2025, A year in review

Well here we are again, another year drawing to a close. First I would like to start by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years. 

As for many of us, 2025 has been a year of ups and downs. A lot of happy memories made and sad moments endured. Both of which taught valuable lessons. 

 I started 2025 by ringing in the New Year back home on Fogo Island. As we gathered at my Uncles house, we said good by to 2024 and rang in the new year with a renewed sense of hope and positivity. 

After a nice Christmas visit home, I headed back to Alberta to start the year. When I landed in Edmonton, I was greeted with a unwelcome issue. My Jeep would not start. The Park 2 Go staff tried hard to get it going but were not successful. Given it was a Saturday afternoon, I was on a very short time line to get my Jeep to the dealership and figure out a solution. I eventually had CAA pick up my Jeep and take it across the city to the dealership. The garage was closed but sales and offices still open. During this time, My Aunt and Uncle who live in Beaumont picked me up and took me over to the dealership. I was supposed to have had lunch at their house when I landed but this vehicle trouble ended that plan. The manager was at work and he gave me a vehicle off the lot to go home in that night while they figured out the problem with my Jeep. Turned out it was a frozen battery that caused a couple other issues. Monday I headed back to the city to get the Jeep but things went off plan after that. A few weeks earlier when I had stopped by the dealership, they had just had a new Ram Rebel arrive and put on display. I looked at this truck with love in my heart and drool on my chin. NO Vince…..No new vehicles! I told myself this over and over. I secretly wished this truck would sell fast as I knew myself and what could happen. Flash forward to this issue with the Jeep and I seen that the Ram was still there. The damn thing was just staring at me. Taunting me!  I made the mistake of asking a couple questions and long story short, I left with the truck and not my Jeep. Expensive start to the new year. 

The winter pressed on with the usual mind numbing cold and snow. I don’t usually much during the winter other than work and hunker down in the warm. It is during this time that I start planning my trips for later in the year. It has become an endeavour that gets me through those long Alberta winter days. 

 April brought my first trip of the year. I went over to Hamilton for a few days. I still think of Hamilton as home, even after many years in Alberta. I miss it but haven’t been there as much as I would like as of recent. I flew into Toronto, picked myself up a Mercedes as a rental and headed out to Hamilton where I stayed with my brother for a few days. It was a great trip. I was able to visit with some friends, some of which I hadn’t seen in 20 plus years. My brother and I also went to Kitchener to visit with family there. It was a very busy trip, often going from one friend meet to another. Every day started with a visit to my good friend Julies coffee shop for tea and conversation. The last day there I took for myself and went for a drive to Niagara Falls and a few other stops. As time does, it flew by and I was headed back to Edmonton again! 

It was also in April that we lost a prominent family member, my dear Aunt Mabel. She had been battling several health issues for quite some time, perhaps even longer than we were aware of. For my entire life, I cherished my visits with Aunt Mabe in Fogo. As soon as we would walk in, the kettle went on and out came the sweets. It was always good conversation and a nice visit. I visited with her while she was in hospital in St Johns when I went home for Christmas. That was my last visit with her. In my head I think I I knew that, but I wouldn’t admit it. Losing her was a great loss to the family and the community as a whole. I definitely think of her often.

 In May, I took a little road trip down to Jasper and Banff. Those who know me know that Jasper is one of my most favourite spots. It was actually the first time I had gone back since the wildfires the previous Summer. I was unable to bring myself to go, until then. It was a very sad return as there was much more devastation that I had realized. Fortunately, my favourite spot on Pyramid lake was not affected and I was able to do my “start my day, end my day” just sitting on “my” bench on Pyramid Island. This is where I go, tea in hand, and just sit in peace and be in that moment. It is a spot that has helped in a lot of crazy times. I also drove down the ice fields parkway to Banff as a day trip. If you haven’t done it, the Icefields parkway is one of Canada’s most beautiful drives. 

