Kevin

Come December…Recap of Our 2025!

It’s December once again. It’s been a year. Many blessings amidst the chaos of the world!

As I try to remember everything that happened in 2025, I’m a little flabbergasted. Some of it is so far back in my memory that I would have sworn it happened a year or two ago. But the Google timeline doesn’t lie. Apparently we DID take our grandson on a cruise in 2025…it wasn’t actually in 2024 or 2023. No, it was in fact in January, 2025. Here’s the blog post I created about January as proof of our trip.

On the plane to Florida with Edward…the 13th Birthday cruise to the Bahamas!

It seems so long ago. We had an absolute blast taking Edward on his first flights, first cruise, first outside the country vacation. I know he did too. My only regret is that we didn’t do more with him. He found a friend group early in the cruise and spent a lot of time at the kids’ club. We had all our meals together, and we did the Perfect Day at Coco Cay together. It’s not like we didn’t see him. But he did have a lot of free time with friends. I’m certain he loved it this way. No quiet time at the pool onboard, though. Seems weird in retrospect.

Google tells me we also did Cuba in 2025. In April. That too seems like a year or two ago. I swear, the older I get the more difficult it is for my brain to understand time. Something that happened last week could have happened a year ago or an hour ago. The concept of time just floats through my fingers.

I did in fact write about this amazing trip HERE.

But Google doesn’t lie. Cuba is definitely in the 2025 timeline. We visited the LGBTQ friendly hotel Gran Muthu Rainbow. It was our second visit…and we absolutely love it there!

As much as 2025 was not much of a year for writing, it was a year in which I released my latest book. This one won the 2016 Muskoka Novel Marathon’s Best Adult Novel Award. I WILL TELL THE NIGHT. One of my biggest thrills of the year was when my new novel was reviewed in the Miramichi Reader! I’ve been a longtime fan of this publication. My family is in the Miramichi…I began with that connection, but quickly fell in love with the publication for all the usual literary reasons. Here’s where I wrote about the review, with a link to the review itself in the post.

I also wrote a piece for the Miramichi Reader‘s WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK column. I was thrilled to have both a piece and a review in the Reader! Doesn’t get much better. Here’s a link to their ISSUE 45 WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK column.

We had a great time, once again, with our annual trek to NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE! Always an amazing time winery hopping! Such a lovely city…and great company!

Other highlights of 2025 include several visits from our cousin Jordanna! And 2 of those were with lovely Aunt June in toll!

May, 2025 – We had an amazing time with Jordanna and Aunt June at the 25th Anniversary party at BIFF’S BISTRO downtown. This is one of our favourite Toronto restaurants! Great company too!

Earlier in the month, we toured Chinatown with Jordanna and Stephen.

Egg Tarts procured! Chinatown, Toronto. May, 2025.

In October, we had an amazing time at Grossman’s Tavern in Chinatown. Jordanna and Aunt June met us there for an afternoon of Jazz! So much fun. I would not be lying if I said our little group danced the conga through the tavern on our way out. Yummy all-day Dim Sum was had for supper that day. Another great visit with family from Nova Scotia! Always great to see Jordi! And Aunt June!

There is also September, of course. Michael and I once again walked the Camino de Santiago. We had to get back to the Camino Frances. We missed it so much! This time we walked from Leon to Santiago de Compostela. Just a quick wee walk of 310ish kms. We stayed in some incredible places this time around! And once we landed in Santiago de Compostela, we finally made a trip to Finisterre and Muxia! Those two iconic beautiful ends of the world are definitely worth seeing in one’s lifetime. And I guess that’s what we’re doing when we travel, no? Collecting all the things we want to accomplish in our lifetimes. In the end, our regrets are most often the things we didn’t do…not the things we have done.

I wrote ALL ABOUT OUR CAMINO. I kept a daily journal on this website. YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO GO TO DAY ONE FROM LEON TO SAN MARTIN DEL CAMINO.

At the end of each day’s blog, there’s a link to the next day…all the way through to the end of the world!

Oops, we did it again! Holding our Compostelas at the end of the yellow brick road!

Not a lot has happened in the past couple of months. I’ve been writing again. I’m working quite diligently on my mid-grade novel and just beginning to feel like I’m getting back into the swing of writing. It’s at least tickling at the senses. Hopefully the desire builds. I really think that you lose it if you don’t use it. Like every other muscle, writing needs to be exercised. I’m finally doing that again. We shall see, we shall see.

