Cirque de Soleil

Mary and I had a very nice day along the waterfront in Toronto yesterday. The kids bought us for Christmas tickets for a show of Cirque de Soleil at Ontario Place. Two hours of unique combinations of creative arts, music and acrobatic marvel. 

Fish and Chips

Joe was on a short visit to Fonthill to arrange some banking matters for his Dad. He took us (Opa, Mary, me and Ralph who took the photos) for fish & chips in Port Colborne. We enjoyed the food and the action in the harbor at the end of the Welland Canal going into Lake Erie.

Ger in Botswana

My sister Ger (77), her husband Bert (79) and their oldest daughter Monique (50) have been two weeks in Botswana on a camping trip through game reserves. Impressed with these life long campers!

On the bike again

Yesterday I attended the first in-person/hybrid weekly meeting of the Welland Rotary Club since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. For a social volunteering club it is so much better. Because it was a nice weather day, I took the bike out for a first ride this year after the winter period....

The Rotary meeting was held in the community room of the Welland Town Hall. On the way back I shot these photos of the town hall (back side), the famous (and restored) bridge and the recreactional part of the Welland Canal...

Hilary 30

Mary went to visit Hilary and Shayd for a few days in Vancouver. It was Hilary's 30th birthday and Mary had made a collection of photos of Hilary from the past three decades....

A week ago I was sitting one day in shorts outside, and the next week it is snow and very cold again. That time of the year.....

On our way to Spring

It is still pretty cold outside, but we are on our way to Spring again later this month. Last week a fellow Rotary member, Fred, celebrated his 95th birthday. Fred joined the Welland Rotary in 1996, the same year that I joined. He volunteered to make the weekly club newsletter but had never used a computer yet. We offered him access to a computer and some instructions in the International Team of Niagara College. Fred is young of mind and spirit, and still in amazing good shape for his age.

Also in good shape is Opa Vandenboom at the age of 92. 

Hilary will celebrate her 30th birthday later this month, with her Mamma visiting Vancouver....

The two sons of my sister Hanneke, Patrick and Rutger, enjoy a vacation together in the Alps. They are both well in their forties. Yes, time flies....

Memories

Hilary was born in March 1992, so in five weeks from now, we hope to celebrate her 30th birthday. Mary will fly to Vancouver for a short visit (I go there in late May to afterwards drive our CRV back). The above photo was taken in late 1992 in my small "home office" which I had in our house in St. Thomas. Hilary started a new job a few weeks ago and works from her home office in Vancouver....

Two years later in July 1994, Mark joined us. He was born in Amsterdam and shortly afterwards we took this photo at the condo of my parents. Three generations of Nolle men. My Dad was 35 when I was born and they had two daughters then already, 9 and 11 years older then me. I only became a father at the age of 37 and was on my way to become 39 when Mark came along....

Work always brought me to all corners of the world. The photo above was taken in 2013 during my last visit to the small Argentinian town of Puerto Iguazu, where I worked with Claudio Salvador - sporting a Niagara College shirt - who was (and still is) a huge advocate of the local indigenous Guarani people. 

It was one of the very interesting development projects I was lucky to work in and the local community leader on the photo taught me humbleness and patience. Meetings in his community would always have long pauses during which they were listening to the spirits. Our western cultures have moved so far away from that kind of thinking over the centuries. This specific project had a focus on tourism in the area around the famous Iguazu Falls...

Time flies.....