 After the mountain road trip, I took on as much work overtime as I could get to prepare for the next few trips. Summer had arrived and before I knew it, it was time for the annual summer trip home to Newfoundland. I go the same time every year (last of July, first of Aug) as it is the best time for get togethers and visits. There are a few festivals during this time so the most people seem to be on the island at that time. Wherever you go, you run into people you grew up with. Its the best bang for your buck I always say. It is also the same time my brother in Nova Scotia goes so its nice to spend time with them as we like doing the same things. They include the local hikes, fires, boat rides and sitting on our parents nice back deck. It was a great trip home to say the least. The ending was ruined by the Air Canada strike which messed up my flights and cost me a lot of money and extra days. It was a stressful time but trying to keep on a positive note, I got an extra couple days in St John’s and a couple days in Halifax. This was due to getting last minute flights on another airline to slowly get me back to Edmonton. On a not so positive note, as mentioned, it cost me thousands more than I had budgeted for and this was money I never saw again. Air Canada decided that my expenses were not important enough to reimburse and that was that. They lost a frequent flyer customer which I’m sure matters not to them but its the principal for myself. If I need to fly within Canada, there are a couple other airlines that service where I go. When I leave Canada, there are dozens of other options, each better than AC. 

 I didn’t do too much after than that in the summer season. Just local outings around Slave Lake. In Sept I did another road trip to the mountains. I had planned to stay a couple or three nights in various places but things changed when I got to Jasper. Given it was Sept and should have been a little quieter, it turned out to be insanely busy. Every place I went or did pit stops, it was packed! Packed like I have never seen it in fall before. As much as I love the mountains, they are becoming increasingly overcrowded with foreign tourists.I get it, it is just absolutely beautiful but its  little disheartening when ones place of peace gets overtaken. 

 At the end of Summer, we had yet another death in the family. We lost Uncle Art Oake unexpectantly. Uncle Art was the husband of my dear Aunt Marlene who we lost in 2010. Some of my absolute greatest memories are centred around going to their houses in Stephenville, Torbay and Paradise. The Oake family are like a extension of my own siblings. They are of great importance to me. Uncle Art was also a great friend to Dad right up until his death. It was a shock to us all and even months later, still doesn’t seem like it happened. Yet another painful reminder that we are all aging and losing our loved ones one by one every year. 

 The fall was busy with working long hours and adding the finishing touches to the November trip agenda. October is one of my favourite months so I stayed close to home and enjoyed the changing leaves and smells of autumn. The good part of fall in Northern Alberta is a short window and I missed it last year when I was in Africa and Asia. I love grabbing a tea and heading over to the lake and sitting amongst the leave and enjoying the quiet.  

 I did have a little health scare in October that I didn’t mention to many. I was at home getting some chores done around the house. I started to feel al little off but didn’t think much of it at first. I was starting night shifts that night so at noon I went to have a nap for a bit. As I was laying down, I developed a bad headache and started getting dizzy, sweaty and nauseated. At that point I started getting concerned that I may possibly be having a heart attack. Heart attacks are common on both sides of my family and I am also the same age my brother was when he had his. I got ready and drove myself to the hospital. They actually prioritized me and took me in right away. They did an ECG, blood work and other tests. They ruled out a heart attack thankfully but my blood pressure was dangerously high. Well past stroke levels. They gave me meds to bring down my BP, and had me rest for a few hours there. It was my high bp that was causing the symptoms. Although it wasn’t a heart attack, they did warm me that I could have easily had a stoke if I had not go there when I did. Scary to hear but a wake up call I needed. I was there all day and once I was released, I took the night off work to rest at home. From this experience,  I am on a regimented bp medication and I have to watch my sodium intake as well as stress levels. Fingers crossed I don’t experience that again. 