I did have a night out with the girl child! We did a quick movie night for Halloween. ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa! What a night!

Creatures of the Night at the Biltmore bar…

With Ashley at the Biltmore, pre ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Can you see us shiver with antici—pa—-tion?

I was going to write about the books I read this year, but I think I’ll have to save that for another post. I’m almost up to BOOK 80 for the year and there have been some really great reads. But that’ll wait for closer to the end of the year. We’ve had a great year!

One more thing to add! TODAY IS GOTCHA DAY for DollyAnn & LollyPop! They have officially been with us for 5 years today! Our little pandemic babies…they’ve been a blast!

They’re a lot bigger now, and maybe a bit more chaotic. Riding in cars with pugs is a LOT!

THE BOYS, at the back of a streetcar, coming home from the CNE in August! Another great day trip of 2025!

US, with THE BOYS. August, 2025. They’re getting SO grown up!

It’s almost a wrap on another year around the sun! It’s hard to believe we both turned 59 years old this year. Time just keeps on ticking…marching forward with no concern whatsoever. In 2026 we turn 60!!!!!!!! We will have to celebrate that milestone! Perhaps in Hong Kong? (-;

The Cape at the End of the World…

While the snow accumulates outside, I thought it was a good time to revisit the end of our trip to Spain this past September. The trip was not yet over when we walked into Santiago de Compostela at the end of the Camino Frances. Our walk–our Camino–was over, but not our exploring.

There was still the END OF THE WORLD to see. My 4th time in Santiago de Compostela and I had yet to make the trek to either Finisterre or Muxía. Though we did not have the time needed to walk there, it was time to rectify things. We had to get to the end of the world before crossing back across the Atlantic to the New World.

The Cape of Finisterre in Galicia was once considered the literal end of the world. This is what the Romans called it, believing there was nothing beyond it. Nothing but water. The name Finisterre itself comes from the Latin FINIS TERRAE, meaning “end of the earth”.

There is an add-on Camino that takes in either Finisterre or Muxía…and some even do both. Being short on time, Michael and I instead booked a bus tour of the two places. I’ve been looking forward to seeing these two iconic Camino locations since I first learned about the Camino de Santiago. Just the idea of walking across Spain and coming upon the ocean at a time when you thought it the end of the world! It’s incredible. The two places must have been such reverent destinations back then. I can’t even imagine!

Making stops along the way to Finisterre, Spain. This was a waterfall we stopped at prior to reaching our destinations.

The first of the two iconic destinations to visit was Finisterre.

The milemarkers on the Camino usually count down the KMs left to Santiago de Compostela. This one at Finisterre counts the fact that there is nowhere else to go. You’ve reached the end of the world.

Maybe one day we’ll walk it. For now, just being there was a huge thrill!

Nothing but water…

Trying to imagine what the ancients saw when they looked out into this vista is literally impossible. Today, we see only the suggestion of home at the other side of the water…

Such a vast space…it’s awe inspiring to look out upon.

The iconic bronze boot statue on the rocks at the end of the world. It was once a custom to burn one’s clothing upon arriving at the end. And perhaps their footwear as well…

We were thrilled to be in Finisterre.

After a stop for lunch, we headed to Muxía. Of the two places, Muxía is quite possibly the more iconic. It was made famous outside Camino circles when TOM (played by Martin Sheen) spread the ashes of his son DANIEL (played by Emilio Estevez) into the water at Muxía at the end of the movie THE WAY. This is one of my absolute favourite movies. I’ve seen it countless times. Being there was an absolute dream come true!

Same same, but different. It looks like the same photo as above, but it’s a totally different location. Here we are where Martin Sheen stood saying goodbye to his son in the movie ***THE WAY***.

Yet another 0km milemarker to reach…

There’s something beautiful about the monolithic sculpture found in Muxía alongside the 0km milemarker. A Ferida (English: The Wound) stands more than 36 feet high and weighs 400 tons. Created by Alberto Bañuelos Fournier, it is the largest sculpture in all of Spain. It was inaugurated on September 12, 2003…and serves as a tribute to the volunteers who helped the people of Galicia after the Prestige oil spill of November 2002.

The Wound is such a simple but elegant monument.

