I, along with the COC (Canadian Olympic Committee) and Canada Basketball visited the SEED Basketball Academy in Dakar. Our visit to their campus began with meeting the coaches. You could hear their thirst for knowledge in the questions they were asking. They were passionate about what they do and wanted to equip their young athletes with everything they needed to be successful.
To think that I have now been inducted into the town of Milton’s Walk of Fame is both an incredible honour and also a bit of a shock. I am honored that my name was even considered for this incredible distinction and I have been incredibly fortunate, but I feel like I’m not done. There is so much I have yet to do, and goals on my list I have yet to reach.
After he gave us our wet suit, snorkels and flippers, we jumped into the water. The first sea creature I saw everywhere was jellyfish! So, obviously I - and the family I was on tour with - started freaking out! It turns out that these jelly fish (which were a beautiful purple color and looked so graceful and soft in the water) were called moon jellyfish. Although they can and do sting humans (it feels like a mosquito bite or small zap), they're not poisonous. Of course, I did not learn this until later in the day, so whenever I saw a large group of them during the actual tour, I…
As I was leaving the botanical gardens, I noticed a tiny garden of poppies. Growing up, I’ve always worn the pins on Veterans Day and have seen pictures of poppies, but I don’t recall ever seeing a poppy in real life. So, obviously I snapped some pictures! This little garden was called The Legacy Garden, with a small plaque in front that said the following…
If you were to look at my phone, you would probably find a good 500 pictures purely of nature; plants, trees, flowers, leaves, ponds, the ocean and green sceneries. I am obsessed! I feel close to God in many instances, but when I am consumed by nature, surrounded by it, observing it, sitting or walking in it silently, admiring its beauty, listening to the quiver of the leaves in the wind, the birds chirping, the crashing of the waves, or a disturbance in the bushes - just me and my thoughts - that’s when I always feel engulfed by Him.
We were also exposed to the Corpse flower, yes, you read that correctly, the Corpse flower. It doesn’t look like a flower in my opinion, more like a giant fruit. It may not be the most vibrant or prettiest flower around (in its current state pictured above) but it certainly gets your attention. Not only is it a fairly large flower, but it has a terrible stench. I wonder if maybe that is where it gets its name?
My sister wanted to do XPLOR because there was a zip-line. Me and heights are not the greatest of friends, but since I was under the impression it was one zip-line, I told myself to suck it up and do it for my sister. Well, I clearly didn’t read the fine print because it wasn’t one zip-line but seven! Once you did one zip-line, you had to compete the other six it to get back on land. My sister was aware of this and didn’t feel the need to inform me. I prayed so much and thanked God profusely when …
