Erin's Journals

And here we are, back in Ontario! I guess I mean “we” in the royal sense, I suppose, as this time I’m traveling without Robbie. Wish me luck. As I mentioned last Friday, we may have a journal blip or two, but I’m sure it’ll go well (gulp)!
 
Today through Thursday I’m in the hands, cars and arms of good, supportive friends. Last night I was met at Pearson by my dear friend and former fellow broadcaster Lisa Brandt. You may follow Lisa’s blog at voiceoflisabrandt.com or @lisambrandt and I’m glad you do; she’s pithy, funny, wise and wonderful and we’ve been friends since way back when she was doing news on CHFI during a few of the Daynard years.
 
She moved on up to co-anchoring the morning run on the highly successful 680 News with Paul Cook until about 11 years ago when she gave it all up to follow her heart, marry a man she’d known for decades and give smaller town life a try. 
 
It hasn’t always been easy for Lisa. She worked in stations with almost zero staff support, having to trot out to evening events when her alarm was set for but a few hours later. She was caught in political crunches when idiotic hosts would get their stations boycotted (it was a talk station) and she was left swinging in the wind, bereft of people who’d come on to talk with her, an innocent victim of an unthinking, self-righteous ranter.
 
She was made to emcee (unpaid) a music festival where she was explicitly told not to say her station’s or her own name. She suffered fools – plenty of them – and persevered…until she called it quits and moved to the bucolic town of Wallaceburg early this year.There, she thrives in freelance voice work and is setting her own hours and facing a whole different, but manageable, set of challenges.
 
She’s living proof that if you leap, the bridge will appear. She’s had to do plenty of work building that bridge – think of it more as a “bridge kit from IKEA” – but she and her husband are making it work. Is Wallaceburg their “forever home?” No. But they have to give every option a chance to prove itself as worth overlooking or looking over. That’s the freedom that bravery can give you. 
 

 
The photo above was taken just over two years ago when Lisa flew to Victoria to visit me and we took off for a weekend adventure in Seattle. “Biscuit Bitches” indeed! This week in Ontario, Lisa and I are Thelma and Louise (um, without the crimes or flying car sequence at the end). Today, it’s desperately-needed manicures and pedicures then off to Mississauga, where my nails and my book will be on display as Indigo at Square One hosts me for a book signing and conversation this evening.
 
I hope you can join us! Michelle Butterly, midday goddess of 98.1 CHFI and my dear friend, is going to interview me. Like Lisa, Michelle knew Lauren well. In fact, Michelle helped to share the news of Loo’s passing with CHFI’s audience just four years ago (which you can hear in the audio book version of Mourning Has Broken). Michelle’s perspective as an interviewer is unique among those I’ve experienced so far. I can’t wait to see her!
 
Then tomorrow at Markham Theatre, I’m told there are still some tickets left for the two events: there’s one at 2 pm featuring Mike Cooper as my interviewer, and then an evening one at 7 pm with CTV’s Beverly Thomson. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to both!
 
Wednesday it’s Indigo Kitchener and on to Thornton Thursday and then…family time with Colin and his folks until Monday. Aaaaah.
 
It’s going to be wonderful and I am so grateful that you’re here with me this week. Hugs and thanks – and have a GREAT week. GO RAPTORS! 
 

Welcome to Friday! Did anybody sleep after that first NBA finals game on Canadian soil last night? History!
 
I don’t think you had to be Jessica Fletcher or Nancy Drew to figure out our happy news today based on yesterday’s hint. A few thought that perhaps we were getting a puppy when I said “tickled pink.” Um, no. I don’t think that’s in our future. And sweet Molly is puppy enough, even at 14-and-a-half!
 
No, we’re going to be…well, what are we going to be? The point is, Brooke and Phil are welcoming a new baby GIRL into their home in the fall. And we couldn’t be happier for them and for a boy who is sure to be the best big brother ever, our sweet Colin.
 

 
Last summer, we all wished Phil and Brooke well as they formalized their union at Ottawa City Hall. And now, the next big step in their little family: a baby girl is due in early October, just a few days before Colin’s fifth birthday. And everyone is just delighted.
 
Brooke’s had a queasy pregnancy and is feeling the wearying effects of carrying a new little person inside her as she continues her daily job in retail. But she’s tough, strong and smart and got a lot of practice with mothering and all of the wonderfully messy details that entails with Colin, having been in his life for about as much of it as he can remember. We’re all so grateful to her for giving up her carefree single life to take on a ready-made family with Phil and Colin; now she’ll be adding a baby girl to the joyous, boisterous mix and we know she’ll be as terrific a mother to Baby Shirakawa as she has been to Colin. 
 
