Fredricton, April 2024
Emily, my oldest daughter, is taking me on another adventure. Frankly, being Emily’s father is an adventure all on its own. As is being a husband to Dawn and father to Stephan and Gwen, but Emily has adventures she seems to take me on. As a family we have had family adventures, trips across Canada, visits to family history and the like, once even meeting the Prime Minister of Canada while walking in the halls of the Parliment Building (Mr Chretien at the time) but Emily pushes the boundries. I was talked into being a chaperone for a trip to Italy and Greece, I went to England to pick her up after a school exchange program, she talked me into joining her in Kiev to study in the summer of 2017, a spring break visit to Yellowknife (because there was a sale on flights to Yellowknife) and now this. I turn 65 on Monday, and she has been invited to help out with a conference in Fredricton, and since April 8 there is a total eclispe of the sun visiable from Fredricton, she has decided to take me with her and we get to (hopefully) view a truly awsome celestrial event. It will be her first, and my second.
So I am going to see if I can blog about this adventure while it happens. I have connected my little tablet to a keyboard and will try to update the blog during the evenings.
I have tried to not go overboard equiping myself with art supplies, I’m taking some drawing supplies, and some water colour coloured pencils to see if I can do some Plein Air work - but mostly I think I will be visiting the sights and taking it in. I did discover an Art Bar that I will try to report on - can not find it right now, but it operated like the Across The Board Cafe - sort of. You could buy a canvas and they supplied paint (acrylic) and brushes and aprons and you can spend the evening painting. Anyway - it’s going to be ‘an adventure’
20240403 Adventure Day 1
Mostly a day or travel. To start, we were up at about 5:00 am to get to an 8:00 ish takeoff. We did plan that as to avoid crowds and so forth. The plan was to meet Emily at the check in desk/area about 6, grab a breakfast and board for the flight. It went stunningly well. Dawn dropped me off, with way too much luggage, (I took a bunch of arting stuff as well as clothes and eclipse glasses. I got a cart and went to the entryway and stopped to wave goodby to Dawn only to see a taxi block her in, and out popped Emily, so it worked out. As far as the travel itself, not particularly exciting, but educational in some ways. On the trip to Yelowknife Emily upgraded our seats to premier class (I, of course, never even considering anything other than economy - silly fool that I was) and introduced us to the (I guess) the Premium Lounge at the Winnipeg airport. Talk about luxury. This time we were booked on Air Canada and she upgraded us to their “Business Class” which included a seat in the front of the plane with lots more space and a table/console between the passengers. Also a nicer meal with real cultlery, drinks served in glass instead of plastic and really hot towels to wash your hands and face just after takeoff. The extra space is very nice. Included in the service is the use of the Air Canada Lounges. These are not the ‘premium’ level of the previous lounge. It’s more like a middle class boarding school cafeteria as far as the food goes, and great for vegetarians as they do not serve meat. In Winnipeg there is ample seating at a mix of little tables, big cushy chairs, and some big cushy chairs with small tables. Nothing to be sneezed at, and very nice to have a place with its own washrooms while you wait, but I was hoping for some bangers or rashers with my scrambled eggs. We also got first call to board and managed to avoid the jostling and had first dibs on the overheads. All in all the flight to Montreal was very plesant. I managed about 6 crossword puzzles. The leg from Montreal to Fredricton was a bit more my usual experience. There was no big planes heading that way so we were on a little Dash series turboprop and the phrase ‘Sardines’ kept popping into my mind. It was a very full small aircraft, but the leg was only about 1 hour and Inapped through it. While waiting for the flight to board we checked out the PET airport Air Canada Lounge and it is a bit ‘better’ than Winnipeg. For one thing they just seem to put out bottles of wine, ahrd liquor and beer and you help yourself ?? Might want to check that out before you start imbibing, but Isaw people simply pouring glasses of wine and making themselves mixed cocktails without apparently talking to any servers. There was a mix of chairs and tables as well, and the food selection was a big bigger, but still almost all carbs. lots of pasta salads, 4 different kinds of soup, a spinach salad option, and lots of bready things (buns, baghettes, pitas, etc) I grabbed a bowl of soup and some pita for a snack. The plane ride was very generous with the snack as they handed everyone 2 bags of twists - the little packet of baked things that are in no way related to peanuts.
Our arrival was fairly low key. The checked baggage showed up where we expected it to be, when we expected it, but there was a derth of transport from the airport to the hotel - or anywhere. The management noticed this and reassured us additional taxis had been called for, and after about a half hour we got a ride. The airport is a long way from the city centre where the conference is being organized but we got there, Emily’s surperb planning made check in a breeze and we were ensconced in our room quicky and quietly. She had a pre planning meeting to attend for about an hour, which is when I wrote this and we are now planning to foray forth in search of distilled water since we both have CPAP machines for sleep apnea.
