but realized on the trip that I was going to have to sell it. I was just too big for it. Damn, I wish I had listened to Zarly from the beginning. He told me to buy a bigger bike but the fool I am I rushed in and went for the Ace. Oh well, it was a good lesson for me, and one that I will definitly learn from.

Leaving Mt St. Helen’s we still had a couple hours ride ahead of us, before getting to Olympia. All I wanted was a nice hot shower, air conditioning and a good supper. Heading back on Hwy 505 it took us a bit to get to the I-5. As much as I didn’t feel like riding the Interstate I knew that it should have been the quickest way to get to Olympia. What we didn’t know was that there was a major accident on the I-5 earlier on in the day and it was holding up traffic big time. Bumper-to-Bumper traffic was what we were faced with.

The exit from Hwy 505 to the I-5 was only about 50 miles from Olympia. This should have taken less than an hour to get there. About 20 miles from Olympia we came up to the traffic. This was brutal. We were doing about 5 miles an hour, stopping and then going again. My butt was killing me, the hair on the back of my legs was driving me crazy and I was hungry. I couldn’t believe our luck. I suppose I was being tested to see if I could endure this mini Iron Butt ride of ours. Zarly a couple of times suggested taking the next exit and going to the nearest Super 8 hotel but I said no, lets go on to Olympia. After an hour or so, the traffic lightened up and we were on our way again. We arrived in Olympia around 7:00. Booking into the hotel room, unpacking and popping a beer was all that I wanted to do. Zarly hopped in the shower as I called the front desk to find a good restaurant. I wanted a steakhouse, something like Black Angus. After much debate and many phone calls I found us a Red Lobster. We wanted to partake in a few beers and not have to ride anywhere so we called a cab.

The cab arrived and away we went. What was originally a $5 cab ride turned out to be $11. This isnt a big deal but we are talking American money. So this was really $19 Canadian. We get to the restaurant with much anticipation of a juicy steak and cold beer. A very nice lady seated us and we waited for our waitress. Now, rumor has it that one of us was flirting with the waitress but I am not at liberty to say which one of us was the culprit. After a couple of really cold Coronas we ate our meal. We both had nice thick Sirloins with seafood. What a great meal. After spending a couple of hours there we asked for the cheque. I think that with them putting chairs up on the other tables they were trying to tell us something. We got the bill for the meal and it was about $60. Again this was US dollars. I am not really bitching about the dollar conversion, but man it sure is a kick in the ass. We phoned for a cab and were waiting outside when out walks this really short guy and his girlfriend. No big deal, and you are wondering why I would mention him. While waiting for the cab we saw a Harley sitting in the parking lot with really high Ape Hangers. No big deal normally, and I am sure you see where this is going. Sure enough the short guy, who was probably just over 5 feet tall, jumped on the bike. The bars were taller than he was when he stood beside the bike. Doug and I had quite a laugh. He roared out of the parking lot, girlfriend behind him, and the guy barely able to reach the bars. What a joke. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable that would be after riding for a while. Oh well, whatever floats your boat.

The cab came and after paying him at the hotel we realized that our meal just cost us almost $90 US. You know the drill. It converted into about $140 Canadian. Oh my god. I just paid $70 for a steak, a couple of beers and a cab ride, and to top it off I was going back to the hotel with Zarly…

After a good chuckle, we watched some TV and crashed. We were both pretty exhausted after our day. 10 hours of riding took a lot out of me. The Ace’s seat is not the most comfy for long rides.

Waking up in the morning we packed up, and then stopped at the local Mickey D’s for breakfast. We needed to be in Port Angeles for the 1:00 pm sailing of the Blackball ferry to Victoria. We left Olympia around 9:30. We figured this would be enough time to run up the I-5 to Tacoma and then head west on hwy 16. This turned out to be a nice ride. Not a lot of traffic, as the weather was overcast. We went past the Bremerton Naval base. This was pretty kind of awesome as we pulled up beside a couple of big aircraft carriers and took some pics. The bikes looked pretty small sitting beside them. Off we went again, this time the hwy turned into Hwy 104. This took us on the homestretch to Port Angeles. You could sure tell that we were on the westcoast, as the weather got a little chilly. I had to stop and throw on a sweater and put on some rain pants. As soon as I did this we traveled for about 5 miles and the sun broke out again. Go figure…

