Hi all. It's been awhile so I thought I would catch you up on the goings on of the last while. Life is pretty much the same ol' boring work, sleep, pedal to the metal on the weekends as it has always been. So I decided to shake things up a bit. My special dad is now living in Ontario waiting for a heart transplant with the most amazing women by his side( my special mom).I have written a short book ( more like a long essay really ) of my life with foster care, my journey to and through it, titled Impressions of a Child; My Journey through Foster care. My original idea for this work was to use it to help as many people I can. I have been lucky enough to tour the set of Republic of Doyle, watch a filming of a scene which was very cool. When I watched the episode on TV I was so excited. When the scene I watched being filmed came on I said to Lisa " I WAS THERE!! I WAS JUST OFF CAMERA!!" Lol. There are a lot of people with varying opinions and experiences with foster care and my hope was that my story might help them in some small way. Although I was unsuccessful in getting it published my story has reached a few friends, colleagues, and family members that before now didn't know my story, what had happened to me other then my being in foster care. I reached out to the Newfoundland and Labrador Foster Families Association with my story and what I hoped to do with it. They embraced my idea and this past October I participated on a discussion panel at the Rooms hosted by Allan Hawco where we talked about the Foster Care system and answered questions from the Audience.  It was very interesting indeed. After the formal part of the day we mingled and I wound up holding an impromptu gathering in the foyer. I was speaking with a lady helping her with her questions and more and more people came over to listen. I was so humbled. I was helping these people making a very rewarding decision and I felt so blessed in doing so. So this coming Friday is a big day for me. I have been asked to speak at the 2015 Foster Family Symposium about my experiences with foster care and what it has meant to me. I am so very honored to do so.This will mark the very first time I speak in public at length about my journey. At the Rooms I simply answered questions. This time around it's just me at the podium telling my story, telling the room what it meant to me, what it has done for me. To say I'm nervous is an understatement of the century but with plenty of encouragement I received I know I will do just fine. I just hope I help these people in some small way. I just hope my story will serve as comfort and reassurance to someone. I'll let you know how it all goes.


Cheers

Mike

Duck Dynasty

Oddly enough I find myself supporting both sides of this issue. Although I don't share Phil Robertson's view on the interpretation of the Bible and the teachings in it, I agree with him and his family that he has the right to his beliefs and the right to share them. But the other side of the issue is why he was suspended from A&E. I suspect he wasn't suspended for his beliefs, I suspect he was suspended because he shared them in such a public forum, GQ magazine, which has a reach world wide and such comments as his could potentially damage the ratings of their programming and reputation of A&E executives. That's why I also agree with A&E. So I see this as the ultimate conundrum. You can't punish a person for their beliefs but you can't have them a loose cannon and spewing what could be damaging remarks on the international public stage. So what do you do? How do you iron out this wrinkle? Ultimately I think the Robertson Family and any other celebrity that have potentially controversial views should learn to censor their comments when speaking in public. These people need to understand that their views may be normal to them but could be controversial and very damaging to magazines, TV networks, etc. But like I said, I can see where both sides are coming from and this is one of those rare cases where I can see both sides hence agree with them both. I sincerely hope the Robertson's and A&E work this out and come to a beneficial agreement.

Well, I start by apologizing for being away for so long.It's been close to a year I guess. I guess that means there isn't much going on.the winter was kinda hibernation for me but now the spring is here and that means outdoor stuff to be doing.me and my wife have traveled to argentia to nose around the old base. It's amazing the work the americans put into that base just to walk away from it.We were there about 2 hours and hardly scratched the surface. I mean we looked around the old airfield and explored the surrounding bunkers, drove around the other side of the base but that's it.When we got home I did a little digging just to find there are a ton of things more to see.There are loads of bunkers of various sizes,there is even a hospital bunker.There is even a tunnel system.All this is in the woods behind the old BOQ site.I definitely see another trip out there soon.
also, silly me, after the 3 or for trips me and my wife made out to Red Cliff, I knew it used to be an american military installation but never did know what.I always thought all there was, was just that one old ruin of a building and two under ground bunkers. Never thought about going up the second road. When I got home I checked out the site on google earth and VIOLA!! that second road leads to the ACTUAL site.DUH!! So of course now I'm intrigued right? I do a little digging and find that Red Cliff was indeed an American military installation but it was in fact it was a radar facility. It was meant to be a part of an advanced warning system against enemy aircraft and to aid pilots in bad weather. But turns out the radar coverage was inadequate so they closed and pulled out. So back we go to Red Cliff to check it out and take pictures that will be sure to find their way on here.

That's it for now.

Frenches Cove

My wife and I visited French's Cove yesterday, or what is left of it anyway.For those of you that is not aware of where it is, French's Cove is Located on a very beautiful walking trail that begins on the extreme end of Water Street in Bay Roberts.Just drive to the end of Water Street.Keep to the right.There is parking available at the beginning of the trail.There is a map of the trail and area on the Town of Bay Roberts website. http://www.bayroberts.com/. When you get to the website click tourism at the top of the page. You will see a link on the following page for the East Shore Heritage walk. So there it is, everything you need to find it. So what a beautiful walk it is. Unfortunately we never had time to complete the entire trail as darkness came quick but what we did see was breathtaking.Beautiful vistas, waves crashing on the beach.There was remnants of life gone by still there. We saw evidence of where houses once stood.There were even root cellars still there.Some rebuilt for heritage reasons, others left as they are. There was this one area that was bordered with a stone wall on two sides. In this area there was evidence of hard work put into a very nice garden. Upon closer inspection I even found a piece of door trim that was used in one of the houses long gone. If you look close enough as it's somewhat buried in the grass, there is a stone walk that takes you right to the top of the hill to the garden. yet more evidence of life gone by. Then farther on there is an old pier and an old wharf. A little farther on still there is Frenches Cove.There are a few root cellars there along with an information sign talking about life that was in Frenches Cove. I found all this very interesting indeed. We walked a little farther up the hill to get a few picture's and we wound up picking a 2L tub of blueberries to boot!! All in all it was a very worthwhile trip.It's only a 1 hour drive from St.John's.I highly recommend it to anyone. A very refreshing way to get out of the city.

Forgotten History

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a passion for all things history.But most importantly military history as military history has defined what and who we are. So many good men and women payed the ultimate sacrifice to give us the freedom and privilage that we take for granted on a daily basis. I guess to me my passion for military history is sort of a tribute and thanks to all those that died giving us these freedoms and priviliges. If I can bring to life forgotten memories perhaps more of today's young generation will understand just how important a topic this truly is. I mean...how many people out there knew that there was once a spy from the German Navy on a hilltop in the Goulds during WW2. How many people knew that there was a German u-boat spotted just outside St.John's Harbour, or how many people knew that there was a German torpedo fired at Bell Island, not fired at the ships tied to the docks and missed but intentionally fired at the island itself. There is alot of military history to be learned.All of which has shaped the lives that we come to know today. Any parent that reads this should take the time to talk to there kids about it, even encourage them to dig into it on their own. What they will discover will amaze them. Here are a few visual reminders of such days gone by.