Beside the iconic Wound monument is Virxe da Barca Sanctuary. This church is from the 17th Century…

Of course, the spot where these things can be found were already iconic prior to Christianity coming in and rewriting history. Isn’t that ALWAYS the way. Where the church is now was a pre-Christian Celtic shrine and sacred spot.

I HAD to climb down below all the rocks on the shoreline and put my hands in the water. It was necessary!

I dipped my hands in the water, after a slightly dangerous journey to the shoreline…

If you find yourself in Santiago de Compostela at the end of your Camino and you don’t have enough time to walk to Finisterre and/or Muxía…do yourself a favour. Find a bus tour that will take you there. It took us one day to see both places and so much more. It was so worth it! We loved seeing these two iconic Camino de Santiago landmarks. Just imagine getting to these sacred places at a time when they were considered the literal end of the world! It’s unfathomable. They both had the air of sacred about them. So many thousands (millions) had come before us. What they felt when they looked out at the water! It must have been a profound mix of fear and exhilaration. Don’t miss the opportunity just because you don’t have the time to walk it. Take that bus!

We were back in Santiago de Compostela in no time!

The Ant on the Raft

Hello readers. It’s been a while.

I’m currently reading BOOK OF LIVES by Margaret Atwood.

I have to confess that I have not read very many of Atwood’s books. But every single title of hers that I have read has touched me profoundly. Odd that. It seems bizarre that I would not read every single book she ever penned after realizing how much I love her books that I have read. I think I know the reason, though. To be honest with you, LARGE TOMES scare me. As one of the world’s slowest readers, a big book feels like too large a commitment to me. I have a historied past of taking the easiest way out…of literally anything life throws at me. This includes reading. I’ll look for slender volumes to read and I’ll almost always eschew the tomes. I know this means I miss an awful lot of great reading. John Irving comes to mind here. I have also loved all of his books that I’ve read. BUT it seems as though there are always two or three novels hidden within the depths of each of his novels. If you’re a John Irving fan, I’m sure you’ll understand what I mean by this. There is a blurred line with his works. Take the total of all of his published novels and multiply it by 2 1/2, and that’s probably closer to the sum of novels that Mr. Irving has penned.

Side-note: a few years back Michael and I were at the TRANS MARCH in Toronto (we never miss an opportunity to show up for the T in LGBTQIA2S+). Who should walk right past us, marching away with all the trans marchers and supporters, but JOHN IRVING himself. I smiled, made eye contact with him, and swallowed every urge to run out into Yonge Street and hug him and take a selfie with him and beg him for a signature or some such nonsense. He was just a man quietly showing up to support the community. He marched alone…with a look of determination and showingupness. I’ll never forget that quiet moment. No fanfare, no need to tell the world, “It is I, John Irving!” Just a man marching for something he believed in.

By now I have almost forgotten what I began this blog post for…I am meandering again.

Back to (close to) the beginning.

I’m currently reading BOOK OF LIVES by Margaret Atwood.

In it, Atwood speaks of a book she wrote as a child. It was called Annie the Ant. It was such a success with her readers (her parents and brother), that she set about writing a sequel where Annie takes an adventure down a river on a raft. The young Miss Atwood soon lost interest and the sequel fell by the wayside.

Why do I mention this? Because this was one of Atwood’s first writing lessons in the memoir. It was a lesson for herself, as well as a lesson for any writers (or wannabe writers) who may read the memoir. It’s a lesson in moving on when a piece of writing is not working.

“If the ant on the raft isn’t working for you, it’s okay to stop.” ~ Margaret Atwood, BOOK OF LIVES.

I needed that reminder. Thank you, Margaret Atwood. This made picking up the gigantic tome of a memoir well worth it for me. This one sentence is worth the price of admission. We writers do hold on to ideas that become stale and stagnant and shrivel on the vine. Instead of trying to find a way to write ourselves out of the paper bag–the corner we have wedged ourselves into–there is indeed another option. As Ms. Atwood says, it is perfectly okay to stop. Move on to something else.

This is probably glaringly obvious when you look at it. But it’s also something so many writers don’t do. They’ll struggle to re-alive a dead cat (that’s an analogy. It’s not really a dead cat. It’s a story that has fizzled out and died. No cats have been hurt in the creation of this analogy.) rather than bury it.

It’s never a waste to give up on a piece of writing. Spending time with the craft is always beneficial, whether or not you use the bi-product of that spent time. If it’s not working…it’s okay to stop.

That is all.