And so…as it does…life goes on. As we said to Phil very publicly four years ago this week, “You’ve got this.” And we can say it to Brooke, too. Our job will just be to add to the love and support and, perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll be Grama and Grandad Banana to yet another sweet little person. 
 
Congratulations, Brooke, Phil and Colin. And as for that T-shirt? You bet he will be. Colin’s caring and sensitive, has been asking for a sibling for a little bit now and will be helping out his Mama every way he can. As will we.
 
I’ll talk to you Monday from the road (flying into YYZ on Sunday night and appearing with Michelle Butterly at 7 pm Monday at Mississauga’s Chapters Indigo at Square One). The journal may be a little different next week, as my IT guy is at home while I travel, but come along for the ride, won’t you? My pal Lisa Brandt writes about our exploits today; here’s a link.
 
And one more thing as we head into June: this piece I posted for Walmart Ideas this week. Hope you enjoy it – and keep your cool. 
 

The publicity machine is a funny thing and sometimes – if you’re lucky – it churns at a fast and furious pace and sweeps you into all kinds of wonderful directions, as I’ve found over the past few days.
 
Take this past week. On Friday, as Rob and I were making our way back home to North Saanich near Victoria, our friend Nancy wrote and said, “OMG, just opened our newspaper and there you are!” It was an article that local writer Nick Murray penned after interviewing me last week. It’s a lovely piece and, really, except for a few small errors (Olivia Newton-John wrote a piece on the cover but not the foreword; that was from the amazing Jann Arden), it was pretty much accurate.
 
It was certainly kind and, most importantly of all, it’s the first article that’s been written since the book’s release three months ago that is meant to be read by my neighbours here on the Saanich Peninsula. (Turns out it’s in a few sister publications as well.) The paper is free for pickup at stands near our local mailboxes; who knows who will be seeing me and going, “Her? I saw her at our meeting last week. Huh – who knew?”
 
I don’t expect it’ll change my life, but hopefully a few local organizations might get in touch to ask me to participate in upcoming events. So far, I’ve signed up for but one writers’ gathering in October. Maybe one book does not a writer make – especially here where there are so very many. It was so nice of the author to include where my book is available locally. Here’s the link to that article (our story is on page 3) and thank you to Nick Murray for taking the time to call and talk to me. 
 
And just yesterday, I heard from the organizer of next Thursday’s event in Thornton (at Tangle Creek Golf Course) to raise money for Matthews House Hospice that there was an article on Simcoe.com (the link is here). We were pleased to see a photo of me with our great friend Allan Bell, who’s largely responsible for bringing me to Ontario to help out Markham Stouffville Hospital.
 
The picture surprised us a little, though, given that my interviewer at the event will be Kevin Frankish, formerly of Breakfast Television. At last check there are about 25 tickets left and I look forward to chatting with Kevin. Hope you can make one of the events next week. Details are in the What’s Up section of this website.
 
Why am I telling you all of this? Oh, heck, I don’t know. I’m reluctant in so many ways; it seems immodest, to say the least. Believe me, I’m standing on the sidelines asking whose life this is, anyway? Those instances above, combined with a phone interview with a Barrie radio station last Friday and World Christian Broadcasting the day before, plus yesterday’s AMAWaterways webinar for the cruise Mike Cooper and I are going to be hosting in October 2020, all struck me as just a tsunami of busyness these days.
 
I guess it just shows that while you expect your reWirement to be one thing, it can often take a turn – or six – and become something else entirely. I never, ever would have expected to have a reason to put on makeup or worry about Spanx again (and, oh yes, I’m worrying about Spanx), but here we are, about to embark on another trip, new adventures and lots more reasons to get out of bed and ask “what wonderful thing is going to happen today?”
 
Like maybe a Raptors’ win over the Golden State Warriors? Here’s hoping!
 
Let’s wrap up this week here tomorrow with the BEST news of all: happy FAMILY NEWS! I think you’ll be tickled…pink. Definitely pink. Talk to you then.
 

Welcome to Wednesday! It’s a busy one here as we get set for a webinar this afternoon (recorded for those who can’t join us, plus there’s another planned for an evening in June) from AMA Waterways about the October 2020 Rhine Cruise with a Canadian Twist. We’re taking over an entire riverboat, Mike Cooper and I and all of our fantastic guests, and can’t wait to learn more about it – as will you today – and our trip from Switzerland to The Netherlands during Canadian Thanksgiving 2020. 
 
If you’re interested, you need to register first, and you can do that here.
 
