The Power of a Smile :)

Have you ever taken a smile for a test ride?  

What kind of reaction or reactions did you get?

Did you automatically expect one back?  And did you get it?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Did you keep it going, regardless of the response?

How did it feel?

But more importantly how did you feel?

 

The Power of A Smile.  There is magic that happens when you share one.

Try it just for a day and then get back to me.  Tell me how it worked for you.  Share what reactions you received.

The Power of A Smile.  Magic!

Where have all the Red Mailboxes gone?

I was thinking yesterday as I was looking to drop off some cards I had written:  where have all the red mail boxes gone? I remember growing up as a kid and they were literally EVERYWHERE!  They were practically on every street corner. I have come to the conclusion that Shoppers Drug Mart and the independent pharmacies are now the new wave of the red mail box.  I guess with e-mail people are writing less and less on stationary than they were 5 or even 10 years ago.   I still love the thrill of opening my mail box to find a card or letter in it.  Even a bill is okay too.  It’s a childhood thing.   Coming home from a week or two up at the cottage my sister and I would race from the car in the driveway to the front door to see what the postman had dropped off while we were away, or if it was a week day, “that sound” of the mail slot opening in our solid green wood front door, we’d tear down the stairs, sometimes two at a time.   Most of the time it was either a sales flyer or a utility bill, but there was always a letter or a card from someone.  E-mail’s great for instantly keeping in touch and connecting the world in seconds but for me, it’s about time.  Knowing, realizing or acknowledging that someone took the time to actually sit down and write out a thought or experience and then to go in search of a red mail box and deposit it.  It’s kind of like film photography –there’s that delay, it’s not instant.  And then, if you haven’t thrown it out, you’ve got something to look back and re-read.  Letters.  Cards.  Memories.  Connections with friends, new friends, relatives.  Do you remember the milk commercial tag line?  ”The faster life gets, the more sense milk makes“.  So where are all the red mailboxes going to?  Why are we not doing the present moment thing of communication any more.  Where is our creativeness going?  How come we’re not making the time to stop and smell the roses along the way?  

7/24 -The Faster Life gets…

“Pause au Cafe”

Before I moved to Quebec in the early 90’s I was a cookie monster –it also didn’t help that I worked at Nabisco in Toronto (which by the way is the parent company of “Gee Mr. Christie, you make good cookies!“).   My favourite cookie was the “Pause au Cafe”, french side of the packaging for Cinnamon Swirls, and invariably they were always accompanied with a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Isn’t it funny what we find comfort in?  This past week I took a “time out” just for me.  No, “Pause au Cafe” cookies weren’t part of my retreat, but copious amounts of coffee were!!  I had brought along a couple of books, most notably I worked through Joan Anderson’s “A Weekend to Change Your Life”.  Somehow sitting in solitude, reading and sipping coffee, a pad of paper close by to capture random thoughts and revelations, was not only soothing, but re-assuring and re-affirming to my spirit and soul.    I have realized that I have always been rushing around and now I’d like to incorporate stopping to smell the roses regularly, take a step in a different direction to view another perspective, and work towards balancing the wheels of life. When was the last time you took a break, just for you? 

Day#3 – The Long Way Around

Another spectacular day!

Left Choteau –sounds French, eh?!– at noon and I couldn’t believe that it was so warm! It felt like a summer day was just around the corner! I was chatting with a couple at the Log Cabin Restaurant (this set the theme for today’s ride) and as a result of our conversation changed my planned route. I ended up going south on Hwy #287 and connected to #200 for some awesome carving! Not too long onto #200 did I start to climb, and climb, and climb. Rogers Pass crests at 5,610 feet! and boy did it get chilly. And then the snow appeared again! Here’s how it looked from the highest point: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori-annmuenzer/1512015944/in/set-72157602275153050/

The descent was amazing but the best would be around the corner. I joined Hwy #83 North and was in for a treat. This highway should be called the Log Cabin Highway. There must have been four or five different log cabin companies with projects under way! And most of the houses were various shapes and vintages of cabins –just beautiful!!!

Through Kalispell and North on Hwy #93 to the Canadian Border and into Fernie is where I got to. It was starting to get dark and the rain was just starting to fall. Time to pack it in for another wonderful day. I’m hoping that Mother Nature will hold out for at least one, if not two more days, so that I can make it home with my motorbike!

Believe it or not, on today’s adventure I managed to circle 3/4 of the Rocky Mountains. You never know what lies around the next corner or what you’ll see if you take the long way around. The adventures are endless…

Day#2 – Who said anything about SNOW??

What spectacular countryside!

Lethbridge turned out to have a beautiful day after all and since I was so close I decided to make it down to Waterton Park. Two nights ago Waterton was getting pelted with snow so I vetoed that destination on Day #1. The roads now were clear and the sky was absolutely Alberta blue. And yes there was SNOW on either side of the road between Macgrath and Cardston! Once into the Park I ventured a short way to Waterton’s Prince of Wales Hotel which was ginormous. It almost looked like it had been transported from Germany, but Canadianized.

I crossed the Border and Ventured down Hwy #89 past Babb and then into St. Mary. There was snow on either side of the highway but the roads were clear. Then the climbing started and the adventure began.