So we took a nice long walk, about 20 minutes, to the local Sobey’s to find distilled water. Alas, they were fresh out. We brought back a bottle of reverse osmosis filtered water which should do just as well. We also checked out the streets around the hotel, some of the resturants and shops and so forth. The curbs speak to a city that cares about handicapped access. They were wide, gentle and easy to negotiate. Lots of crosswalks, stop signs but very few bus signs and those we did find were unmarked as to route or schedule. We encountered a fancy old style house, lots of gingerbread, vintage woodwork etc and a bright red colour scheme. The name plate labeled it “The Red House” A quick scan shows it to be an upscale B&B type place that looks like a lot of fun.
Day 2 - 20240404
Sorry for the delay. Emily finished up a bit early so we went on a recce of the Beaverbrook Gallery. Almost across the street from here and - from an art viewpoint - by far the biggest attraction in Fredricton downtown. We spent the rest of the evening making some business cards for Emily for today.
The day started clear and chilly, and Em brought back more leftovers from their business breakfast. The caterers leaned she will take leftovers rather than let them be thrown out so they nicely box them up for her and I get to save on buying meals. She returned to the talks and I forayed forth to investigate the ‘north’ half of the business district.
Turned on Map-My-Walk for my 1.6 mile walk around the downtown. I did not try out any resturants as I was adequately fed on left over sandwhiches and youghurt.
I popped into several artsy places, and chatted with the owners. Unintentionally prepping them to meet Emily - more on that later. There is a large Craft and Design school that, alas, is not open to the public, but it turns out that it has a “commercial” gallery across the street. I popped in there and the work was most interesting to me. The exhibit at the moment was the result of a class working on 3D computer imaging, including 3D printing. Amusingly to me, the first class assignment seems to have been to print and then paint human skulls (about the size of a tennis ball) so my work on death related imagery is not so out of this world after all. The nice lady overseeing the gallery also oversees the ‘Honey Bee’ programs - a series of multi day craft programs available to the public over the summer etc.
I also visited the main tourist office, after searching the building for an entrance - in the blowing snow and sleet !! About 10 minutes after I left on my walk the snow started - a brisk wind blew it aroundand although it was uncomfortable, it was mostly a slip hazzard rather than any real problem. They were delighted to see me and I left with links and brochures about Gin distillers, beer makers, museums, walking and bike trails and the like.
I tried the regional museum, a converted 18th century barracks (1 of 4 still remaining from colonial days) that was technically closed but the sign says “Also open by appointment or chance” so I took the chance and they opened for me. Very Dalnavert type place with the truly weird inclusion of a room devoted to Stanton Friedman - a 20th century nuclear physicist turned UFO fanatic. It seems he married a local lady and emmigrated to Fredricton for retirement. The display is the most juvenile collection of “I waaaaaaaaant to believe” sort of thing, and the curator tells me that not only do they still have a room or two of stuff to sort through, he donated about 6 semis of papers and research to the Fredricton Archives they are still processing.
I progressed back along Queen and visited other shops and public spaces, most of the public spaces were closed to viewers due to snow making them unsafe, but they all have nice views of the North Shore and the town skyline.
When Emily returned from her duties I told her about my discoveries and she thought it would be a good idea to meet some of these people in person when we sought out a mailbox to send our postcards. Hence the need for some business cards to look more official and savbe everybody trying to write CONFERENCE @ CIRPA-ACPRI.CA so that they could email her later.
Still experimenting with adding pictures, an explination should appear on the image if you ‘hover’ over it …
Day 3 - 20240405
Another delay, but here’s the updates. Actually a day of mostl business. As a result of discussions with her fellow organizers Emily is tasked with a bit more responsibilities. She not only viewed the rooms available for the convention in the fall, but discussed some of the options and entertainment venues etc … They will need to put up some of the attendees at the Crown Plaza/Lord Beaverbrook Hotel. I was fascinated by the place as it strongly reminded me of The Saint Regis Hotel in Winnipeg. Not so much in apperance as in construction. Same sort internals, staircases for the staff, same construction in the hallways, I’m going to have to look into it although it probably just means they were built about the same time.
Anyways, after the tours Emily and I visited several of the art and craft spaces I visited the previous day and introduced her and got some contacts rolling. She had not expected anything like that so had not brought any business cards or anything, so we spent the evening making some for her.
The day was still damp and cool so we retired to the hotel room and watched a couple of movies till bed time.