Riding past Sequim, were only a few miles outside of Port Angeles. The sun was shining again, as we pulled into a gas station to fill up. We wanted to take advantage of the cheap gas. Not that my Ace held a lot of gas but what the hell. You need to save when you can. We pulled into the ferry terminal, bought our tickets and went for a quick lunch on the pier. I had some of the best clam chowder ever at that restaurant. Now maybe it was because I was so hungry but man it was yummy. Nice and creamy, and full of big chunks of clams. We had to hurry thru lunch as the ferry was boarding in about 20 minutes.

We boarded the ferry and we had to tie the bikes down and to the wall. This was bizarre. On the BC Ferries they are so big that you don’t have to worry about the bikes falling over, but I guess the scow that the Blackball is, rocks and rolls around crossing the Strait to Victoria. Oh well I tied down my bike as did all the other owners. There were a couple of very nice Harleys on board, a few sport bikes and one very nice, new Goldwing pulling a trailer. It was totally decked out with GPS and every other little doodad you could think of. The owner and his wife were from Quebec and were halfway finished their trip. They were going to head home thru Canada. Victoria was their 3rd corner stop as they were touring North America on the four corners. What an awesome way to travel and see the country.

Zarly and I were pretty happy to get on the boat and be sailing home. I was exhausted and as always, I was pretty appreciative of getting back on our little rock on the coast. After taking some pics at the back of the boat, some BSing about the differences between cruisers and touring bikes, which we always do, we were there. It took quite awhile for us to get thru customs but once we did I breathed a sigh of relief. After a quick handshake and goodbye to Zarly I was on my way home.

The memories and pictures of our Volcanic Blast are ones that will forever be embedded in my brain. As I wound my way home I was able to reflect on all that had happened and what we had seen. Pretty amazing when you think about all that the world has to offer. We are so close to so many world wonders and yet we never seem to take the time to make time to experience them.

We had traveled about 650 miles in 2 ½ days. This was the longest run I had ever taken on the bike and knew at that moment I would need a bigger and more comfy bike if I were to continue doing these kinds of trips.

In summary, the Volcanic Blast is one that I would recommend to anyone. Mt St. Helen’s is an incredible sight that can only truly be appreciated by actually seeing it. The devastation is still very evident but Mother Nature is slowly rebuilding itself.

 

Well hello everyone. Its been awhile since I have had the desire or energy to blog again. With so much going on in our lives with work, business, and just plain busy lifestyles it is tough to find time to throw down my thoughts and concerns.

As I was driving into work, for some reason I thought about growing up in rural Victoria. We had a simple life when I was a kid, and as the years went by the community grew with more and more people moving to the Western Communities. Growing up in a rural community like we did we seemed sheltered from a lot of the world’s issues and the most important thing was our hockey cards and who would be first captain second pick.

The one thing I do remember that sticks out in my mind was the bigotry we encountered as youths. This may seem so foreign to a lot of people but it was something that was forced down our throats. It seems that when French was made mandatory in our schools that the bigotry took on a life of its own. The hatred, the animosity towards the french Canadians was substantial on the west coast. I wonder if it was due to us being as far from Quebec as we could be and then being forced to learn french and how it affected all of us.

I remember hating the Montreal Canadians while growing up in Victoria. I am not really sure why I hated them back then but I think it was more due to the people around me. The ignorance of some people didn’t really hit home with me til my later years and I realized that there is no room in our society for hatred, racism and bigotry. I have no patience any more for people that are not respectful of others no matter the race, colour or whatever it is that makes them different than me.

While in elementary school I was always told by my peers, that the French Canadians were not nice people, that french was being shoved down our throats as a mandatory thing in school and that change had to happen in regards to products we buy with French having to be on the packaging. I get that change is not always accepted but this was never more apparent than while growing up. The bigotry and hatred we endured was shameful. From name calling, to an obvious disdain for anyone with a french accent, I grew up with the same attitude. I am truly shamed over this as it took me all those years to realize that the stupid ones or the shitty people or the ones that should have been made to feel bad were the actual people that I grew up learning from.