As I crested the very top of the climb there was snow across 95% of the road and there were two cars in the ditch. I never dreamt that I’d be meeting weather conditions like this. What to do? First gear. And take her real s-l-o-w. Heart rate: 200bpm and climbing. It would be an absolute sin to lay down my 700lb. “Beast” at a time like this.

The descent was amazing, yellow leaves on the poplar trees, white snow on either side, black asphalt pavement –I wish I could have stopped to capture this scene –outstanding! Coming around the next corner I could see two vehicles up the road moving slowly. I should have known… cows on the road! A few of them took off from the sound of my motorbike but some were bold enough to stay put!

At Browning it was a dilema to carve along the “Going to the Sun Road” along Hwy #2 or head south. With the time of day –late afternoon– and the snow I had encountered along Hwy #89 I decided to hold off until next year for that route. This route follows the base of Glacier National Park and is in the Rocky Mountains so I figured snow would be a definite possibility and didn’t want to take the chance of getting stranded.

So due south it was. Total different lay of the land: flat and golden with some hills poking out of the land. Saw some pheasants scurring along the road and a lot of deer on either side of the road at dusk –spectacular.

Link to Day #2 photos.

I sure felt like a snowman at the start of the day’s ride. Little did I know that my electric vest was going to be the saviour again. Snow? What snow?

Did Anyone Say “Road Trip!!!”

Time to hit the road!

The original plan was to head up to Anchorage, Alaska but then when I found out that Whitehorse was experiencing that awful four letter word (–snow–) I decided I’d head south. A fantastic site for locating some awesome carving routes is: www.motorcycleroads.us

Ventured out on Hwy #21 to #23 and ended up in Lethbridge. Took my sweet time and even stopped a few times to make some photographs. Here’s a link of the Best of the Day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori-annmuenzer/sets

This morning there was a quarter inch of snow on my bike!!! Needless to say…….it’s been a really s–l–o–w day in Lethbridge! Fingers crossed that tomorrow the weather pattern will continue easterly and then I’ll be able to venture south for some “carving”!!

After all, it is the Thanksgiving Weekend.

Dominoes Anyone?

My sister and I used to play Dominoes at Grandma and Grandpa’s on Concorde Avenue in Toronto. Remember playing them as a kid? And then when we got tired of the game, we’d line them up, each one about half an inch from the next. And then you push the first one that triggers the next one and the next….

Last night I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for quite a long time, almost 3 years to the day. I finally got to thank him for an event that he had planned.

The ironic part of this whole event was that I didn’t really want to go out and do it. There was a tonne of stuff happening right after the Olympics, it turned out to be a great event, and all I could think of was that I would have preferred the evening off. But I went anyways.

Both Steen and I were being showcased at half-time. It turned out to be a really good game of basketball, I met a number of wonderful people, and signed a tonne of autographs.

Here’s where the Dominoes start.

I was introduced to the President of the college and we got to talking. We talked about a number of things. We left off with the usual exchange of business cards and the “keep in touch”.

One year goes by, and during this time period I’ve raced at the World Track Cycling Championships, filmed a documentary with Chris Wilberg, and launched the documentary One Gear, No Breaks at the Royal Alberta Musem in July! Talk about a whirlwind year!!

Then somehow this guy named Karl Wilberg (long-time friend of Steen and older brother of award winning documentary guy Chris Wilberg) wanted to write a book –my story. So we started looking into it. Not too long afterwards Karl, his wife, and I were sitting with two amazing women of English literature exploring the writing and publishing possibilities. You see Karl had this idea, this vision, and he was looking at making it happen.

The conversation we had that afternoon was enlightening and I’m not sure between the three of us who had the whirling-est dervish going on in their head!! It almost felt like Christmas. And this was just the tip of the iceberg! Little did we know what would be lurking around the corner waiting for us!!

By that January, not even four months later, Karl had the manuscript into the publisher! This is almost unheard of! THE MANUSCRIPT WAS SENT IN!! And, it gets even better!!! The book was published and printed, 7,500 copies, and we launched it at one of the Stanley Cup play off games in Edmonton in April!! Six months after sitting down at a table and talking about it… we had a published book out!!!

Last night’s event was one of the last big meetings where a new covered velodrome was being presented to the public along with a few other things. Imagine my surprise when I saw Ian. I finally got to share these stories that had transpired since we had seen each other last. But most of all I got to say “thank you” for a number of life changing events. Three years earlier I went out to participate in an awesome event and I am so glad that I did.

It’s only when you look back at something that transpired a while ago, something you could not have predicted that would have an amazing impact on your life.

Oh yes, I almost forgot! Remember the two amazing women of English literature? It turns out that one of the women’s daughter, Robin is a photographer. I love photography and dabble a little bit in it as well, so she gave me her card. Little did I know at from that meeting, two weeks ago I would have Robin create a new set of photographs for me.

Hindsight’s a funny thing.

And so is a game of Dominoes.

It’s what you do with the Dominoes as you line them up, each one about half an inch from the next. And then you push the first one that triggers the next one and the next….