another year has rolled by and ive been given the informal title of the 'double dozen'.

friday was the 8th in canada, but friday was the 9th in new zealand. hence i thought i deserved the luxury of celebrating my birthday early. and down in the ottawa markets is a tasty little dessert cafe which seemed fitting for the occasion... it was warm enough to sit outside on the patio without jackets, and the 11 of us enjoyed mammoth proportions of cake*. a cheers was made to the clinking glasses of milk, tea and water and we were all home and ready for bed by midnight. i know - it sounds like my partying days are doomed huh? i would disagree. but it is true that when a toast is made with water - one must stop and ponder the deeper meaning behind the act.

saturday may very well have been the 10th in new zealand but it was the 9th in ottawa and hence i was going to celebrate then also. it seemed the same as any other birthday. i woke. i said happy birthday to myself. i looked out the window. it was snowing. the same as every year... so everyone here will probably refute the snowing part but i tell you - it was snow. it lasted i suppose maybe 15 minutes. and then turned into rain. but during those 15 minutes there was some definite floating action and fluffiness going on outside of that window. i saw it with my own eyes. very pleased. because, of course, in case you didnt pick up on it, it has never snowed on my birthday before! quite the treat!

eric and i then took the bus from ottawa to north bay - right across the top of algonquin park, and right across some of the most beautiful colours i have ever seen in my life. the trees were glowing with reds and oranges and yellows and every blend in between. even the green trees looked different due to the sharp contrast of their neighbours. and every time the suns rays hit these leaves, there seemed to be some sort of magical burst of fresh colour. i cannot believe that something so beautiful and refreshing was doing this as a final memory before falling to the ground and dying.

in case youve forgotten my diary entry from this time last year - my birthday coincides with canadian thanksgiving and erics family, and extended family, had invited us up to his cottage for the final weekend in cottage country before the snow arrives and everything shuts down and sleeps. a bit like hibernation really. i dont think i have ever felt more welcome - and after eating far too much turkey (22.2 pounds) with 17 others - i was surprised by a big round of happy birthday and 24 chocolate cupcakes with orange candles! i was also blessed with being able to ring home and talk to mum, dad and stephen for about an hour i think, as the fire crackled in the background and darkness lay over the silent lake (i think the loons had moved south to avoid the winter).

it is not long before i follow those loons south - but my trip will be far greater i think - because new zealand is my next destination. i leave here on friday 29th and arrive back in auckland on the sunday morning, after i stop in los angeles and tahiti.


*this is cake of enormous dimensions in varieties too numerous to mention but so numerous that a footnote underlining the excessiveness is necessary.