 November came quickly and it was now time for the big trip. This time, Morocco! It has been on my bucket list for years and now it was finally time to go. I booked a tour with Intrepid tours which covered the spots I wanted to see. I like these type of tours as most of the work is done for you and you get to meet a lot of great people. I flew to Casablanca via Toronto and Paris. I had a day to myself before the tour meet and greet so I did my some site seeing. The blogs from this trip are all on my website so I won’t go into details here. We toured around the country and ended in Marrakech. I then had a day to myself there and did some site seeing as well before heading home. Everything could not have gone better, it was such a wonderful experience with great people. I highly recommend Morocco. Check out my blog entries and/or Facebook pics when you have time.

The flights home were a bit of a disaster. Not uncommon for me it seems. I left Marrakech on time but thats where it ended. We were late landing in Paris due to extreme fog. The plane I was leaving on was coming from Geneva and an hour late arriving. By the time the planed landed, deplaned, cleaned and we boarded, I knew I wasn’t making my connection in Amsterdam. We were in a long line to take off from Paris which only further delayed us. We did make up a little time in the air but not enough. We landed in Amsterdam and I basically pushed my way off the plane and ran from one end of Schipol airport to another. I got to my gate only to find it empty. I missed my flight! After some time with the KLM agent looking at various options, I ended up flying to Toronto that evening and staying there a day and a half before continuing on to Edmonton. Frustrating yes, however I got to spend a little impromptu trip to Hamilton which is always a good thing. I got to see the family there and some friends. I was also able to get wings from my favourite wing joint. Im not saying the wings were as enjoyable as seeing family and friends but I am also not saying it! I have been in Alberta a long time now but Hamilton still feels like home. It is such a great city. 

 Here we are, December again! The year went by in the blink of an eye. I am now writing this section from yet another plane. This time I am headed back to Newfoundland for Christmas. For the past few years I have started and ended my year there. It is the little deal I have with myself. If I am going to live this far away from family, I will make it a point to go home twice a year if at all financially possible. I have been lucky thus far to get the holiday time I need. If at any point that changes, then I will re-evaluate life and its option. As mentioned, I am currently flying east. I am quite apprehensive about making it all the way as planned tonight. Apparently there is a big storm moving in on St Johns that is supposed to last a couple days. Fingers crossed my last connection from Halifax to St Johns isn’t cancelled. I have had my fill of flight interruptions for one year. Wait and see is the theme today it seems. For now, I am headed over to Toronto, in a nice comfy business seat with no-one next to me. Breakfast is now being served so I will pick this up a little later when I know more. 

 Well I landed in Toronto to the news that my Halifax – St John’s connection was cancelled. Looks like I am making an impromptu visit to my brother again. I am rebooked for Wednesday so hopefully that storm is over by then. As frustrating as it is, there’s nothing any one can do about the weather. I will pick this up again shortly. 

Flash forward another couple days and I have just arrived on Fogo Island once again. I am ending the year where it began. The past few days were busy but good. I ended up spending two nights at my brothers in Sackville (Halifax) which was nice. A little unexpected holiday visiting that I would not have had if my flight had gone as planned. I have now seen both brothers within a month due to flight interruptions! My rebooked flight over to St Johns was great and I was able to spend two nice, albeit busy, days there with my cousin Pam and Steve. I did a lot of Christmas shopping and then a nice dinner at the Keg on waterfront. This was my Christmas gift from Pam and Steve. Last night I enjoyed another wonderful dinner out with cousins April, Kayla and Jamie. This has become a Christmas tradition as its our 3rd year now doing it. It was a great meal with great company. 

Today I arose early, packed up the rental car and headed to Gander where I met up with my parents. We then caught the 3:30 ferry crossing and voila, home again! It was a trek to get here but I made it! Hopefully I can enjoy a nice Newfoundland Christmas and even get to visit with some of you reading this. Feel free to reach out and say hello if you’re on the island. 

 There you have it, another year done. As I mentioned, it was a whirlwind of a year with many ups and downs. I imagine many of you can say the same about your 2025. As we celebrate the Christmas season, lets remember that 2026 is a new year. A new year to right some wrongs, try new things, take scary risks and aim to be better to one another. Merry Christmas from the rock!