Day 4 - 20240406
Lots of exploring today. We went to the weekend Farmer’s Market, about 10 minutes walk away from our hotel and got a few treats, also checked out the venue as it is one of the places on the conference activity list - Very much like St Norbert Farmers’ Market in Winnipeg. There is a permanent building with a large parking lot and it was chock full of vendors inside and multiple food trucks outside. Wide selection of types of food, but a small selection of sausage types. I don’t know what it is about Winnipeg, but we seem to be blessed with a wide variety of sausage makers. No one had heard of Winkler Farmer’s Sausage, not even The Bavarian King. There were several local farmers selling eggs and stuff, one guy selling mushrooms like our Green Rabbit farms, a local fish monger selling locally sourced fish, lots of craft things, a knife sharpener, an international cheese monger and a littel local cheese maker, as well as at least 3 outlets selling mostly orange juice based smoothies. (Might be one vendor with 3 stalls) Now that was going gangbusters, everybody had a bottle of smoothie and the counters were grinding up fruits and berries and others were running box after box of oranges through big juicers.
We walked back to the hotel and got some postcards ready and had a nap. The weather was still cool and windy and we were hoping it would warm up a bit. A little later we checked out the river promenade where the main eclipse viewing will take place. The plan was to explore the river walk, but the wind had picked up and we called it quits after a half mile, walking back to try out a resturant - Issac’s Way - that was right across from the hotel. They are a local place and specialize in farm to table with a strong vegitarian capability. Emily had a veggie Wellington and I went for fish and chips, (we are in the maritimes). It really was too cold to walk around the neighbourhood at the moment so we retired to the room again.
Not trying to jinx it, but the the weather is for only 1 sunny day, and it is supposed to be Monday - so there is still hope for the viewing.
Day 5 - 20240407
We have had a very relaxing day here. The skies continue cloudy and the weather cool and breezy so we didn’t want to go out wandering, instead we slept late and then lazed about until the Beaverbrook Gallery opened at 1:00 and went back to see the rest of it. When we went late the other night they were in “pay what you can” mode but today was regular and Emily surprized me with “1 Adult and 1 Senoir” - took me a second to realize I was the senoir - so it’s official now. (When I get home I’ll have to buy new bus tickets and give my young wife the regular fare ones Ihave left !!). We browsed the rest of the Gallery, and revisited the masters section, they have several Reynolds, Whistler, Constable, Group of Seven, Carrs as well as more modern pieces, some 14th century works, lots of stuff. I eventually bought the catalouge of their main collection as well as a catalogue of Kenojuak Ashevah exhibition, an east coast first nations artist. While there are definite similarities to the Woodland style, there are major differences too. Also she likes to combine print making with pen and ink and painted ink in an way I really like.
They commisioned this big painting to be hung in the foyer of the gallery and it a ‘tradition’ to take a selfie in front of it for the event. Emily is doing a ‘Sun’ instead of a ‘Heart"‘ hand sign. She was very happy that someone ELSE had the idea to do a big eclipse drawing as she had us do a shared work before we left .
There was a childs’ event, they were making buttons for the children to wear, and supplied a selection of APOD images to make into buttons, as well as handing out small sheets of black paper and supplying pastel chalks for the kiddies to draw - it was neat to see.
As we were heading out we paused to walk the ‘extensive’ statue garden - about 6 pieces, and when were were leaving the clouds thinned enough to let the sun cast a shadow for the first time since we arrived.
(The statue is called “King and Queen”)
We went back to the room, tidied up a bit to get ready to leave, we both had a nap and when we woke up, this was the view out the window !!
As an experiment, I put the eclipse glasses on the cell phone and took a shot. My cell phone still works, but it did not want to take the shot, it couldn’t focus or some such complaint - I’ll try to see what I can get tomorrow, but I think I’ll be better off just taking in the event as a spectator.
Day 6 - 20240408 - Eclipse Day -
We slept in a bit today, the main event isn’t until mid afternoon, but I couldn’t resist checking the sky to see what it looked like - So far, pretty good !!
This morning’s weather forcast for the day
Keep your fingers crossed - still over 6 hours to go.
T - 1 Hour
As requested …
Artist’s impression of moments before totality …
A suspenseful cloud
The sky was almost perfect. Clear as far as the eye could see, with only 1 big cloud. And at 98%, the sky turning dark the damn thing drifts infron of the sun. But there is a stiff wind, it cleared the sun seconds before totality.
The corona was a delicate subtle little thing, and I could not see any prominences. Although there were about 5 stars visible I could see no evidence of the comet, but the sight was pretty beautiful anyway. A diamond appeared at about 7 o’clock and then it was all over.
At Home - 20240410
Well, the adventure is over. Emily and I are safely back home, Spice and Pets happy to see us, we’ve gone to sleep in our own beds and had a homecooked meal so we are feeling like it is done. Adventures and travel are always welcome, and a lot of fun, but they become all the better for being back home, in your comfy chair with a fresh hot cup of coffee or tea and the next one to look forward to.
I did promise to check out the photos - I used the camera in the phone to capture not only the snaps but to record the RAW images as well. They are ‘better’ than the JPG’s, maybe, but the phone cameras of today are pretty sophisticated and the auto adjustments it made to present an image are pretty good. The RAW does not increase the resolution, or actually zoom the camera at all, so the result is fairly low resolution, but I think these 3 look pretty good.