There is no room for racism, or racial slurs, racial jokes etc. What gives me the right to do this? What gives me the audacity to think that an off colour joke is acceptable. I always remember hearing while growing up that “oh its ok, its only a joke”, but it makes me sick now thinking about all the times I repeated those jokes not knowing that I was only adding to the already sick world of racism.

I truly am quite sickened by all of it. Why is it that we cannot just accept people for who they are, knowing that we all have differences.

I plead with all of you to stop the racial jokes, the slurs and the continued degradation of our society by adding to this horrible pockmark in our world. I know I try and steer clear of people or situations where this kind of behavior happens but its difficult when people still make jokes and saying its ok because its just meant as a joke. I am pretty sure that whomever the joke is pointed at doesn’t find it to humorous.

Think about that the next time you feel the need to ridicule someone because of their skin colour, their accent or the way they look.

This amazing product is out there, it is ready for the world to start taking advantages of its use. I think the biggest problem facing farmers is the public’s perceptions on hemp. for so many years the world has been bombarded with the wrong info about hemp and Cannabis in general. The government’s innate ability to take advantage of the years and years of misinformation has left this wonderful plant screaming for attention. Can it save mankind? Cant it enable the farmers to possibly produce something that can actually make a profit without hormones, and additives? Here is a blurb from the Agriculture and Agri-food Canada website.

Canada’s Industrial Hemp Industry
As the world’s premier renewable resource, hemp has been the source of food and fibre for the past 10,000 years. Hemp fibre has been used to make clothing, ropes, and paper; the grain has been stewed, roasted, and milled for food; and the oil derived from the grain has been used for cosmetics, lighting, paints, varnishes, and medicinal preparations.

Like the marijuana plant, industrial hemp belongs to the species Cannabis sativa L. However, unlike marijuana, it only contains small quantities of the psychoactive drug delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Nevertheless, the cultivation of both marijuana and industrial hemp were banned in Canada in 1938.

Since 1994, a small number of Canadian companies, as well as Canadian universities and provincial governments have researched industrial hemp production and processing. Due largely to their initiative, the 60-year ban was lifted and the commercial cultivation of hemp was authorized in Canada in 1998. The Industrial Hemp Regulations came into effect on March 12, 1998, and cover the cultivation, processing, transportation, sale, provision, import, and export of industrial hemp.

Since its legalization, hemp has sparked much interest among Canadian farmers. The Government of Canada has been very supportive of Canada’s re-emerging hemp industry through changes in legislation and regulations, and through market development funding. Today, hemp is enjoying a renaissance, with the global hemp market becoming a thriving, commercial success. More than 100 Canadian farmers are currently taking advantage of the vast market potential for hemp and are growing this crop in most provinces, primarily in central and western Canada.

Stringent Regulations
The regulatory system for the commercialization of industrial hemp is strict; however, it is crucial to protect the health and well-being of Canadians, to abide by Canada’s international commitments against illegal drugs, and to contribute to the production and export of safe food products. Administered by the Office of Controlled Substances of Health Canada, the system operates by issuing licenses for all activities involving hemp. It ensures that all industrial hemp grown, processed, and sold in Canada contains no more than small amounts of THC, at levels far below those found in marijuana. For example, the upper limit in Canada for THC in the industrial hemp plant is 0.3% of the weight of leaves and flowering parts, while marijuana plants often have a THC level of 5% or more. In addition, Canada has set a maximum level of 10 parts per million (ppm) for THC residues in products derived from hemp grain, such as flour and oil.

Uses
Like flax, wheat, corn, canola, and other major cultivated species, hemp is a crop that can be grown for food and non-food purposes. Whole hemp seed is composed of approximately 45 percent oil, 35 percent protein and 10 percent carbohydrates and fibre. As a result of the numerous nutritional benefits, many new food products containing hemp seed and its oil are finding their way onto the Canadian market, including pasta, tortilla chips, salad dressings, snack products, and frozen desserts.