A lot has been made over the past week of a doctored, truly “fake news” video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In it, this brilliant and powerful woman is being made to look like a stumbling drunk, a direct hit back at her for suggesting that Donald Trump’s family perhaps stage an intervention at this point in his mental decline. (Need proof? He offered a cheery “Happy Memorial Day!” to his hosts in…wait for it…Japan. Clearly Dec. 7, 1941 was not an infamous day in his mind.)
 
At any rate, I had been holding onto a scary, brilliant video put together by the Oscar-winning film maker Jordan Peele that points out, through his incredible mimicry and talent, the dangers in believing everything (and sometimes anything) you see on the internet in 2019. I urge you to share this with any friends/family who may have passed along or (worse yet) believed the Pelosi video that Trump himself gleefully retweeted.
 
You KNOW his “base” bought it hook, line and sinker because Dear Leader, the guy who made the “fake news” cry famous, RT’d it. But this piece from Peele should be a wake-up call to everyone with the capacity for rational thought. (It features Barack Obama saying things…but I’m not going to spoil it for you. It’s brilliant. Caution: some of the language is a little ‘blue.’) Just click on the screenshot below.
 

 
“Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe,” my grandmother would say. Although, these days, she might be more tempted to say, “Love many, trust none and no one is trying to take your gun.” (Gram was born in North Dakota, so the gun rhyme actually works.)
 
Watch the video, share today’s journal please and always ALWAYS ask questions. There’s so much misinformation out there, and with elections always just around the corner, we as Canadians need to be on the alert as well. 
 
Back with you here tomorrow. And that you can believe.
 

Just a quick note on a webinar happening tomorrow at 2 pm EDT to discuss the October 2020 AMA Waterways riverboat cruise that Mike Cooper and I are hosting – taking over the ENTIRE BOAT with just our group! If you’ve never taken part in a webinar, not to worry, it’s just my second. You need to pre-register, so just click here, and please join us tomorrow at 2 pm EDT. If you can’t, we’ll make it available for you at another time, plus there’s an evening webinar planned for June.
 
Meantime, today’s journal was inspired by what I experienced on our most recent trip, combined with the fact that Rob and I took off on a 30 km bike ride yesterday. BIG fun.
 
It happens repeatedly every year in almost every city where cyclists and motorists share the road: a driver finds the perfect parking spot; a taxi cab passenger reaches her destination. Then, unthinking, the person in the car opens the door into the bike lane (or even just into the street) and strikes a cyclist. It’s called dooring and it’s a daily – and often deadly – occurrence, especially if the person struck is sent out into traffic, often to be hit by a passing vehicle.
 
As a casual bike rider, I think about this all the time and give parked cars a careful, wide berth. I keep in mind that people are pre-occupied most of the time and so they don’t always (or sometimes ever) remember to check over their shoulder to see if there’s someone heading their way. That’s why the idea of what’s called the Dutch Reach – aka Far Reach, Far Hand Reach, Right Hand Reach, Reach Across and Safety Exit – is so brilliant.
 
As we saw on our recent trip to Amsterdam, they take cycling very seriously. (And with humour: a longstanding joke is asking Germans when they’re going to give back the bicycles they stole from Amsterdammers back in WWII.) But as one of our tour guides reminded us during our visit earlier this spring, if you hit a cyclist, you are in very big trouble. That may be why the Dutch Reach has become de rigueur there since it began in the 1970s under a campaign named to “stop the child killing.” The Dutch Reach is so normal that there isn’t even a name for it in Holland or The Netherlands.
 
How does it work? You park your car. Instead of using your left hand to open the driver’s side door, you reach across with your right hand. That way, you are forced to twist your body and it reminds you to look over that left shoulder to make sure the way is clear to open said door. (Obviously, the opposite works on the passenger side.)
 

 
It’s a simple way to reduce the risk of the biggest cause of car-to-cyclist crashes: dooring. As someone who rides, I’m always aware; as a passenger and occasional backseat driver, I’m also an active proponent of using this method, although I don’t do it 100% of the time – yet. They say that doing things for thirty days makes a habit of it. And here’s a handy tip: tie a ribbon to your car door (inside) so when you see it, you’re reminded not to try to step out until you and your passengers have checked to make sure the coast is clear.
 
This article from the New York Times has more tips, including those for cyclists, which include using running lights all day. I don’t have one, as I don’t ride at dusk, in the dark or in inclement weather, but it makes sense from a safety point of view. Just yesterday we noticed several riders with running lights, which was good in the many shady spots we rode through. Take a quick look at the article and maybe you’ll start using – and teaching your children to use – the Dutch Reach. You never know how many lives you could save.
 
Who’s in?