Recent scientific research indicates that essential fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be manufactured by the human body and deficiencies can cause undesirable chronic conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and eczema. Therefore, hemp seed and its by-products can be used to supplement diets poor in EFAs in order to maintain health. One by-product, hemp seed oil, contains 30% of its weight in EFA-rich oil, delivering an ideal combination of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids for long term use. Hemp seed oil may have potential health benefits for diabetes, cancer, lupus, asthma rheumatoid arthritis, depression and hypertension. Hemp is one of only two plants that contain both EFAs as well as gamma linolenic acid (GLA). GLA has been found to have many properties ranging from anti-inflammatory to anti-depression. It can lower cholesterol and help to correct dyslexia, dyspraxia, and hyperactivity (ADHD). Approximately one-third of the population lacks the enzyme to metabolize GLA from omega 6 and must take GLA from an outside source to maintain good health, and hemp is an excellent way for them to do so.

Hemp oil has traditionally been used for industrial functions such as lamp oil, paint, and varnish, but today is finding major new markets in the cosmetic and functional food industries. One of the fastest growing sectors for hemp seed oil is the body care products market. The EFA content of hemp oil makes it an ideal topical ingredient in both leave-on and rinse-off body care products. The EFAs in lotions and creams help to soothe and restore skin, while their content in lip balms, conditioners, shampoos, soaps, and shaving products are emollient and provide a smooth after-feel. With cosmetics companies taking advantage of the moisture-retention qualities of hemp oils, the functionality and marketability of industrial hemp oil is expected to continue to increase steadily. Increased consumer awareness and product availability are also expected to help expand the markets.

Hemp fibre contains no measurable amounts of THC, and is renowned for its resistance to rotting and wear and tear, as well as for its high tensile properties that make it durable and strong. These qualities have been recognized through real life applications over thousand of years. The stalk of the plant offers two distinct types of fibre:

•The outer portion of the hemp stem contains the bast fibres, the strong, long, and slender fibres that provide the strength and quality attributed to hemp. Bast hemp fibre excels in durability and absorbency, has anti-mildew and anti-microbial properties, and is in demand for certain applications, such as car panels in the automobile industries in the U.S. and Europe. The panels have the advantage of being stronger, lighter, and relatively less expensive than traditional car panels.
•The core fibre, sometimes referred to as the hurds, is derived from the sturdy, wood-like stalk of the hemp plant. Similar to the bast fibre, the core fibre possesses anti-mildew and anti-microbial properties. It is currently being used for animal bedding and simulated cedar shakes, as it is twice as absorbent as wood. It is also used for manufacturing hemp paper, although only small quantities are currently being produced in North America.
Additional hemp uses are listed in the following table:

Table 1: Examples of hemp uses

Hemp Seed Product Uses

•Confectionary
•Beer
•Flour
•Feed
•Dietary Fibre
•Snacks
•Non-dairy Milk and Cheese
•Baking
Hemp Oil Product Uses

•Cooking
•Salad Dressing
•Dietary Supplements
•Body Care Products
•Fuel
•Detergents
•Spreads
•Paint
Hemp Fibre Product Uses

•Fabric
•Insulation
•Carpeting
•Paneling
•Pulp and Paper
•Recycling Additive
•Automobile Parts
•Animal Bedding and Mulch
Production
An annual fibre plant adapted to temperate regions, hemp has been genetically selected into dozens of varieties. As a result of their proven low THC content, Health Canada has approved 27 cultivars or varieties of industrial hemp for the 2006 growing season. Cultivated plants usually consist of a single main stalk and a growth of leaves, with the potential to grow up to 7 metres (21 ft) in height. However, hemp plants usually reach heights between 2 and 4.5 metres (6-15 ft), with a period of seeding to harvest ranging from 70 to 140 days, depending on the purpose, variety, and climatic conditions. One hectare of hemp can yield an average of 800 kg of grain which in turn can be pressed into 200 litres of oil and 600 kg of meal. The same hectare will also produce an average of 6 tonnes of straw which can be transformed into approximately 1.5 tonnes of fibre.

For more information on hemp cultivation, please consult your provincial ministry of agriculture. Hemp has been the subject of much interest in rural communities, mainly because farmers are under pressure to find alternatives to traditional commodities, and also because the possibilities of industrial hemp have sparked so much interest.

Economics
Experts indicate that production costs can be lowered by exploiting hemp as a dual-purpose crop, using both the grain and fibre from the same plant. Of the 27 varieties legally authorized for cultivation in Canada in the year 2006, some are best-suited for the production of fibre; others are outstanding in the production of grain, while certain varieties are ideal for a dual harvest of grain and fibre. Moreover, there is great interest in developing varieties with the lowest THC content possible.

Growers tend to be clustered in loose alliances and co-operatives, or are geographically close to processing facilities in order to keep transportation costs low. The first challenge for hemp growers is to find a buyer who can guarantee, through contract, the purchasing of their harvest.

Hemp processors investigate and promote viable applications of hemp products in order to create new markets domestically and abroad. The re-introduction of hemp as a legal crop and the development of markets is a slow process and the hemp sector will need to expand carefully to ensure that supply and demand are harmonized. As the hemp sector continues to grow and as new technologies are applied to production and processing, more commercial possibilities will become feasible.

Conclusions
Hemp’s agronomic and environment attributes are remarkable: it can be grown without fungicides, herbicides and pesticides, it absorbs carbon dioxide five times more efficiently than the same acreage of forest and it matures in three to four months. Hemp can be used to create building materials, textiles, clothing, inks, and paints and has potential use in other non-food products. These advantages are in tune with the environmental and health preferences of today’s North American public. The growing curiosity of consumers, the interest shown by farmers and processors, and Canada’s excellent growing conditions for industrial hemp allow optimistic views for its future.

how I long for days of sunshine and cool water
relaxing on a lounger, the sun gets hotter and hotter

With you by my side, nothing else matters to me
you are my world, my best friend, You and I make we

The days will find me with smiles, laughter and a warm heart
looking forward to each day, morning hugs will be my start

When I think of us now and where we were not so long ago
my love has blossomed even more, only time will show

Now that we have a year under our belts it is time to cheer
We made it so far, seems like forever, but only one year

I love you more now than I ever have, I cant wait to show
all that my heart possesses, my love will flow

Be rest assured, my heart will never stray
I am yours for life, each night, each week, each and every day

I love you Leanne, you are the reason I smile at night and wake up each day with a grin
I look forward to the rest of our lives together, let the debauchery start, or is that a sin…

I Love you Missy

Wow, yesterday as always turned out like any other day, but yet I always struggle on it. Father’s Day. What does it mean to you. I know what it means to me. I get to let my Dad know how much I love him and that of course is what makes that day so special. But is that what makes it special. For me it does because I don’t have children of my own. All I can do is spread the warmth to those around me in hopes that I can put a smile on a niece or nephews face. My nephews and nieces all make me proud, they all make me want to just hold and hug them and I think this is what it is that I struggle with. I get that closeness from them but yet, I still feel an emptiness inside that I am sure only comes from not having children of my own. My own blood, my own little minds that I can help become all they can be.

 

Such a hole in my world. Yesterday was filled with so much happiness and family as I was able to witness my niece Shawnee graduating from high school. I was a very proud Uncle and I could see the love and admiration and complete devotion on my brother’s face as he saw his daughter walking up and receiving her diploma.

My god what a proud moment for him, for her, and for the rest of the family, but yet…for me there is still something missing.  I never take for granted the times I get to spend with my father.  I may not spend enough time with him, but I do cherish the times I do get.  Dad, I love ya man.  You are and always will be my Dad. 

My wife Leanne has two daughters in their early twenties.  She has no desire yet for them to become parents as they just aren’t ready for that kind of thing quite yet but  I can’t wait for them to have kids.  Being able to live my dream of being a dad thru them as a grandfather will be nothing short of amazing.  I can’t wait.  The thought of being able to hold them, to cuddle them, to reassure them that life is good is something that I dream about all the time. 

Please J and J, dont rush but please hurry up…lol

oh….to be a dad.